I love all this positive energy around creating new ways to make films and art. The rejection of the tech-overlords and their systems is invigorating, and I think it’s going to result in some really great work. I hope it also leads to genuinely innovative ways of releasing and distributing work.
But what we seem less ready to discuss is what I think is the next step.
Which is for us to be as innovative and open-minded about how any of us make a living from this.
How do we survive as artists?
This is the start of something I want to explore properly. A multi-part piece. I want to dive into the different ways a filmmaker needs to start thinking to make this whole endeavour sustainable.
I’m going to go deep on practical ideas, big picture questions, and try to start some kind of collective discussion about it. I have a few case studies from my own career that I think are helpful, and I’ll work through them over the coming weeks.
Will it be a “one for us, one for them” mentality? Is that even possible anymore? I’ve spent my career doing work for other people that then funds the work I make myself, or gives me the freedom to make the work I want to make. Or the work I’ve made has won grants and had other financial support. That world seems to have absolutely disintegrated.
I exist in the middle ground. And that middle ground has totally fallen apart.
I’m not in the one percent at the top, which is astronomical success. Nor the bottom, where it’s always been impossible to get paid to make things. I’ve had films that came out in cinemas. I’ve done commercial work for arts brands. I’ve been invited by institutions to make films for them. But this bifurcation into either making something awful for somebody else or not earning any money from it seems to be here now.
I no longer believe that the answer is in finding a solution, or in just getting the right film made - I’m now trying to build an ecosystem.
So what are our plans to do this?
I’ve actually found myself recently looking backwards and forwards at the same time. Seeing what I can learn from things I did when I was starting out that were more instinctive and out of necessity, before I got used to other people paying for things.
I feel like I’m going back to another time when I was scrappier and forced into finding ways around obstacles.
CASE STUDY A: The Exhibition Film
When I made my documentary about Saul Leiter, I ran out of money.
The film simply wasn’t paying for itself. And it looked like I would have to do all of it myself. The post-production, the release, everything. There was no more cash.
At that point, a gallery asked me if they could screen the film as part of their exhibition. And I kind of hit on an idea. Something I want to keep exploring for everything I make now.
I made them a special ten-minute cut of the film, and they paid to license it.
Then another gallery paid to license it. And another. And a few times each year, galleries still pay to license this ten-minute version of the film.
The film had some similar central ideas to my feature, but wasn’t the same. Scenes weren’t the same, the structure was very different and it was more contained in many ways so that it would work in a gallery setting. But it came from the same world as my film. It wasn’t a complete distraction from making the longer work - it was something that helped feed the ideas I was toying with.
And of course, crucially, it gave me some money.
This money helped me pay for some of the things I needed to get that film finished. But it did way more than that. It acted as advertising for the film. It opened up connections for screenings. It led to the possibility of me selling DVDs in these art galleries and venues.
It wasn’t the film itself. It was a substrand. Part of an ecosystem.
It certainly took extra time. Delivering it, producing subtitles, all of those elements. But it was a massive net benefit. Something that was born out of necessity at the time is now something I’m looking to for anything I do.
Because the films themselves aren’t going to be enough at the moment.
What are the different elements in and around the film, in and around my career, that can support it all? What can I be making and doing that feeds the film and helps me feed myself?
What is the new ecosystem? Because I think that’s the term I’m settling on - I no longer think that making the films alone is enough. The films are the driving heart of it all, but they need to be fed by, and feed many other strands.
This idea of secrecy and exclusivity is broken in all but the rarest of cases.
Now, everything in and around the film should be thought of as a creative, living part of the whole. With anything I create now, I’m trying to think: what are the different forms that what I make can take? What are the complementary pieces? What is the physical media? What is the physical experience? What is the breadth of this new way of making films for me?
And something I didn’t realise consciously at the time, but that became clear to me the other day, was the boost of confidence, of inspiration, and of collaboration that can happen when you’re making things that exist out in the world whilst you’re working on something else.
This interaction with people is vital for how I feel about the work I’m making.
When I was making The Lure, I did a Pecha Kucha event after my first research trip. It was my first time telling the story to an audience. Having that live feedback helped shape things in a way that, to me, is incredibly inspiring.
With the exhibition version of the Saul film, I frequently get invitations to galleries, or posters, or press, or (like the other day, when this all became clear to me) a picture from a friend who was in a gallery and noticed my name on the wall.
These little boosts when you’re in the long, protracted journey of making a film go a long way.
And these aren't random side-hustles, they're different organisms in the same habitat.
So I’m now trying to bake ideas like this into every single stage of the filmmaking process.
Is there a talk I can give about the subject? Are there physical items I can produce to sell whilst I’m making it? Could I do a dinner for paying guests in a special venue linked to the film? Can I talk Lego into making figures that are about my story? Can I release short edits along the way that generate interest, help me build an audience, keep me entertained, and give me fresh insights, inspirations, and collaborators?
I’m no longer about just making a film. I’m about opening up the whole process.
The whole ecosystem of me making films - my creative life - is all part of it now. It’s not that I disappear and every couple of years come back with a film. I don’t think that’s sustainable anymore. I'm cultivating an ecosystem — and the healthier and more diverse it is, the more sustainable the whole thing becomes.
I’m going to explore more of these ideas and case studies in the coming weeks. If you want to follow along, subscribe here.
I’d love to hear what you’re thinking about this. What’s working for you? What are you trying? Let’s start the discussion.
In so many ways it seems like there are endless opportunities as we build out a new ecosystem! At the same time, it's priceless to have concrete examples of outside the box approaches that work. Discovering alternate income streams comes with some experimenting, which isn't equally available to everyone because those trying to break in may not have as much room to make mistakes with time or money. I'm loving that you shared, grateful you're exploring this!
It's happening all over, called "the creator economy". I have to answer that in my own post but I don't know if this is all good. Or maybe it is?