IFH 363: The Death of Traditional Film Distribution

Published: Nov. 19, 2019, 9:08 p.m.

I know the title of this show is bold but in the course of this podcast I will explain what I see happening in the traditional film distribution model. My trip to this year to the American Film Market was extremely educational. I met some amazing people, industry insiders, and tribe members. I did, however, spoke to many film distributors and sales agents and discover a truth that I had suspected for a long time now, traditional film distribution is dying.

Film distributors are having as hard of a time trying to generate revenue with their film libraries as filmmakers are getting their films sold. The world is changing. Many filmmakers are producing films for the 90’s and early 2000’s marketplace. Both filmmakers and distributors have little or no understanding of what today’s customer wants or how to get it to them while still making money.

In this episode I discuss:

• The DVD/Home Video Crash
• The Streaming Wars
• AVOD
• How film distributors are becoming more predatory out of desperation
• The world of data/niche driven cinema
• Cutting out the middlemen
• The Googlfication of the movie industry
• Foreign markets
• The shortage of talent in the film industry, according to the streaming platforms
• Why Netflix paid $200 million for The Irishman
• How the indie filmmaker can survive and thrive in the new world of filmmaking
• and much more

Warning: This episode will be mind-blowing so please brace yourself. Enjoy!