Edit: Here’s the exact same clip on the standard YouTube Watch page.
courtesy of zagorath
Brandon Sanderson the fantasy author
For those uninterested in watching a youtube short (sorry), the theory is pretty simple:
COVID and the death of theatres broke the film industry’s controlled, simple and effective marketing pipeline (watch movie in theatres -> watch trailer before hand -> watch that tailer’s movie in theatres …) and so now films have the same problems books have always had which is that of finding a way to break through in a saturated market, grab people’s attention and find an audience. Not being experienced with this, the film industry is floundering.
In just this clip he doesn’t mention streaming and TV (perhaps he does in the full podcast), but that basically contributes to the same dynamic of saturation and noise.
Do note that Sanderson openly admits its a mostly unfounded theory.
For me personally, I’m not sure how effective the theatrical trailers have been in governing my movie watching choices for a long time. Certainly there was a time that they did. But since trailers went online (anyone remember Apple Trailers!?) it’s been through YouTube and online spaces like this.
Perhaps that’s relatively uncommon? Or perhaps COVID was just the straw that broke the camel’s back? Or maybe there’s a generational factor where now, compared to 10 years ago, the post X-Gen and “more online” demographic is relatively decisive of TV/Film sales?
I’ll add the overwhelming amount of canned and processed Star Wars and Marvell slop that’s been pushed on us.
That’s just a symptom. We’d get other slop if it wasn’t for Star Wars and Marvel. Hollywood only knows how to make mega-expensive movies anymore, that are watered down and derivative because they have to cater to the biggest possible audience to recoup investment. Unfortunately, audiences also have a lot more content to choose from, for less money.
Fair point and well said. I really wish they would consider those of us that want actual content. Less expensive movies that are more character driven.
I mean, TV series have pretty much become that. I just wish there were more mini-series that are self-contained instead of promising stories fizzling out by season 5 or getting canceled prematurely.
The fact that there’s barely any movies worth watching anymore is a real problem for theatres. There’s 2 movies this year that I might watch
The most recent one I watched was Dune part 2. Before that it was Dune part 1. I have almost zero desire to see what’s being put in theaters over the last decade or so. It’s almost all the same crap.
I’m in the fence about furiosa and Deadpool 3. Last theatre movie I really enjoyed was everything everywhere all at once
A24 keeps releasing movies just like EEAAO, just suffering from this problem where you may not be hearing of them or seeing the trailers. I have an Alamo Drafthouse near me and have seen 9 movies in theaters this year, including rereleases and only 1 I haven’t enjoyed, dune was the only “remake” or adaptation.
I’d add… there USED TO BE… multiple movie review TV shows that reviewed movies BEFORE THEY CAME OUT(!) I know, shock, right?
Siskel and Ebert really invented the format with “Sneak Previews” / “At the Movies” and I remember watching it on Sunday nights to see what would be coming out the following Friday.
Then they left to have their own show, the old “Sneak Previews” show was taken over by Jeffrey Lyons and Michael Medved, and “At the Movies” was run by Rex Reed and Bill Harris.
So, at one point, we had THREE movie review shows running simultaneously with 6 different, competing opinions.
And, like I say, these were all reviews of UPCOMING movies.
We don’t have that anymore.
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Studios aren’t allowing early reviews, they embargo the reviews until launch day.
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There are tons, and tons of online review sites, but they don’t have any special access, and can’t see the films until everyone else does, which is too late to build any hype.
I don’t disagree with him on the point that the old model has been broken but I think it’s more complex. I think it was Matt Damon that said steaming has hurt the creative side of the industry because dvd sales can’t make the budget back for risky project anymore. That’s not the full issue either though. Theater experience has been going down and there’s a billion other ways to get entertainment in a social way now. This all leads to studios desperate to keep the spice flowing to only back what they believe are sure returns on investment while simultaneously trying to cut costs by reducing or at least limiting the compensation to creatives. There aren’t as many risks getting taken and producers are reclaiming the power that had long been surrendered to directors and writers.
We’re almost back to the old studio system, if we ain’t already there
Another factor I’ve heard is that investment types and thinking have taken root in the film industry and established a baseline gross profit margin as an expectation compared to the past that was more happy to break even.
It makes sense because it’s also the story of the times I suspect, and there’s likely a lesson to be learnt that how we useful market dynamics can be some aspects of civilised life may be best left effectively non-profit.
I think it’s always been a fight by producers to reign in the power. Right now there’s a huge shakeup to the industry and almost no one has figured it out so the industry falls back on “safe” money tied up in producers and companies. If anything this shift should be better for independent creators as the Internet allows for more of a democratization of resources so it will probably swing back.
Also, I think this is probably a classic problem of confirmation bias, cause we have plenty of studios producing cheaper movies, A24 comes to mind. A lot of great directors and writers are taking risks on high-budget streaming series, people like Apple, Amazon, and HBO are throwing wads of cash at 1/2 season flops that are cool ideas, some of which hit big.
On top of that, we look back with rose-tinted glasses at the “glory days” of film when directors had more power than studios etc, but I would bet a lot that pound for pound the industry wasn’t nearly as proportionately experimental as it is today. Maybe we’re in a lull compared to recent years (maybe) but overall the trajectory is pretty steadily upwards.
There’s just a lot of competition for your attention these days.
I can’t even remember the last time I felt boredom. The sort of boredom that motivates you to just go out and look for something to do.
There is so much in fact, that I’ve started putting artificial constraints on things that hold my attention. Phone apps lock after 60 minutes of use, only one episode of a tv series per-day, etc.
I love watching movies at the theatre, but it’s got a lot going against it. It’s expensive, it’s full of other people, occasionally the movies suck, and traveling there and back is a pain since we stopped investing in transportation infrastructure.
