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Truly Free Film

10 Must Read Film Biz Articles Of 2014

A lot has gone on in 2014. Our world continues to change rapidly. It no longer will be what it once was and we have to move on from it. IMHO, few have a handle on where it is all heading. All the more reason why you should want to dig in deep and explore.  All the more reason why we need filters and curators to point us in one direction or the other.  All the more reason we need someone to approach it as a business, and stop relying on those who feel forced to do it as a hobby.

Here’s my quick survey on the year in film biz that was, as told by the articles that resonated for me (or at least ten of the subjects). Many thanks to my friends who helped pull this together by recommending reads along the way.

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Truly Free Film

How Holes in Data Analysis Can Overstate the Prevalence of Racism, Sexism and Success in Film

By Beanie Barnes

Data is a funny thing.  It can, at once, confirm and discredit the exact same theory.  For example, if a $500m film makes $100m at the box office on its opening weekend, it could mean that the film is a) a bust or b) gaining momentum.  Such was the case with Avatar.   By the end of 2009, several people were calling the film a “flop,” but by mid-2010, it was obvious that, of all the words to describe Avatar, “flop” was not one of them.  And although the film has been hailed as a marketing and technological success, if it had failed, it very likely would have been called it a marketing and technological bomb (with marketing heads rolling at the studio).

Misreading data is prevalent in film.  It isn’t so much that we misread the tea leaves, so much as it is that, rather than reading the tea leaves as they are, we’re more prone to read the leaves the way we want to see them or only read the leaves at the surface while overlooking others hiding below.

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Truly Free Film

Case Study: A Lesson in Failure

By Beanie Barnes

_DSC5649As tough as failure may be, something good can come of it – an opportunity for improvement.  There is a stigma and shame that tends to come with failure, so much so that people rarely accept “failure” as an actual reason for failure.  We often bury failure and, along with it, any opportunity to learn and grow from examining it.

Failure is cumulative.  Just as success can breed more success, failure can breed more failure.  Which is why it is so important to learn from it.  That’s why, as noted in my previous article, I’m providing details about my failed effort as a first time distributor, working on the film, FOUR.

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Truly Free Film

Failure to Address Failure is the Problem

By Beanie Barnes

My favorite philosopher wrote that, in order to understand success and analyze what causes it, we need to study the traits present in failure.  He pointed out that people who fail do not really write memoirs – generally, publishers do not return their calls nor do readers pay for such stories, even if a story of failure is more valuable than the one of success — just ask the authors of the brilliant book, What I Learned Losing a Million Dollars, which they had to self-publish.  This disregard of failure happens a lot in film where we often (and only) celebrate success.  That is why it was so amazing that Sundance, at this year’s festival, opened the Pandora’s Box that is “failure.”

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Issues and Actions

Is Indie Film The New Wal-Mart?

Beanie Barnes has a MUST READ post up on Salon “America’s Next Wal-Mart: The Indie Film Industry“. Although Beanie primarily focuses on over-supply/grand abundance as the primary problem, the link-filled post captures many of the challenges we all now face — especially sustainability on a personal level. And the article is not just