This week’s newsletter is coming a day late, because today’s article ran first in IndieWire (slightly edited). Check it our there or below:
For the past few weeks, practically every business involved in the film industry – from Studios to Platforms to Agencies to Filmmakers – has been signaling their support of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, and for waking up to the need to support more BIPOC filmmakers, films, artists, talent and causes. This is a great thing, especially if it leads to action as opposed to just talk.
But when it comes to a closely related cause – the #StopHateForProfit boycott of Facebook, the industry thus far has been pretty silent. This needs to change; the film industry needs to follow Magnolia Picture’s lead and join the #StopHateForProfit campaign, and fast. The campaign starts July 1, and as of this writing, it looks like the only film companies on the official list of companies boycotting Facebook in July are: Magnolia, the Coolidge Corner Theater, and somewhat tangentially, Verizon. More may add their names soon, but that’s a pretty low count. Where are the other indie distributors? The film festivals? The studios, broadcasters and platforms (especially)? Where are the nonprofits who support filmmakers, and run the Award shows? Where are we in the mix?
I’m sure the Coolidge’s ad-spend on Facebook isn’t huge, especially during lock-down, but as many have pointed out, FB makes its billions not just on the backs of major advertisers, but also the many small businesses that buy eyeballs there. Facebook makes the majority of its revenue from advertising – between FaceBook and Instagram it collects 23.4% of US digital ad revenue, and it’s been growing 32% a year. Guess who spends a lot on advertising? Us, the film industry. Everyone from the little indie trying to sell their film on Vimeo to the big Studio pushing for their latest release pores money into Facebook.
Sure, boycotts rarely work, and FB will not crumble because of this, but their stock is tanking, and it’s hitting Zuckerberg’s wallet hard – $60 Billion was erased from its market value in just two days. They’ve already had to pledge to make changes, especially as major advertisers like Unilever and Coke have officially joined the protest. The more who join, the better chance that we’ll see some (even minor) changes on the platform.
And change is needed. As the organizers of the boycott puts it on their home page, Facebook could work to build a more civil platform, but instead: “They allowed incitement to violence against protesters fighting for racial justice in America in the wake of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Ahmaud Arbery, Rayshard Brooks and so many others. They named Breitbart News a “trusted news source” and made The Daily Caller a “fact checker” despite both publications having records of working with known white nationalists. They turned a blind eye to blatant voter suppression on their platform. Could they protect and support Black users? Could they call out Holocaust denial as hate? Could they help get out the vote? They absolutely could. But they are actively choosing not to do so. 99% of Facebook’s $70 billion is made through advertising. Who will advertisers stand with? Let’s send Facebook a powerful message: Your profits will never be worth promoting hate, bigotry, racism, antisemitism and violence.”
It’s not going to be easy. Facebook works. You can target the right audiences and convert them into sales (and in regular times, butts in seats). Facebook’s own research shows an $8 return for movies on every $1 spent there. You have to spend money there to get any attention on your posts. And the film business is almost completely online right now, so we all need customer acquisition via social media perhaps more than ever. And yes, Republicans watch films too, but this shouldn’t be just about right vs. left. There is a middle ground, but as Dashlane CMO Joy Howard recently wrote, “Facebook’s engagement-focused algorithms stoke social flames by amplifying opinions that otherwise would live at the fringes. This drive to polarity is baked into the product.”
Facebook claims they are listening to the public, their advertisers and their employees, and are making changes. But as Howard continues, “As we’ve seen from recent exposés, Facebook is not committed to change. I’ve worked for positive change inside big companies, and even when my proposals have been rejected it has never been with the disregard that Zuckerberg shows his employees in this article. It’s clear that Facebook is all talk, and will not take responsibility for its role in Surveillance Capitalism out of a sense of moral duty. They will only say what money makes them say. It’s time for us to put our money where their mouth is.”
Facebook’s primary customers – advertisers – must take a stand. With the film industry being a major driver of so much advertising, coupled with a loud voice that gets consumer’s attention, the industry should be making the sacrifice and joining the cause. Think about it for a second. The film industry claims to be progressive and people accuse it of being too activist. Unilever, Coke, Colgate-Palmolive, Dennys (!); Reebok, Patagonia, REI, Starbucks, and even Hershey have signed the pledge. And now the movement is going global and will bring in more major brands. How is it that big “bad” corporations are joining the cause, but we’ve only got two or three film/media companies that are willing to take a public stand and do the right thing?
It shouldn’t be that hard, either. With major releases getting pushed due to covid, the cynic in me says that Studios could take this stand and just move their marketing into August and we’d still fill any open theaters for Tenet. Of course, my hope is that the industry will take an indefinite stance, and keep pushing Facebook until it actually makes meaningful change. That should be something the majority of the industry supports, not just a couple of brave independents.
Rebels of Storytelling is an initiative by Future of Film, designed to inspire, inform and empower filmmakers and the creative community at this time of global change. From cutting edge strategies and business models to creative use of emerging technologies, 8 creative leaders who are each pioneering from film and visual media share their experience, strategies and vision for film’s future…. Register here. The series, hosted by Alex Stolz, just launched a couple of days ago. I watched three sessions already – Kim Libreri, CTO of Unreal Engine,Matt Workman, on indies using virtual production, and Diana Williams of MWM on franchise storytelling, and… mind blown! Make sure to watch Kim’s entire talk, but especially the end where he talks about the future of real time, interactive, virtual storytelling. And then watch Matt as he breaks down how it can work for the average indie filmmaker, and the possible futures, which are not unlike earlier avant-gardes, as they embraced new technology and created new ways of storytelling (think of the French New Wave, or cinema verité pioneers). And Diana reminds us that creativity is problem solving and explains how hard it is to make storyworlds in the Hollywood system, but she’s getting it done.
Blackstone Invests in Production Studios: Mark my words, this is the first of many big investments in this space, as investors see an opportunity to own smart pieces of the ecosystem. In this case, it’s becoming investors in studio spaces being used by Netflix. Next will be virtual production studios, and then… The WSJ reports.
The Segregated Past of Drive-Ins (and theaters) – great guest column from Professor Thomas Doherty in the Hollywood Reporter on the history of segregation in movie exhibition, both at regular theaters and in drive-ins.
Quibi isn’t Katzenberg’s First Online Failure – FastCo takes a long look at Pop.com, which I had honestly forgotten about, as it hails from the time of things like Atom Films (!), but it shows that Quibi isn’t the first time that some Hollywood luddites tried to be hip and failed, miserably. There’s so much gold in this article, I don’t know how to select a pull quote, but while this is from 1999, it’s telling: “Katzenberg “searched” the internet by having his staff “record” web pages onto a videotape, which he then popped into a VCR. He replied to e-mails by fax. Grazer had to ask his assistants to pull up web pages for him. Underlings also printed out his e-mails so he could read them on paper.”
How Virtual Cinema Could Save the Arthouse – In Indiewire, Ira Deutchman, a veteran film distributor and professor (and now filmmaker), writes about the quick move to virtual exhibition, what’s working and not, and some very good ideas on changes to the system that could work well for everyone. Agree with most of what he proposes and hope people can coalesce around some of his ideas, but multiple distributors have told me they don’t like his ideas and don’t think theaters can make the push work. TBD.
How did two films pivot and build a smart digital release during Covid? – Jon Reiss has a new blog post/newsletter out where he explains the process and plans behind two films that just launched their digital release during covid. Some great ideas and resources, and I highly recommend that filmmakers check out the digital assets that No Small Matter made online.
Sundance Layoffs & Cuts – Right on the heels of announcing some new formats for 2021, Sundance had to sadly announce layoffs and program cuts/realignments. I know so many people there, that I’m sure many friends are being impacted – both those leaving, changing and the people staying but dealing with this. I’ve been involved with painful decisions like this during the last recession, and my heart goes out to everyone. But this just shows how much Covid-19 is going to transform our industry. First TFI closes its doors, and now Sundance has these cuts. No one is safe, and if you run an arts or film nonprofit and aren’t thinking seriously about changes, you are crazy.
First Cow will head to VOD, Kelly Reichardt reconsiders her film’s resonance – Kelly Rechardt demonstrates that the indie film world can’t be compared to mainstream film when it comes to navigating the COVID and post COVID eras. “In March, she mused on how frequently interviewers asked about whether she had Hollywood ambitions. “It is strange to me that people think Hollywood is the greatest end game, where the most interesting people are,””
Tech CMO’s Together We can Make Facebook Stop Hate: I mentioned this above, but double-linking it to be sure people see it – Joy Howard, CMO of Dashlane wrote this great piece urging other tech CMOs to join the #stophateforprofit campaign. I’ve known Joy for way too long, and worked with her as a consultant at a few brands, and she’s a great leader. Here’s my favorite part, but read the whole piece: “What’s changed is that advertising is no longer about growing your customer base and building your business by bankrolling the free press. We’re no longer helping to pay the salaries of journalists documenting truth and editorialists making sense of the world. Instead we help fuel an engine of hate. The engine that polarizes communities runs on our ad dollars. Facebook doesn’t support journalists—it disintermediates their platforms. And in doing so has forged a path toward disintermediating the truth.”
Branded Content Can Boost Brand Perceptions – +29% vs ads,Channel 4 Study shows- The most significant difference seen between Branded Entertainment and traditional spot advertising was in Brand Perceptions. Using a whole programme, there is space to land a message about a brand, through the host environment and the power of the content. 60% find their enjoyment of the programme is unaffected by brand involvement, 29% feel more positive about a show if a brand is involved and only 11% feeling negative. In turn, 44% feel more positive about a brand after seeing it in a programme, with only 4% feeling negative.
Don’t make Ads, make TikToks – TikTok has opened a new brand division with that slogan, and is helping brands to navigate the space and get seen. Brands have been there already, but this will make it easier. Let’s hope it doesn’t ruin the place, like it has other social media.
How to run with refugees –Shots interviews Richard Bullock (Hungry Man) about his new film Run – The Athlete refugee Team story. Being produced as branded entertainment by Swiss Sports Company, ON, this film is a great representation on how Brands can get involved with media and how to take a stand on social issues.
How Musicians are Fighting for Streaming Pay during the Pandemic – There’s no way around it, no way of changing their business model, even to the point where they give 100% back to the artists, 9.99 per month (cost of a Spotify subscription) is simply not a fair price for those producing the music. Problem is – the streamers are barely surviving without VC money in this world either.
After this COVID winter comes an AI Spring – Just as the Great Recession led to the era of Big Data, Covid is predicted to bring in new innovations in AI. The reason: people are sitting at home with nothing to do, so why not try to revolutionize society?
As TikTok grapples with weightier topics, journalists are tuning in to deliver the news – TikTok may be the way forward for journalism:“People think that you can’t discuss complicated topics on TikTok, but that’s not true,” said Foster. “You just have to do it in a way that’s engaging and that’s what we should be doing as journalists anyway.” I’m not convinced that this is necessarily a good thing as a lot of weighty topics require critical thinking that can’t be done within a one minute limitation, but maybe we can push people towards that contemplation elsewhere.