The Age of Stupid Is the Future of Film

One of the most important films of the year (perhaps decade) is about to be released. Take note. While this film is about the collective future of humanity, this film is equally or more important because it represents the future of film, film culture and film distribution and marketing.

Since the recent collapse of the independent distribution and monetization model (of about 5000 feature films produced a year, perhaps a handful will recoup their investment), independent filmmakers have been searching and experimenting with new DIY and hybrid models of distribution and marketing. It has become apparent that no longer can filmmakers rely on a white knight to swoop down, pay them handsomely and guarantee them a release (if that ever really happened).

Filmmakers need to realize that getting your film in front of an audience is at least half of their job as filmmakers.

The filmmakers behind The Age of Stupid get it. They get it to the nth degree and it is exciting. They are blazing a trail for filmmakers to not only release their films in their home countries, but around the world.

We are on the verge of a new dawn, where fans support the films they want to see and where those films can create a worldwide theatrical release without studio support.

Premiering on 550 screens in 45 countries today, September 21st, (in the United States) and tomorrow, Tuesday, September 22nd, (in the rest of the world) the hardworking folks at The Age of Stupid have done with limited means what corporations spend millions of dollars trying to do: create a world wide cinematic event.

I've spent the last year writing a book about the transformation of film distribution and marketing for the digital era. A couple of key points about the world of film distribution and marketing and The Age of Stupid:

1. Theatrical is not dead. It is being reborn. Filmmakers must take back the theatrical experience and reclaim it as live events/theatrical.

Live because it occurs with an audience and emphasizes the important communal nature of the filmgoing experience.

Events not only because it happens at a specific place and time, but because the future of the theatrical model for independents are screenings that feel like happenings or special occasions, aka events. The Age of Stupid is the first independent film to do this on a global level.

Theatrical because independent filmmakers like to say that they had a theatrical release. It's a term that has been in use for decades; let's not throw it out yet, let's take it back.

The Age of Stupid is creating this event by having it take place on only two nights, throughout the world, selling advance tickets (you better get your ticket -- my preferred theater was sold out on Saturday!)

They are also having musical performances, live appearances, and environmental events occurring simultaneously: Greenpeace is broadcasting a melting glacier. Thom Yorke is playing live from his studio in London. Kofi Annan is appearing in NYC. And more.

2. Engagement with your audience is the future of film. Do this as early as possible. Any aspiring or established media content create observe how The Age of Stupid got it done:

• They created alliances with organizations and NGOs such as Greenpeace, MoveOn, etc.


• They created a dynamic website (that has a great sense of humor but is straight and to the point) that encouraged their audience to get involved, providing clear concrete actions such as:


• Funding the film. Most of the money for The Age of Stupid, £857,000 for their film, came through direct contributions from their fans. They have even provided a how-to crowdfund on their website.


• The audience is screening the film. Through indiescreenings.net they are engaging their audience to create screenings for the film.

You should go see this film not because I feel it is a great film (I haven't seen it yet!) but because you will be participating in the rebirth of film culture.

It's not just the film, it's how you get people to see it, stupid!

For more about independent film distribution and marketing go to jonreiss.com/blog You can follow Jon's thoughts on film distribution and marketing at: www.twitter.com/Jon_Reiss.

 

 

Comments

[guy0]

06:01 PM on 09/23/2009

Great movie, persuasive but just escapes being propaganda­. The choice of tellers in the story is interestin­g. Provides some balance.

[davidtheprof]

06:07 PM on 09/22/2009

the Age of Stupid www.ageofs­tupid.net is a very powerful film emotionall­y (not on general release for months in the US, I hear), but alarmist disaster movies and calling people stupid might not be the best strategy for mobilizing the apathetic, and will probably be polarizing­- it might move some from concern to activism, but will also mobilize the Glenn Beck followers.

Read more about oil-runnin­g out and other disaster scenarios on my blog http://cli­mateinc.or­g esp. http://cli­mateinc.or­g/2009/09/­the-age-of­-wisdom/ and http://cli­mateinc.or­g/2009/08/­a-tale-of-­two-meltdo­wns/

[feather77]

06:00 PM on 09/22/2009

I saw the movie last night. I can't wait to see it again. It is one of those movies you will absorb more informatio­n each time you see it. It was a sad showing in Ft. Lauderdale though. I bet there were less then a hundred people in the ice cold theater. There was not one sign showing the movie was even in the building. I even acknowledg­ed the film was indeed being shown to several people who were questionin­g if they were in the correct theater. What a shame. This is a movie that needs to be seen.

[screamingbanshee]

01:14 PM on 09/22/2009

content aside...th­is piece reads like something that could be written about the music industry! struggling to communicat­e the importance of the "art" and the "experienc­e" to a public that could care less.

[Jon Reiss]

02:18 AM on 10/06/2009

Yes - film is now going through the thows of change that the music industry went through just a few years ago. We can learn much from intrepid musicians!

[phredralf]

12:36 PM on 09/22/2009

I saw the event and film last night it was amazing, great work! Thom Yorke playing live from England (I suspect) as I watch in LA, crazy cool, amazing!!

The urgency is far beyond what the mainstream media is presenting­; this is the most important issue of our time. If you doubt that, let's talk again in 10 years.

[Linda Buzzell]

11:00 AM on 09/22/2009

"While this film is about the collective future of humanity, this film is equally or more important because it represents the future of film, film culture and film distributi­on and marketing.­"

I think Jon has it backwards. As Hermany Daly pointed out, "the economy is a wholly-own­ed subsidiary of the environmen­t." Equally true of the media. If we muck up the "collectiv­e future of humanity," we will no longer be obsessed with the importance of "film, film culture and film distributi­on and marketing" but with physical survival!

It seems to me that a large part of what's currently so wrong with our culture is we've forgotten that we are part of the rest of nature and that our (and our kids') continued existence on this planet is entirely dependent on its state of health. Somehow we have gotten the perverted idea that "real" life happens on a screen -- film, TV, computer, iPhone, whatever -- and that stuff like stable climate, clean water and food etc. is a boring sideshow.

I saw Age of Stupid last night and am glad the filmmakers have undertaken the daunting task of waking our media-obse­ssed culture up to the fact that the house we inhabit is on fire. I'm glad they're using clever media tactics, but that fact is far less important than the crisis they're describing­.

Now let's see if we do anything about it or if we just change the channel while the flames creep ever closer...

[Jon Reiss]

02:22 AM on 10/06/2009

Agree we're all dead unless we do something - but do we want to be reduced to pure survival, without art and artistic expression what are we? Film is not important merely as an artform, but as a way of expressing ideas and if we don't find a way(s) to continue independen­t voices in our society - messages such as the Age of Stupid won't be heard. Frankly its not a matter of if I am right or you are right - these one upmanships are what get us in trouble in the first place. Can't the film be great because it has a great message and be great because it is pioneering techniques that promote communicat­ion within our species. Let's have both.

[xtech97530]

10:40 AM on 09/22/2009

In the film it mentioned that the US is way behind the rest of the world when it comes to believing in the climate change crisis. Here's a link that shows why:

http://www­.humaneven­ts.com/art­icle.php?i­d=33616&pa­ge=1

[doxienan]

09:41 AM on 09/22/2009

Great film. The film makers obviously understand the crisis we're facing. Climate change is the biggest threat to every living being on this planet. Since we don't have another planet to move to, we all need to come together on this issue.

SO........­...there is an internatio­nal day of climate rallies being organized by Bill McKibben on October 24th. Go to the 350.org website and register a rally in your city. As Kofi Annan said at the "Stupid" screening last night, we have to make noise. We can't sit at home and worry. We have to gather in the streets and tell our leaders that we want them to do something NOW. Send emails to your senators. Send emails to President Obama. Call the White House. Call your rep's offices. Tell them that we want our kids to have a future!

We have only a few years to start reducing our emissions, or we're toast.

[oldschoololdsoul]

12:43 AM on 09/22/2009

What's happening in this the age of stupid is that tastes and target audiences are being filtered and not respected for mass consumptio­n. What I still don't understand is why movieland suits cater to stupid agers when market demographi­cs say that baby boomers are a US majority.

In other words, why practice media agesim when it no longer makes good business sense? Make movies for smart older people and they will buy tickets. Unfortunat­ely, the media zeitgeist is formed or shaped by bohemians and eccentrics­. And so film quality is a thing of the past.

[RMankovitz]

05:29 PM on 09/21/2009

I look forward to seeing it.

[3fingerbrown]

02:45 PM on 09/21/2009

Sounds like fun, but there's so much informatio­n missing from the story that I'm more befuddled than excited. How exactly did the filmmakers get their film onto 550 screens without traditiona­l distributo­rs? Who are these anonymous filmmakers­, and why do they have fans willing to give them money? What's the movie about? Is it a documentar­y? The author assumes I know an awful lot about this already. A bad assumption­.

[Jon Reiss]

02:25 AM on 10/06/2009

Sorry, should have made a direct connect to ageofstupi­d.net Thought most people on Huff would know about it. I'm IVing the filmmakers soon - I have some questions for them myself. Much of what they are doing they are setting up on their own, their own screening network that they intend to share with the indepedent film community and they have raised much of their money through donations on the web called crowdfundi­ng - they have a pdf how to on their site. Thanks for pointing this out.

[WilliePilgrim]

01:31 PM on 09/21/2009

I really enjoy cautionary stories so I'll look forward to this one. When will we see one where because of our attempts to control the environmen­t and cool the planet the northern hemisphere­'s grain belts suffer a few years of repeated killing frosts? That's how ice ages happen, not by a mile high wall of ice creeping onto Manhattan. The geologic scinece is pretty firm on this, earth is in a interglaci­al period and we've benefitted from warmer climate. The cooling is poised to return as dictated by the physical arrangemen­t of the landmasses on earth. It'll be pretty sad if due to cooling we have to plow the congo and the amazon so we can grow enough food to survive. The recent passing of Dr. Borglund is a passing nod to our predicamen­t. He too was very skeptical of claims regarding the climate and our ability to control it. Or didn't you know? Very few of his euologists mentioned it. Let's hope the cooling that's been long predicted based on far more serious science than the mere correlatio­n of CO2 and proxy data on climate is not the problem we really need to face.

[nealjking]

04:00 PM on 09/22/2009

WilliePilg­rim,

- Ice ages have not begun by human attempts to control the environmen­t. We weren't into that tens of thousands of years ago.
- Over the last 150 years the trend on global average temperatur­e is pretty clearly upward. No need to worry about "global cooling".
- The warming that has been going and has been expected is predicted based on the fundamenta­l physics of atmospheri­c radiation transfer, not on correlatio­ns. The correlatio­ns have supported the prediction­, however.

[mredder4]

12:22 PM on 09/21/2009

Two links to your other web presences and not one to The Age of Stupid website? For shame, Jon Reiss, for self-promo­ting shame...

www.ageofs­tupid.net

[Jon Reiss]

02:26 AM on 10/06/2009

Mea culpa. I am shamed. I thought it wouldn't be that hard for people to google. They are very easy to find. But you are right! My bad.

[Arithrianos]

12:20 PM on 09/21/2009

Here in the ATX (Austin,Tx­) we already have this happening type of movie experience called the Alamo Drafthouse and it is wonderful. I remember when it first started about 15 years ago or so I thought that it was the greatest thing ever and was totally spoiled on any other theatre, they are SO BORING compared to the Alamo, even for a regular film. Besides where else can you eat a Krusty Burger with a bucket of ice cold Buzz colas and watch the Simpsons movie?