The enemy in a friends clothing:

It has been a long time since I wrote my last blog about the indie film industry, so let’s take a look at my latest rant. Exclusion and the gate keepers seeping from the main stream into the indie film world.

So, let’s start with Gatekeeping in the independent film industry, here are some of the gate keepers who keep competent filmmakers out of the loop.

Finance, this can come from many sources so let’s start with the most difficult one first, the gate keeper that is funding, this source comes from the likes of the BFI who expect to receive up to 1,000 applications and will only be able to fund around 30 of these per annum. This is for the BFI NETWORK England short film funding which funds grant awards of between £5,000 to £25,000. As you can imagine this is an extremely difficult process to complete given what they require from you as the filmmaker, take a look for yourself by clicking the links BFI Application along with the BBC’s small indie fund  which is equally as difficult.

You may want to try and get investors involved; however, this may bring its own troubles to your door. Ask yourself what role will the investors play, do they have any artistic licence input into the film, what return do they expect, what ownership rights do they have. I have seen how this has gone wrong within our own community where films have been made and now live in limbo due to issues involving ownership rights. If you go down this path ensure you have legal advice as your investor may become the gate keeper of your film.

You could go down the road of presales, but remember once you have that money in your pocket you then become in debt to the people who have pre brought copies of your film before its even made. Disgruntled customers will become the gate keepers of your reputation for which you may not recover. You must remember a man’s word is his bond.

The safest way is to save and self-fund or if you are willing to put in the hard work go down the road of crowd funding, if you do this then make sure it’s a project that is worth the investment.

Maybe I’m a bit cynical, I feel you will be supported by all the community when you are at the bottom, but when you start to rise the social media likes will start to disappear. A bit like what is going to happen to me once people read this blog. If you are just starting out you might find it difficult to break into the film world clique because you’re not connected. However, be warned once you are in the clique the eventual outcome will be only the people who will get to watch your films will be the clique itself, your time in this circle will depend on when the gate keepers of said clique decide to drop the sword of Damocles on your head.        

This brings me nicely to my next gate keeper, Film festivals. The organisers of some of these festivals, and I would like to reiterate not all festivals, but a few. Some will choose which low-budget films get seen based on which cliques you’re in, or what friends you have. if these festivals only show their friends films or the films of those who they need to cosy up to, then these festivals will eventually self-harm. The final outcome of this will be no one other than your clique will come to the festival, along with any respect other filmmakers once had would disappear along with the credibility of the people who run the festivals, who will occasionally throw a bone to the outsiders. This is starting to feel like the close shop of the main stream Oscars, it should never be about your friends they should know themselves if their film isn’t up to it, I feel it must always be on merit as that is what makes us better. It really makes no odds if the film isn’t great, it just needs to be judged the same way as other submitted films, in the same way as these cliques should be judged by their merit and not by privilege. I know a guy in the indie scene who runs a film festival who very rarely puts films in from the indie community. Its not because he dislikes the filmmaker or the film, he knows what his audience likes, for me Andrew is a man of integrity, as is the one they call the governor. Unfortunately, if your experience is of an outsider and you have no real desire to return to the festival then more than likely they are a gatekeeper.

So, you have made your film, and just like Sarah, you have made it to the Goblin City near Jareth's castle, you have managed with great difficulty and cunning to navigate past all the previous gate keepers and make it all the way to the distribution stage. This is the stage you need to tread with extreme caution, there are wolves waiting at this gate keepers gate. Some in the film world say this is where the negotiation starts, however in most cases this is where the distributor offers you unrealistic terms, takes your film for free, holds the rights to all your hard work, and gives you the bullshit expectation of financial gain and massive exposure. How exciting, the distributor now has the power to decide if your film gets the exposure it deserves and needs. Once the agreement is signed the devil distributor shall cut the film, why because they have the power to do so and you have given them that power. Then they change the name of the film because they know best and replace the art work with a generic art look that appeals to the bulk pound shop buyers. But hold on, don’t despair the distributor will put your film on media platforms such as Amazon, or their YouTube channel. I’m pretty sure you can do that yourself, so again the distributor exerts its power and control over the sort of access your film is given.

So, to sum up my latest rant, as a working-class man who feels the working class is under represented in both the film and indie film world I agree with the statement that Unpaid internships, informal networking, and high costs of living in media hubs like London make it difficult for lower-income individuals to sustain a fair chance. I feel Equity, diversity and inclusion from other under-represented groups across the film spectrum including Black, Asian, disabled, women and LGBTQIA2S+ community that the whole industry is overlooking some extremely exceptional talent by not having a more even spread.

I’m certainly not against wealth or education, or the fact that you should show your friends films, my point is if your good enough you should get the gig. the same way if you are not good enough your privilege and wealth should not buy you opportunity neither should your Virtue signalling. To balance this, I also feel we should not be using forced diversity or tokenism which is a practice that all groups should find disrespectful, your talent should always do the talking. I understand that all these gate keepers need to make money and in most cases are a business, however without filmmakers especially indie filmmakers you wouldn’t have a business so why are the filmmakers treated so badly. this is my point.

This is my opinion and I remind people I’m intitled to an opinion as are you, we must remember opinions are only right to ourselves and debate and understanding all sides is the mother of democracy. Be your own gate keeper and answer to no one

Bazz Hancher

White Raven Films      

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