I agree with him too. That's why I think the totally indie route is the best creatively. The catch in Hollywood is that you have to engage with people that have no imagination and need to look at your work through a shared prism of understanding in order to categorize it for sale and profit. They must be able to turn art into commodity and that takes a standardized package. Sadly this is where we're at but I think the new media frontier is going to change that dramatically. I can see the day when totally indie filmmakers develop a following and self distribute their work across the web for a fraction of a movie ticket price. These new era artists may never make the huge glamorous paychecks of today but they will be able to make a better than average living and be in total control. Think of the future filmmaker as a visual, self-publishing novelist. We're all Chaplin's now.

"Chaplins"

Michael, you and I are in sync on this. Depending upon how The Quest and this site evolves, I have some ideas re indie movies, distribution and marketing, obviously on a small scale. But since as of yet, no one has cracked the revenue nut yet, it's important to explore all avenues. But it does seem like what has happened with music and books on the self-publishing front is a template for movies and video story content. That said, no reason not to include pursuing big traditional deals through major studios and mini-majors if a writer's inclination is toward mainstream commercial fare. Why not go at both angles?

I watched "The Burning Plain" and "21 Grams" some months back and listened to BAFTA's seminar with Mr. Arriaga shortly therafter. I fell for him even harder after listening to him. He is the king of non-linear storytelling in my opinion.