The Democratization of Film and Television - Everything But the Money

Everyone knows that the technical costs of producing video have sunk in the past ten years.  Owning an edit used to be a venture that was upwards of 80K, now you can edit on the Macbook and buy one for just under 2K.  We've also seen the same happen with the capture systems - a beta cam used to cost as much as a car, now you can shoot on a 3 CCD DV camera which you can get for upwards of 2k.  Even distributing you material on the internet is free - however just don't expect to get paid.

With film and video production becoming so ubiquitous why haven't we seen more of a resurgence in independent productions?   It seems like the last time independent cinema was experiencing a resurgence was the hey day of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodrigues.  Back then they were still shooting everything on film, a much more expensive medium.   So now with Camera and edit systems much more accessible how come we haven't seen a boom?

My theory is that although its cheaper to shoot and edit video its still needs some sort of financing system.   We've seen the entry points to getting the equipment lowered, but the entry point to getting financed and paid for your work is still mysteriously beyond reach.  

I could make a great documentary - pay for it out of my own pocket - but if I can't find a distributor I'm out so many days and dollars.   This is why all we're really seeing out of the democratization of video is short form video and documentaries.  Scripted material seems to have no place in this movement other than short comedy sketches.   

So what needs to happen to the industry for an independent video producer to make money without producing branded entertainment or doing freelance work for the networks?  

Here's my theory - we need some sort of video micro-financing system.  I was browsing Pop Tech! the other day and I stumbled upon this interesting idea from Jessica Flannery who runs the site Kiva.org.  Now I know her idea is much more worthy - she's alleviating poverty - but why can't we have something similar for independent productions? If we did have a Kiva-esquw site - professionals who work on productions  for spec can recoup.  This would also lead to a built in audience for a lot of productions because whoever invested in the idea could also help in marketing the production through social networks.  It also would give audiences a stake in what's being produced so maybe audiences could counteract the mob mentality of hollywood producers - hey guys how about one more super hero movie while your at it.  

I think with the democratization of film financing we also need the democratization of commercial film distribution.   Now I know that everyone thinks this is a tricky thing to do  but there is one person who could step in to make this a lot easier - I'm looking at you Steve Jobs. 

If the itunes store would take any videos - not just ones from major distributors we could democratize the whole process.   A filmmaker could make a film of any length and sell it on line.   A filmmaker could make money without having to go to any meetings and he or she could build a following that supported their style of production - not hollywood's.   One could theoretically make indies for the rest of your life without ever having to get a big Hollywood star involved and sink the money into important things like the story and production.

I hope Steve is headed this way because frankly nothing is on cable right now.