eighteen ways/ lesson four, five, six

[see original post/ lessons one, two, three]

Learn/Evolve:

everyone likes to quote William Goldman's line about the movie industry, but it has never been truer that no one knows anything now. the ways films were financed and sold for the last 15 years are no longer do-able. audiences don't consume the way they used to. there is no acquisition market, and no business model has emerged for earning significant revenue on the internet. people have been convinced that hardware should be expensive whereas content should be free (i.e. creators have become the advertisers for the manufacturers). we have the tools to build a new model, but our ability to use them is rather limited. it's time to try new things and if you aren't learning new things on a regular basis you might as well admit defeat now. build experimentation into your daily regime, into your business plan.

Migrate:

although this is close to "Learn/Evolve," migration is a specific form. as much as we need to strengthen the net, we have to extend our web's reach. we have to both give and take. cinema requires a global awareness and participation. specificity is universal. you aren't just making your work for friends and family, unless it is the Family of Man (to borrow an inaccurate phrase). travel and source. bring it back home. give it away. extend your reach and modify your inputs, but cross borders. it is a global community, and the more we embrace that, the stronger we will be.

Aim Higher With Content Quality:

for years the movie business flourished because not enough material was available. now everything is there for the viewing when you want it, where you want it, and how you want it. as a filmmaker today, you are competing against everything that came before you. yet also as a filmmaker you have the benefit of having access to all of film history that has preceded you. you get to see what others have done, but you have to take it one step further. since you can no longer win by getting there first, you have no choice but to try to do it better.

though specifically written with film as the subject in mind, the basic idea is truth for such a variety of other mediums.