Film is having a renaissance period and it has been for the last couple of years. This is great as the entertainment industry is inching closer and closer back to a paradigm where artistic expression and commercial interest will be on the same level of importance instead of commercial success and the many different strategies that studios continue to employ to ensure that success is given priority.
To be clear, I am only 17 years old, but I have seen a lot of films and feel that I have a very good grasp of the way that the industry operates. I say all of that to say that from what I could see, the way that film was being made industry-wide had instilled a fear in me. I felt that the quality signified that something was bringing the ability for filmmakers to express themselves in both artistically explorative and competently made ways was fastly coming to an end. And I have the proof to back it up.
Terrible sequels, some of the worst written television in decades, a market that was being flooded to the brim by blockbuster films that can no longer make their money back due to their release windows, creatives reacting to the “Culture War” (Stupid name for a stupid concept), and overall just a sense of jaded and almost soulless film products being released made me, as young as 10 years old, afraid for where the industry was going. Obviously, all of the things listed here are problems that can be traced back to way before my lifetime but it seems like the issues have only gotten worse as I have grown up.
Then when the pandemic happened, myself and all of my peers who were invested in film felt like this would be a nice refresher and reset for the industry. “Avengers: Endgame” had come out and capitalized on the huge cultural moment that it was so this was the perfect time to take a beat and for everyone to plan for the future. Instead all of the corporations who control the larger shares of the industry doubled-down on their practices to horrible results.
In the last year, both Disney and Time-Warner have lost billions upon billions of dollars because of their inability to release quality content for consumers. And on top of that, there was how they acted during the strike, but that’s another topic for another time. The point is, the corporations took a hit during the pandemic, just like everyone else, but unlike everyone else, they did nothing differently the moment they were given a chance and are now facing the consequences of those actions. However, something tells me they are going to continue their same practices.
On the other hand, many companies who could barely squeeze out 50 million dollars from a box office (which is not as much as it sounds), are now the homes to a variety of new cultural phenomena. Blumhouse, A24, and many others have risen to become household names in the last decade, not because of financial backing from a major studio or the ownership of a famous franchise, but all because of the films they choose to put out and the consistent quality coming from them.
As far as I’m concerned, with how fed-up audiences are becoming, how tight money is becoming the in the U.S. meaning that people are more selective with their entertainment, and how well the new studios have managed to cement their excellent track records, I say that the film industry is in good hands and may be in for a return to form soon.