Recent content by Michael

I think many big-budget films no longer look physically “captured” they look endlessly processed. Older films felt like real moments preserved on camera. A lot of modern blockbusters feel overly cleaned, optimized and polished until all texture disappears. Ironically, audiences now seem to...

Something I keep hearing more often lately is that the classic independent film financing money has not disappeared it has simply shifted. Some of the more serious financing conversations now seem to come increasingly from Middle Eastern investor circles, certain Asian partners, and European...

Great to see more London-based indie projects heating up for the late summer pipeline. Mandy is always a standard go-to, but it’s definitely useful to have these hyper-local listings pop up across different platforms. Whenever my team is spinning up a new project and looking to expand our post...

I think the traditional flat 20% model is becoming outdated. If a sales agent is simply forwarding emails between buyers and producers, then 20% feels excessive. But if they are risking their own capital, offering an MG, funding market screenings, or genuinely pushing territory-by-territory...

I think one of the biggest problems right now is that too many films are still being made as if it were 2018. A lot of producers spend years financing and shooting a film, but almost no time thinking about who is actually going to buy it, how it will be marketed, or why audiences would even...

What’s becoming very clear in 2026 is that Virtual Production is no longer replacing filmmaking problems it’s relocating them. A lot of indie producers still focus almost entirely on LED wall costs, while underestimating the real bottleneck: the technical crew capable of keeping the illusion...

What many streaming executives still underestimate is that audiences are no longer comparing platforms only against each other they are comparing them against their total monthly cost of living. Once subscriptions start competing psychologically with groceries, fuel, or utility bills, churn...

I think one of the biggest shifts happening now is that audience-building is starting to influence financing decisions as well. More investors, sales agents, and distributors are paying attention to whether a project already has some level of visibility, community, or measurable audience...

I think another major shift is that indie films are no longer competing only against other films. They are competing against infinite distraction. A viewer opens Netflix, YouTube, TikTok, gaming platforms or social media and instantly has thousands of entertainment options fighting for...

One of the most interesting changes in recent years is that the Marché is becoming less about simple film sales, and much more about project positioning. Years ago, many companies arrived in Cannes mainly with finished films looking for territorial buyers. Today, a large part of the...

Good points I think the real shift here is how greenlighting changes after consolidation. At this scale, studios optimize for predictability, not volume. That means fewer bets, bigger IP-driven projects, and much stricter criteria overall. It’s not just that mid-budget films get squeezed, it’s...

Really well put and honestly this is exactly what we’re seeing on the ground right now. What’s interesting is that micro-genres aren’t just a creative shift, they’re a risk management tool. From a producer’s perspective, a clearly defined niche with a predictable audience is simply easier to...

This isn’t just a temporary distortion it looks increasingly like a structural shift in how the industry allocates capital. Mid-budget films used to function as the industry’s R&D layer. They were where new directors proved themselves, where original ideas could be tested with real production...

Most people don’t get stuck in the film industry because of lack of talent they get stuck because no one ever tells them they’re not moving forward. From our side, most hires don’t come from traditional job posts at all. We usually find people through targeted platforms like Staff Me Up or...

From an industry perspective, The Dark Knight is often elevated to (masterpiece) status, but I think that’s largely due to Heath Ledger’s performance rather than the film as a whole. Structurally, it’s quite uneven, with pacing issues and an overextended third act. Nolan’s direction is...