Name: Are Streamers Killing Indie Films, or Transforming Them?
Uploaded: 2024-09-18T19:04:50.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Are Streamers Killing Indie Films, or Transforming Them?' from Theo Von Clips on Comedy Buff. Published 2024-09-18. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Are Streamers Killing Indie Films, or Transforming Them?' from Theo Von Clips on Comedy Buff. Published 2024-09-18. Transcript available.

I feel like there's less comedy movies these days. Would you agree with that?
No, I think there are less movies, period.
Okay. Is it a lot of like, there's a lot of almost comic book type movies and
universes
that are the, those are the movies now. Does that feel weird to you? Because
they're not weird to
you. You're like, what are your thoughts on that? That it's like, I don't know
if one, like,
like has eliminated the other, but it's just kind of, um, like, why is that?
Why do we see these
big, huge things? But it's, it's feels tougher to, for somebody to create, um,
just like a good
comedy these days. I think good comedy went to TV and to streaming, um, because
they needed to fill
coffers quick, you know, fill programming schedules quick. So, or like did
there's a lot of Marvel
universes and all the comic book universes, did they kill off like this, the,
the guy a hundred
percent? No, uh, studios like to make money, they're in the business to make
money. I don't
think a comic book movie has made them go like, let's give up on the middle mid
range. They're
just like, look, more risk, more reward. And then when I first started, you had,
there was television,
there was movies. Now there are many more options and many more places to go.
So instead
of doing, you know, and you'll see it like an eight or six or eight episode
show where you're
like, could have done in three. It's because like a lot of people are like, all
right, I'm
gonna take my idea that was for a feature and stretch it out into a show. So I
think, you
know, nevermind comedy, I'd be more curious, Hey, where'd the indie film go?
Yeah. Um, but
I think the indie film moved, was taken over by Netflix. Once Netflix came in,
number one,
they started buying cheap movies. And number two, they started making
programming. That
was kind of interesting. They went to other countries and they were like, who
are your top
filmmakers? Here's money. Go make TV shows and stuff. And that's where all the
interesting
ideas are going and finding a home. You're a somebody who wants to tell an offbeat
story.
And you're looking at this Sisyphean task of like, I got to roll this fucking boulder
up the hill. Like every time I make a movie, it's like, fuck, here we go. It's
going to
be fucking tough. Or you walk into these cats and they're like, what's it about?
How esoteric
is it? Interesting. Go ahead. Can you make it six episodes? Can you make it
eight? That's
preferable. And that's where all the interesting programming has slowly gravitated
to now. So
you're saying some of the indie movies have actually become television shows. I
think indie
filmmakers or people that make things off the beaten path stories that don't
necessarily fall
into the big budget equation have wound up going to streaming. Like, you know,
what was fucking
Jason Bateman's show? Ozark. Yeah. It's an indie film. This just happens to be
a series that went
on for a bunch of episodes because they're like, hey, we like it. Do it again.
Instead of getting
a sequel, you just get another season. That's a good point. It's like, it was
almost like there's
a secret gay guy at the lake. It was like people playing gay Clue at the lake.
Remember?
Because like that one guy in Ozark. Yeah. I didn't watch the whole show. And I'm
just using
an example. It started to get redundant. Like it started to get. For some
reason, I really want
to play gay Clue. Does that exist? No, they should have that. Right. Right.
Like he did it. Yeah.
It was right. It was like, what do you use the candlestick for? They'll like
find out.
Samuel's been in the billiard room for a while. In the conservatory. Not being
very conservative.
Wow. I've never used that to cue my pool stick before. What's that thing called?
To chalk?
I've never chalked that way. Yeah. So that's interesting. I think that's part
of it. Believe
me, I'm not like, and that's exactly what happened. No, it's cool though. I
think that's part of it.
I think, you know, Netflix came in, disrupted the business, as we all know, in
a way that at first
people were like, yeah. And now people are like, wait a second. In the
aftermath, nothing existed
existed the way that existed before. Television viewership is like down to
almost nothing so much
so that major studios are writing off entire network divisions and stuff like
that. Devaluing
television in order to get a write off. So once Netflix came in and said, hey,
this is how we're
doing it. And then every other company was like, well, shit, we got to do what
they're doing. And
they started doing streaming and whatnot. It just really, it broke the model.
It's kind of nuts.
So right now, I think if you're a person that likes to tell off the beaten path
stories,
or if what we used to call back in the day, an indie filmmaker, now's the time
to shine. I think
there's a moment that's going on right now where entertainment, like the way
people are getting
their entertainment, of course, has completely changed over the last 10 years,
but theatrical
consumption has been way off since COVID. And some people wonder if like, will
people ever go back to
movies the way they used to and blah, blah, blah. They're not going to go
unless you give them
something they can't get anyplace else. So they'll go to the theaters to see
Deadpool Wolverine.
Cause like, I ain't going to be able to watch this at home for like six months.
So fuck it.
But what if you tell them a story going back to your voices, your currency,
they've never heard
before. And the only place they could see it is in a theater. And right now
theaters are hurting.
So they'll fucking take anybody. It doesn't matter. It used to be tough to get
screens now. Are you
fucking kidding me? You can make a deal with AMC private deal with your own
independent movie where
you're like, I can, I get a hundred screens and we'll do a door split or
whatever the fuck it's
possible because movie theaters as a movie theater exhibitor, I know this for a
fact, we would kill
or die to have people come in, you know, back in the day, I made this movie,
the four 30 movie.
And it's about how, and this is your new film. This is the new film that's
coming out September 13th.
Um, in the eighties, we used to pay for one movie and then jump from theater to
theater to theater to
go see movies for free. I own that movie theater that I used to do that. And we
get caught. You
might get the risk of being banned from that theater for fucking life. If I
caught you walking into another
movie theater after you paid for only one movie theater, my movie theater, I'd
be like, that's great.
Just buy some popcorn. Would you, you could stay as long as you fucking want.
Call your friends.
Yeah. Have them come just to get fucking bodies through the goddamn door.
Imagine you're an indie
filmmaker who's wants to say the thing nobody has ever fucking said before in a
film per se.
We're just using film as an example. Fuck. Now is your time. Like, uh, you
could actually make a
thing and have it be in a goddamn movie theater. And then if you do even the tiniest
bit of business
with your movie in a movie theater these days, that's a fucking story. Yeah.
And that also has,
it's been proven like through the algorithm when, uh, Amazon did air Ben Affleck's
movie air,
they put it in theaters and they spent AIR about air Jordans, the history of
the air.
Oh yeah.
Sneaker. Um, they put it in theaters traditionally and spent money on
advertising, even though Amazon
has prime and really, they probably thought it would go right there, but they
were like, you know what,
let's see what it would be like to release a movie. Like, you know, Amazon and
other streamers broke
the theatrical model and here they're going like, wouldn't it be novel? Like us
with Smodcast going
like, wouldn't it be weird if somebody paid for an ad on our show? These cats
are like, wouldn't it be
novel if we put the movie out and paid for ads and people saw a trailer and
then went to the movies
to see it. Would it make it more valuable when we then put it on prime? And it
did naturally.
They found the same thing out on Netflix movies that go the traditional route,
the way that
everybody expects. I've seen a commercial for that on TV. That will be a
primary choice on Netflix
rather than a Netflix made for Netflix movie that may have the biggest fucking
stars on the planet on
it in it, but you will pass it by. Yeah. It feels crazy. So there's something
about just watching a
movie that's just on Netflix or on a street. Isn't that crazy? Yeah. There is,
there is a value to
putting something in a theater. Still, it gives it this kind of panache.
Thank you.