As the pandemic stretches on, I’ve noticed friends and family seek out lighter fare on TV and streaming platforms. Friends, How I Met Your Mother, and the like.¹ They’re bouncing off prestige² shows faster than ever. No one wants to see hard narratives. Life is hard enough, and what people are looking for is escapism.

I briefly mentioned in a previous post that every film faced distribution challenges during the pandemic. Everyone is trying to figure out how to make movies during the lockdown, and then, sell the movies to make enough money so that you can make the next one.

In an article for Moneycontrol, Indian producers talk about how difficult the lockdown restrictions, even when they are eased, have made productions. Working hours are shorter (night shoots are next to impossible), and all the work needs to be done in a bio-bubble. Everyone working on the film needs to be paid their regular wages, no doubt about that, but it does mean that schedules will run longer if working days are shorter. Night shoots are practically impossible. Bio-bubbles being enforced mean that producers have to bear the cost of accommodation as well.³

Denis Villeneuve has cast doubt on his Dune duology being completed if WB releases the first part directly to HBO Max. Emily Blunt mentioned in an interview that it’s unlikely that the sequel to Edge of Tomorrow would happen because the budget for a film like that would be too large. It would be unlikely to make its money back.

Guaranteed blockbusters like Suryavanshi are being held back until theatres reopen. Others are heading straight to streaming services. WB and Disney are experimenting with different release strategies. Tenet was a theatrical release, while Mulan was released to Disney+ with for an additional fee before going free to all subscribers a few months later.

Right now, Scarlett Johansson and Disney are in a legal suit based on how the release strategy for Black Widow has affected her compensation. Black Widow may have set box office records during the pandemic, but it’s looking to be one of the lowest grossing films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Streamed films do not generate box office returns and a lot of compensation and production budgets are dependent on them.

So where does that leave indies?

This was one of the major points being discussed during Marché du Film. How does independent film survive in an environment where audiences are seeking out comfort fare? Where theatrical releases are not always an option and digital distribution does not favour immediate returns?

There are a few options available:

• Waiting to release the film when theatres reopen,
• Releasing it to streaming services, or
• Self release and distribution.

Waiting to release is an option that requires a lot of faith and a lot of money. Not that you have to have a lot of money, but that you have to be okay with having the money tied up with the film until you can release it to theatres. And you limit your options for new projects that you might not have the capital for. I’ll be honest – waiting that long is a terrifying prospect. You’re waiting for theatres to open, for audiences to be ready to tackle challenging cinema, and finally, hoping that the film you’ve created hasn’t missed its moment.

Streaming services are the option that everyone suggests. Why don’t you release your film on Amazon Prime or Netflix, they ask. What they imagine is selling a film to a streaming platform for a large sum of money. The reality for a lot of indies is far more like putting your film up on YouTube and hoping that someone will watch it.

Those are not the only options, of course. There are dedicated platforms for any kind of cinema that you can think of. The biggest name in Arthouse Cinema streaming is MUBI, and they run a very tightly curated selection of films.

But getting a film onto a streaming service is not the easiest option, and brings an ever-present risk of piracy with it. A filmmaker I recently spoke with said that it didn’t matter that his film was available for ₹30 on a streaming platform or on YouTube. People were instead watching it on Telegram channels that were sharing a ripped version of the film.

And you still have to market your film to any potential viewers – viewers who are spoiled for choice and currently seeking out comfortable content.⁴

Speaking of doing your own marketing, there’s the third option: self release and pay-per-view distribution. This is a slow process – because this is where you have to do all the work. Like in the previous option, you have to cast a wide net, getting the attention of viewers around the world who might watch the film, then give them a way to easily watch it, and finally, figure out how to make them pay for the film. It can be a long, slow process.

I’ve seen filmmakers do this. The one that sticks out in my mind is how Sandeep Mohan got his film Hola Venky in front of audiences. I watched the film at a co-working space where he projected the film from his laptop onto a wall and used the venue’s speakers for sound. At the end, he hosted a Q&A and asked that we contribute what we felt comfortable contributing.

No matter which option you take, it’s nerve-wracking. It’s also really exciting. It feels like the start of a rollercoaster, where you’re slowly being pulled to the top before going into a dive, or looking at a jigsaw puzzle immediately after you’ve dumped it on a table to start assembling it.