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"As Hollywood faces grim times, there's a silver lining for 2009," writes Variety columnist Anne Thompson. "If the studios, God forbid, are forced by the credit crunch to make fewer, less expensive films and spend their own money producing them (as the L.A. Times reports in this grim forecast written before the SAG strike looked less likely), they will take less risks, yes, but they'll also pay more attention to making strong commercial films with a market niche. In short, they will make better films."
I agree but in a slightly different way. Having tons of money to burn has never upped the quality of creativity for anyone or anything, and having less money always results in more discipline and a lot of honing, which tends to result in better work. Martin Scorsese had loads of dough to work with on Gangs of New York and look what happened. And he was working on a relative shoestring when he made The Last Temptation of Christ and look what happened.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on January 3, 2009 at 12:30 PM
Essentials
comment #1
corey3rd
says ...
But it's not about merely spending less money on production budgets - it's about the marketing budgets. That's the endless pit at this point. You can make cheaper films, but can you market them with less advertising dollars?
Posted by corey3rd
at January 3, 2009 1:14 PM
comment #2
CitizenKanedforChewingGum
says ...
Wait...when did GoNY become an example of a bad movie?
Posted by CitizenKanedforChewingGum
at January 3, 2009 1:31 PM
comment #3
Gordie Lachance
says ...
Yeah, especially since Hollywood is the only business in America that made MORE money this year then last. It's going to get harder for them to fabricate their 'losses'.
Posted by Gordie Lachance
at January 3, 2009 1:42 PM
comment #4
D.Z.
says ...
Does GoNY count? After all, Harvey screwed with Marty's vision of the film, so it might not have been what was intended. I did like his work on The Aviator, which only had a slightly lower budget than GoNY. Also, the Departed was bloated and overpriced, too, but people still gave that one a pass.
Posted by D.Z.
at January 3, 2009 2:09 PM
comment #5
Edward
says ...
If directors and actors agreed to work for less than their usual millions, the budgets wouldn't balloon either. Hire me, I'd be happy to work for $100,000. How many millions does a person need?
Posted by Edward
at January 3, 2009 2:10 PM
comment #6
Phatang!
says ...
I'm not sure how anyone can come to the conclusion that spending less means better films. Niche" films mean "Mamma Mia" and "Saw," not "Che." Also, it doesn't mean Last Temptation of Christ -- just because that was made for less, doesn't mean it wasn't a product of free spending. If any of this is for real (and I think it is) all it means is that there will be fewer risks taken on "execution dependent" movies, and more factory films made to market to a predetermined audience.
Posted by Phatang!
at January 3, 2009 2:37 PM
comment #7
Chicago48
says ...
Entertainment is always a good sector. It hasn't asked for a rescue bailout like the other industries.
Posted by Chicago48
at January 3, 2009 3:16 PM
comment #8
DeafBrownTrashPunk
says ...
Jeffrey, you said it best:
Having tons of money to burn has never upped the quality of creativity for anyone or anything, and having less money always results in more discipline and a lot of honing, which tends to result in better work.
yep, yep. some of the finest films i've seen coming out of American cinema tend to be independent films, while big budget studio movies are just craptastic.
Posted by DeafBrownTrashPunk
at January 3, 2009 4:24 PM
comment #9
CitizenKanedforChewingGum
says ...
I don't know, guys...I have seen some pretty awful independent movies. I think the hit/miss ratio overall is actually about the same as your big-budget studio films. I suppose when you get right down to it, maybe they're just more forgivable because they have less to work with, at least in my eyes.
Posted by CitizenKanedforChewingGum
at January 3, 2009 6:10 PM
comment #10
dangovich
says ...
Whatever Dante Ferretti laid out recreating 1860s NYC was money well spent.
Posted by dangovich
at January 3, 2009 9:28 PM
comment #11
Bilge
says ...
Everybody better chill out on the GoNY hating. That movie's the best Spaghetti Western made by someone not named Sergio or Duccio. Jeff, you clearly meant to say NEW YORK, NEW YORK.
Posted by Bilge
at January 3, 2009 9:51 PM
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