The art form which gave birth to the modern film industry is theatre. A written story–either a book or a screenplay–is brought to life via the creative vision of the director. The director is the man or woman behind-the-scenes who creates the story as it unfolds through the actors and crew who have taken up the various roles they have been casted to play in a said film.
The earnings generated from a for-profit film comes from numerous revenue streams. This includes: theatrical exhibition, home video, television broadcast rights as well as merchandising. There is a strong relationship between the genre of the film and its profitability. Traditionally, war films, musicals and historical dramas have been the most popular genres.
In the 21st century, however, franchise films in the superhero genre became the best performers. Blockbuster and commercial films vary significantly from independent films in terms of their content and their audience.
Independent films are distinguished from their commercial counterparts through the way in which the filmmaker’s vision is delivered. They tend to focus on social issues and avoid formulaic plot lines. While the budget of an independent film tends to be significantly smaller, an independent film production can rival a commercial film production in both its commercial success as well as critical acclaim.
As with other forms of media, the availability of new technologies has accelerated the democratisation of filmmaking and the growth of independent films. The economic side of filmmaking is also less of an obstacle than it was before as the financial backing of a major studio is no longer as critical as it once was to a movie’s success.
It seems that if you have a story to tell, you can do it through the reel.
The Mercantile 