While Spielberg & Lucas Predict "Implosion" of the Film Industry, Micro-Budget Filmmakers Thrive

Orlando, FL, March 26, 2014 --(PR.com)-- Recently, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas delivered an alarming outlook on the film industry in which Spielberg predicted the “implosion” of the film industry. Apparently, micro-budget filmmakers such as Robert Barnwell have failed to get the message.

As Spielberg and Lucas explained, major studios are increasingly under threat from high theater ticket pricing, spiraling costs, and an ever-increasing number of alternative entertainment options for moviegoers. In contrast, micro-budget filmmakers are benefiting from low-cost digital cameras and production technologies as well as direct digital distribution channels such as YouTube, Vimeo, iTunes, NetFlix and Hulu.

By leveraging these new technologies and distribution channels, Robert, a micro-budget filmmaker from Orlando, explains that independent filmmakers are able to produce films for a fraction of the cost of the major studios while forging direct relationships with their audiences.

Robert’s production company, Subic Bay Films (www.subicbayfilms.com), is nearing completion of a political-military action film entitled Special Operations Group: Salvation (www.facebook.com/sogsalvation). Filmed in and around Orlando, the short film focuses on an elite Marine Special Operations Command team on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao.

As Robert explains, “Industry analysts tend to focus on the fact that the new technology allows independent filmmakers to produce quality films cheaply. And that’s true. But what they miss is the fact that the Internet and social media have allowed audiences to form a strong relationship with the filmmakers and the film long before the film is completed. At Subic Bay, we maintain Facebook fan pages for each of our films from the moment they enter development. Fans can read our comments and see behind-the-scenes pictures and videos of the film as it is created. Just as importantly, we are also able to directly communicate with our fans wherever they might hang out on the web... such as web groups, forums, and other sites.”

The low cost of production and distribution also means that market-focused micro-budget filmmakers are increasingly able to make profits for themselves and their investors outside of the studio system. The major studios, on the other hand, anticipate loosing money on eight or nine out of every 10 films they produce… hoping that the one or two profitable films will offset the losses from the others.

“The media like to focus on the success of independent movies like Paranormal Activity and The Blair Witch Project … both of which were shot for less than $25,000 and went on to make hundreds of millions of dollars. But the real success lies in the fact that there are literally hundreds of micro-budget films being profitably produced each and every year that most people will never read about,” says Robert.