Here are a few observations of the business during 2008 and for 2009 and beyond. It used to be that a lot of the mini-majors would acquire just about anything that was independently well-crafted, different, and interesting. Studio acquisition departments looked for the next unique voice that was willing to challenge the form and tell unconventional stories. This was good not only for the studios and the viewer, but also a dream come true for the many virtually unknown talented young directors. It allowed audiences to discover great new filmmakers, such as Todd Solondz (Welcome to the Dollhouse), Guy Ritchie (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch), Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Millions), David O. Russell (Flirting With Disaster), P.T. Anderson (Boogie Nights, Magnolia), Doug Liman (Go), and many others. Fortunately, most of the above are still telling well-crafted stories, albeit with larger budgets and more studio control. Plus, directors such as: Christopher Nolan (Memento) and Jon Favreau (writer of Made and Swingers) now get to direct gargantuan films such as The Dark Night and Iron Man with former independent stand-outs such as Christian Bale and Robert Downey Jr. Now, even the studio heads are getting smarter! It was great that Edward Norton got to play the Hulk! Yay!

During the course of the evolution of our business, whether it be financial or increased audience expectation, this "unique voice" process has been toned down considerably. In 2008, the Toronto Film Festival featured 300 films, from which only three were picked up. Similar results were seen in Park City at Sundance, which sent a lot of devastated directors, producers, actors, and financers home with their tails between their haunches. The life of a movie from inception to completion is approximately five years. This means that almost every independent which is lucky enough and blessed to find its way onto any screen (a miracle in and of itself) was but a glimmer in its creator's eye back in 2004! How were they supposed to know then that acquisition trends would fall off the deep end, or that our overall economy for more discerning entertainment consumption (mostly anything less than big studio tent pole titles), and everything else for that matter, might be fading?

My humble opinion is that the trend for financing, acquiring, and releasing better movies is moving increasingly toward an intensified measurable and quantifiable financial return. Please don't misunderstand, movie companies were, and always will be, focused on making money, but now they will definitely take less risks. Studios, whether they be major, mini-major (The Weinstein Company, Overture, Summit, Fox Searchlight, Focus, Miramax, Paramount Vantage, Magnolia, Sony Pictures Classics) or independent (Samuel Goldwyn, Roadside Attractions, First Look, IFC, Vivendi, Zeitgeist, Peace Arch, etc.), will now limit their development and purchases to include more predictable "genre" pictures such as thrillers, comedies, action, horror, disaster, etc. Hopefully, this decision will not kick the next Little Miss Sunshine, Sideways, or American Splendor into the gutter, unless, of course, the movie has big stars, which is an entirely different story. There has recently been a glut of star-ridden films with bankable names which dubiously appear on top-ten worst films lists everywhere. Big names alone do not make a good picture.

Plus, our business will continue to change. This year, we saw the demise of a few key releasing companies: Picturehouse (Pans Labyrinth, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Memento, Whale Rider, Y Tu Mama Tambien); Warner Independent Pictures (if Slumdog Millionaire didn't move over to Fox Searchlight, we might never have seen it!); New Line, which paired down its staff to a miniscule few; Thinkfilm (Down in the Valley, Shortbus, Born into Brothels, Murderball, Assassination of Richard Nixon) closed its doors; Paramount Vantage was consolidated into its larger parent; and Yari Film Group (Producer Superstar Bob Yari of Crash, The Illusionist, and The Painted Veil) risked everything by getting into the theatrical distribution biz.

A few studios, including Warner, IFC, and Magnolia, made a decision to release their films “day ‘n date,” with theatrical and via pay-per-view and/or DVD releasing simultaneously. The jury is still out whether or not this is a good thing for movies. Eventually, I guess it will be as the digital age matures. All films need to find an audience and visa versa, whether on the big or small screen. But as we know, that has a double-edged sword because just about anyone younger than 30 is viewing major or indie studio movies for free via peer-to-peer sites. Although Red Box vending has exploded, it is a slave to the inelasticity of its capacity and cannot always offer an optimal breadth of choices, unless, of course, it goes digital with burn or flash drive on-demand. Even though we were hoping that the economy and Blu-ray would help keep the independent “rentailers” vital, that too appears to be going in the opposite direction. Oye.

So, I ask you, what is causing this shift in the industry? Is it the economy, film funding, evolving audience tastes, tiresome character pictures (especially those interwoven dysfunctional ones), corporate efficiency consolidation, bean counter mentality, the internet, or less expensive and sometimes more interesting documentaries? My answer is yes—to all of it! This trend will make it increasingly difficult to discover the next Peter Hedges (Pieces of April), Burr Steers (Igby Goes Down, Weeds), or Tamala Webb (Slums of Beverly Hills); or the next Owning Mahoney, Babel, or Frozen River. It should raise the bar for even better and more selectively filtered filmmaking. I am hoping that the better independent filmmakers, such as Ryan Fleck (Half Nelson), Tim Blake Nelson (The Grey Zone, "O") and Phil Morrison (Junebug), will be able to continue telling compelling stories and make even bigger budget movies, like Sam Raimi did with Spiderman and as Darren Aronofsky (Pi, Requiem for a Dream) did with 2008's The Wrestler.

Another quick observation and comment is that the theatrical landscape continues to be like a greasy watermelon. One off theatrical releasing companies are popping up everywhere throughout the country and the world with very little or no money to publicize and or market their first born(s). Some of the teeny releasing companies such as Cavu, Laemmle/Zeller Films, City Lights , the start-up Senator Films (headed by Mark Urmann of the now defunct ThinkFilm), and many others may open a film at one or two theaters in NYC or SmeLla - for one week end of year, award consideration and reviews. If the yield reaps zero nominations or awards – they may never re-open it! Or – their bright eyed plans end up being the dreaded one week run at The Angelika or Landmark in NY and or The Nuart – LA, or other - and then it’s off-screen – oye vaye! These gems if lucky, end up in DVD oblivion wih ZERO awareness. How are they to ever find and audience and VISA VERSA!

Here a few to pay attention to in 2009: Sugar (Ryan Fleck), Amelia with Hillary Swank and Ewan McGregor (directed by Mira Nair of The Namesake and Monsoon Wedding), Margaret (Kenneth Lonnergan), Sunshine Cleaning, Youth in Revolt (Miguel Arteta of The Good Girl), Crossing Over (Wayne Kramer of Running Scared and The Cooler), Adventureland (Greg Mottola), The Limits of Control (Jim Jarmusch), Two Lovers (James Grey), The Soloist (Joe Wright of Atonement), The International (Tim Twyker of Run Lola Run), 17 Again (Burr Steers), Angels and Demons (Ron Howard), Shutter Island (Marty Scorsese), My Life in Ruins (basically My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 with Nia Vardarlos with returning Producer Tom Hanks,Year One (Harold Ramis), Bruno (Sasha Baron Cohen of Borat), and Where the Wild Things Are (Spike Jonze of Being John Malkovich).

Warmest, best wishes for the happiest and healthiest of new years, along with hopes for powerful, awakening cinematic storytelling!

Until the next dilated, light-of-day deprived, moving picture experience share.

-Marquee