What’s Next For Indie Filmmakers Post-Pandemic?

Slowly but surely, the industry is moving towards a post-pandemic state. But with major film studios and investors rushing to make up for lost business, where does that leave independent filmmakers?

To explore this subject, the SAG-AFTRA President’s Task Force on Education, Outreach & Engagement hosted Filmmaking Post Pandemic on June 15. The panel was streamed in partnership with SAGindie and originally aired as part of their four-part Working Through series. 

Panelists included Marginal MediaWorks Head of Film Milan Chakraborty (My Friend Dahmer), producer and Blackhouse Foundation board member Pauline Fischer (They Call Me Dolemite), producer and Factory 25 founder Matt Grady (The Great Pretender), entertainment attorney Jonathan Gray, and Caddy Vanasirikul (Shimmer Lake), the head of acquisitions and productions for The Exchange, a Los Angeles-based global film and sales finance company. Filmmaker and SAGindie New York Consultant Michael Sládek served as moderator. 

Together, the group reflected on the experiences of indie filmmakers following the industry’s slow reopening. Fischer and Vanasiriku noted studios beginning to gravitate toward more “feel good” content such as comedies and coming-of-age films, while others discussed some of the financial obstacles filmmakers are now facing. 

“Doing low-budget films are costing more than they did a year ago, and if you have a decently sized crew and cast, it all starts to add up,” said Grady. 

Panelists went on to forecast other challenges that may arise within the film festival circuit. Throughout the years, studios have purchased films that have performed well at popular festivals as they have the potential to perform well in domestic and global box offices. However, the group considered the possibility of that trend changing and spoke about the importance of planning ahead. 

Said Fischer, “I think what will happen is with films that don’t perform well, potential buyers may become a bit more [hesitant] to pay higher. My advice to filmmakers is to have a distribution plan once the film is finished, or even beforehand, because if it doesn’t sell, you will still have a lot of decisions to make.” 

For more information about SAGindie’s services to independent filmmakers, visit sagindie.org. Other PTEOE panels are available at sagaftra.org/videos.

The views expressed by the guests are their own and not that of SAG-AFTRA. Any mention of products or services does not imply SAG-AFTRA’s endorsement.