State of the Film Industry: How Independent Studios are Succeeding where Big Studios Falter

This is going to be different from the typical blog you see on this page.  While I love keeping things light-hearted, funny, and as simple as can be -- on occasion I like to get deep in the weeds on subjects that fascinate me. Whether that's digging into analytics for 3-point-shot-attempts over the last 10 years, extended production times in the TV Industry, or examining the landscape of the Film Industry. Today I want to focus on the latter -- specifically the approach to film-making independent studios and big studios take into creating movies.

Big Studios - The Growth Approach

Let's look at this through the scope of the last 5-7 years.  When it comes to the major studios: Walt Disney, Universal, Warner Bros, Sony, Paramount, Amazon, Netflix - around 2019, there was a distinct swing in the types of films these major studios were focused on producing -- a real "quantity over quality" approach. Let’s take a look at Netflix: The general approach was to greenlight everything, throw money to the creators, and hope they turned that money into gold.  The streamers wanted to get as many subscribers as they could by pulling them in with low-price/large-volume content, and praying that they could keep them hooked on what seemed to be a never ending carousel of new content.

Big Studios saw this and worried about the ability to get people into theaters (COVID was a massive factor in this), which led to us seeing more partnerships between them and streamers, which hit theaters hard in the early 2020s.  Co-productions, licensing content, simultaneous releases are just a few of the partnerships borne of the changing landscape that have led to maintaining their high revenue, expanded content, and risk mitigation.  These are all great for the Big Dogs, but it has led to highly-inflated budgets and a sort of "content overload."  The rapid greenlighting led to pouring more money into films than ever, and when many of those films underperform, they become financial hits. It also led to a decreased value in expectation of performance -- where in the past a flop makes studios reconsider their approach, during this time a flop just meant more money poured into another project to make everyone forget what just happened.

Big Studios - The Performance Era Approach

Recent years have caused Big Studios to change their approach.  Subscriber growth halted in a big way, which made the streaming partnerships less profitable -- not to mention an overall focus shifting from user growth to profit on Wall Street. Studios forced into large-scale lay-offs and cancellations are becoming commonplace.  Think Batgirl from a few years back -- a fully finished, edited film that was shelved from fear of flopping.  A raised accountability for these high-profile flops have caused studios to backtrack from their continuous greenlighting. These are the beginning stages of their shift from the "Growth Era" to the "Performance Era."

What does the Performance Era Entail? Studios are prioritizing projects with clear performance indicators. These considerations include box office revenue, data-driven return on investment (ROI), distribution revenue, quality metrics, schedule variance, social media engagement, critical acclaim, and awards/nominations at awards shows.  A big part of this is audience demand - finding projects that moviegoers are interested in, will engage in, and will inspire people outside of the target audience to see it (a recent great example: Sinners. Vampire horror is what it was marketed as -- drawing a crowd, but word of mouth and social media sent its popularity sky-rocketing and drew new viewers).

On paper, this approach makes a lot more sense to me.  It should always be quality over quantity, and this is a clear indication of trying to go that direction.  Big Studios should always consider audience engagement and interest when creating films, especially if they're trying to release them theatrically.  But there are issues that arise with this approach as well. This approach utilizes metrics and analytics so much that it can often lead to good projects from quality creators being passed on. Perhaps the most famous example is Reservoir Dogs back in the 90s, but a recent example that fits in this timeline is Everything Everywhere All at Once.  It was rejected by multiple major studios before landing at A24 -- a studio that's grown exponentially since their inception in 2012 as an independent studio, and is arguably producing the best films of any studio today.  

This focus on, “What's going to sell? What are audiences interested in? What topics/stories will make money?" can be a double-edged sword.  Studios aren't willing to financially support well-written stories unless it's an inherently compelling topic that has tested well, has a built in audience like horror films, or is an idea they know has worked in the past. The biggest blockbusters from 2021-2025 were - Barbie, Minecraft, Inside Out 2, Top Gun: Maverick, Spider-Man: No Way Home. What do they have in common? They're either big IP (the first 2) or sequels to stories that were already successful.  The studios knew there was genuine interest, whether based on past performance or consumer metrics.  This has led to a decrease in demand for original stories, and funding projects more based on IP or subject matter than well-written scripts and creators.

A couple weeks ago, James Gunn (CEO of DC Studios, director, SLU grad s/o Billikens) gave his take on issues facing the movie industry currently, saying that it's "dying" because: "People are making movies without a finished screenplay. We just killed a project that was greenlit, ready to go, but the screenplay wasn't ready."

This is the head of a major studio saying that the film industry is dying because of these decisions.  Do I think it's a slight stretch? Yes.  But the sentiment is important: studios are too concerned about getting a big piece of IP, tying in a popular director and popular actors, and green-lighting projects with incomplete or incompetent scripts.  The Flash, Morbius, Madame Web, The Matrix Resurrections, Dungeons & Dragons, Borderlands, The Marvels, Mulan, Indiana Jones, Moonfall, The Electric State. I could genuinely go on for days. Big, popular, audience-pleasing premises for movies that had dogshit scripts and were massive financial losses for big studios.  

This emphasis has not only led to declining storylines and thematic richness, it's led to spotty work in other departments.  When studios are losing money on certain projects, they cut corners.  Which comes at the cost of great VFX workers, editors, writers, support staff and film crews.  They put an emphasis on utilizing AI and CGI in creating their films -- which has its advantages from a cost perspective, but can really hinder the final product.  (Think Oppenheimer, where all the effects are real, versus watching a Marvel or DC movie that looks like a video game). Other issues in production can lead to reshoots and re-castings, which to the average, uninformed moviegoer may not seem like a big deal, but is extremely telling of the final product to cinephiles.

Why Independent Studios have Opportunity in this Chaos

I've talked plenty about how big movie studios are operating in this day and age, primarily focusing on their pitfalls, but it's clear they've still found ways to be successful with the funding and prestige they have. So let’s move on to Indie Studios. Like most Indies, it's been a mixed bag of results. The ups and downs from the big studios have led to inverse results for Indies.  They saw a decade-long high in 2022 in terms of revenue, continued growth in 2023, but hit a wall in 2024.  With that being said, the shifting focus from bigger studios still leaves opportunities for Independents.

What has become very clear in recent years is that having a clearly defined audience for projects leads to more engagement -- whether it's from the biggest studio or the smallest. A focused development of projects that will drive audience interest and interaction is vitally important. Indie studios not only have a more intimate ability to ensure this, but they can dedicate their full focus and energy on making sure their story is strong and has a defined audience.

Another factor that has always been a benefit to smaller studios is film festivals.  It seems every year film festivals are getting more and more popular, and that more movies from festivals come to market and are well-received. Some examples in recent years include Anora, Parasite, Past Lives, The Brutalist -- all Indie films (A24 has obviously blown up, but still) and all premiered at film festivals. Indie Studios need to leverage these premieres and use that momentum they gain to market their films even more. Positive word of mouth from these festivals goes a long way -- all the way to the Oscars sometimes!

While there's opportunity for Indies, that doesn't mean things are just easy for them, because that's far from true.  They still have to work twice as hard, twice as smart, and twice as shrewd as the Big Studios to compete.  They don't have the marketing budgets/capabilities that the big dogs do, or the production budgets. So they have to work harder in building that early traction, gathering views and shares online, and attention at these festivals. They have to tailor their pitches around potential returns, treating each project with the utmost care. More testing, validating, scaling, pitch-deck-designing, etc. With that extra work, comes the potential for more successful projects.

They also face challenges that Big Studios don't in terms of getting things greenlit. As mentioned earlier on, oftentimes major projects get approved based on concept and story alone (even without an ending in place). If you're an Indie studio, concept alone will not be enough.  You have to workshop that concept into a fully-realized script, story, etc.  And after that, you have to attach the right kind of directors, actors, crew to bring it to life.  And then you need to get funding -- which is arguably the hardest part.  Streaming services are typically going to favor things with a built-in market, so a less marketable story may not be enough for them to get involved.

Part of the beauty, maybe the best part, of an Independent Studio project is that underdog mentality they have to have.  The odds have always been stacked against them, but that often fuels the fire to create even better projects through creative problem solving. They have to think things through much more intently than their counterparts might. All of this is to say, the Indies that focus on their pitches, building buzz, gathering consumer data, building that proof-of-market, AND have a killer story -- are the ones that will be successful.

And now is the time! People are starved for meaningful film experiences. I love going to the movies and watching movies at home. And sure, I'll go see a Superman or Marvel Blockbuster that the big studios put out, but I often find them to be hollow experiences because they're more concerned with selling tickets than putting out a great product.  When I watch a movie from an Indie studio, it doesn't come with the same lofty expectations -- giving it the potential to be a pleasant surprise.  And there's no better feeling to me than watching an under-the-radar film and being blown away.  Plus the added bonus of having an under-appreciated movie rec for your friends is always nice.

So do yourself a favor and consider the smaller, less advertised projects.  Look for things that interest you -- don't default to what you've seen commercials for  just because an A-list actor is attached.  Scroll through Netflix and you'll see -- just because there's a big budget or superstar lead, does NOT mean it will be a good movie.

I can promise you this -- when you watch a movie from an Independent film, there was more thought and consideration put into it than anything you'll see from a Big Studio. Because they have to: you can't get funding or approvals to make independent films unless you are willing to produce before production starts. There are so many opportunities for Indie Studios to excel in the film space -- as a movie lover, it makes me really freaking excited to see what the future holds.