You're navigating the virtual shift in the film industry. How can you adapt for success?

Bill Duke ( director) once said, if you are hitchhiking on the info highway you will get run over if you don’t know what you are doing. You have to adapt to the change and immediately! A.I. is here and you are not changing it. You must learn it and adapt. I was part of the WGA strike, we can fight and try to limit but it is here. The best thing that one can do is embrace technology and learn the nuances. I once had an argument with an old editor who told me that the best thing in the world was the feeling of touching real film. I told him to learn nonlinear editing and he reacted as though I cursed him out. He is now out of the business. I gave him an example back then. Edit the old way in a week, or new way in an hour. Adapt or die.

Pro8mm has been succeeding in growing the Super 8 film format since 1972, much to the surprise of most in the industry, including ourselves! The key to our success has been to listen to what our clients are asking for and be willing to constantly evolve to meet the needs of todays filmmaker. From converting 4x3 aspect ratios of the cameras to 16 x 9, slitting and perforating our own color negative film ( since 1992) from 35mm negative, over-scanning the film past the sprocket to create unique looks, having custom gates made for our film to video transfer machines, and so much more. If super 8 film can evolve to be a useable and much sought after tool for the film industry , anyhting is possible! - Rhonda Vigeant, founder, ASC

The best things one can do is understand this technology is here to stay. So I recommend learning it. It's not going to replace people, It's people who know how to work with it and what it can do that will replace people.

I would suggest places that are credible to learn from like Coursera, Udemy, Alison etc and they have all levels of courses and program types.

Traditional networking, whether physical or virtual, will always be helpful. But let's think of this from a new angle. Imagine you have a spec script to sell. There are millions of these submitted every year in the USA. It's hard to stand out. Now imagine you have built an audience on X.com, YouTube, or TikTok that are pre-sold and emotionally invested in the project you've been posting about for months. Suddenly, you have leverage that has value to a producer and their marketing team. You bring with you a pre-built audience who will also post about the film, building buzz before hitting a theater or streamer. The best thing is that this is YOUR audience. You've built an asset that you bring to the table for all future projects.

For film and TV production it would seem at first glance that remote collaboration would have little impact. But then most people with that view are thinking only of the physical production. Let's look at pre-production for a simple example. Flying a director to remote locations might not be a wise use of the budget. Imagine instead, the production hires a location scout equipped with quality video and even a 3D mapping device for spaces. First, with video, there's opportunity for real-time collaboration with the director. Second, the 3D model can be uploaded into a pre-viz system for one-to-one match between the actual location and the virtual mock-up. Lesson: Brainstorm possibilities first, then check if the tech already exists.

As a person who has done Machinema and also Traditional film and TV it really isn't all that different to have virtual collabs. Also when vr filming its kind of fun.

Currently, there's a lopsided work-to-earn ratio for most creatives. The specifics are less important than the 30,000 foot view. Production companies, studios, and conglomerates reap the lion's share of proceeds (~90%+) from media. It's no different for centralized social media content creators. Facebook and X.com pay it's creators 0%. YouTube is the most generous at 55% of ad revenue. One new distribution model flips this relationship. Decentralized content can be distributed directly by creators to consumers via blockchain technology and smart contracts. This tech is barely past its infancy, so learning about this now could set writers, graphic novelists, filmmakers, and other creatives up for massive residuals (97%) and creative control.

I think this falls out the this topic personally. That said it does open more avenues to having your projects seen. Consider looking into Indie channels for your opportunities. Netflix and all aren't the only games in town and as they raise prices people seek alternatives.

Stay ahead of the curb. You also want to read outside the trades things like tech and business magazines. They will help you to know more than just the industry but where new tech changes the landscape.