3. Marketing Money Doesn't Always Flow The Right Way
Did you hear the one about Cheap Thrills? A great little black comedy starring Pat Healy, the always vaguely familiar Ethan Embry and Anchorman's David Koechner, the film was unfortunately buried somewhat by a tiny budget and a limited cinematic release that meant it had to use critical response as a sales tool. Luckily the critics did the marketeers' jobs for them, and the nasty little dark comic romp appeared on some pretty notable best of the year lists: but you probably still didn't see it. Such is the way of the film world: expensive films rise to the top of the agenda, and while a lot of them - like Guardians Of The Galaxy - do deserve the billing, a lot of little gems end up having to make their way to audiences who will cherish them in a far slower way, and their stars will find it harder to get offered the "bigger" opportunities to shine. It all sounds very much like hipster preaching again, but it's really not: there is no need to burn down the blockbusters and tentpoles, because experiential spectacles have a massive place in the theatre of the movie theatre, but it's just a shame that there isn't some sort of mandatory deal where big studios have to help publish great little films that otherwise get swallowed up like smoke on the breeze.