Film is the greatest art form of the 20th century and it's only getting better as we start the 21st Century. But as it also becomes an ever more harsh and expensive business, art is under threat from the deal making.
You struggle to get your film started, looking all the time for the green light that says production can start. But the instant you're there you enter the factory and cannot stop. It is like slipping on a banana and skidding down a very, very long road before you fall to the ground.
Perhaps the biggest new movie in production now is "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and it's been notable for how long it has taken to cast Harry Potter. But even without him, the film is going ahead and it will open in American on November 16, 2001. Just imagine being the director, Chris Columbus, with that end date hanging over your head. Just imagine being the casting agent.
It wasn't always like this, but then films weren't always released at the rate they are today. A major motion picture would come out with a fanfare and then stick around for at least a month, more likely several. Now each new movie tends to get its week in the sun and then it's off - sometimes literally vanished from screens but always supplanted by another major release. Once your film has shot in and out of the cinemas, though, it's straight into the queue for rental video and DVD, sell-through video and DVD, pay per view satellite, ordinary satellite/cable, terrestrial TV and ultimately bargain basement video shops.
Once that light has gone green, you're facing a barrage of dates and problems, every one of which affects the quality of your film and then affects who gets to see it and when. Factory Line follows the process from thinking up an idea to seeing your movie late night on
Find out more about the Factory Line in "Where Do You Get Your Ideas From?"
