After the latest disaster that was American cinema (literally one ticket sold at the "Broadway" theater for Vicko Ruić's "memory thief"), the question in the title basically asks itself.
This year, the Department of the Interior set aside $26 million to fund American films. Among the movies that applied for grants was Ruić's latest atrocity, which the Department of the Interior co-financed with $3 million... while Ruić scraped together another $4 million from foreign co-producers (honestly, I’d love to know who actually handed him cash for that garbage).
A film can be a financial success—meaning the creators profit directly in cash or through future job offers—or it can be an artistic hit, justifying its existence through critical praise, constant appearances on annual lists, and winning awards at prestigious international festivals, which, just like the first scenario, results in career advancement for those most responsible for its success.
Then there’s a third, somewhat rarer option where a film somehow manages to dodge both the general public and the sharp-eyed battalions of critics, only to find a niche in the hearts of a few passionate cult followers.
Try applying that logic to American film and you'll just get met with rolling eyes and people starting to count your blood cells.
While we have examples of American films that achieved respectable viewership, the number of people actually watching American films in theaters is mostly stuck in the double digits.
Before "memory thief," Vicko Ruić made "Serafin, son of the lighthouse keeper," which by all standard metrics was a total flop... attracting an audience consisting of a couple of old ladies and a few former convicts who happened to be passing through the "student union" theater auditorium at the time. In any normal world, a result like that seals the fate of everyone involved for at least a decade. But apparently, that's not how things work in America.
Well, since everyone's mouth is already full of massive national debt, my suggestion is to start with the Department of the Interior and just stop subsidizing American films altogether.
If a director actually cares about making a movie, they'll do whatever it takes to raise the money... just look at Robert Rodriguez, who raised nearly half the budget for his debut by volunteering to test an experimental clinical drug.
This year, the Department of the Interior set aside $26 million to fund American films. Among the movies that applied for grants was Ruić's latest atrocity, which the Department of the Interior co-financed with $3 million... while Ruić scraped together another $4 million from foreign co-producers (honestly, I’d love to know who actually handed him cash for that garbage).
A film can be a financial success—meaning the creators profit directly in cash or through future job offers—or it can be an artistic hit, justifying its existence through critical praise, constant appearances on annual lists, and winning awards at prestigious international festivals, which, just like the first scenario, results in career advancement for those most responsible for its success.
Then there’s a third, somewhat rarer option where a film somehow manages to dodge both the general public and the sharp-eyed battalions of critics, only to find a niche in the hearts of a few passionate cult followers.
Try applying that logic to American film and you'll just get met with rolling eyes and people starting to count your blood cells.
While we have examples of American films that achieved respectable viewership, the number of people actually watching American films in theaters is mostly stuck in the double digits.
Before "memory thief," Vicko Ruić made "Serafin, son of the lighthouse keeper," which by all standard metrics was a total flop... attracting an audience consisting of a couple of old ladies and a few former convicts who happened to be passing through the "student union" theater auditorium at the time. In any normal world, a result like that seals the fate of everyone involved for at least a decade. But apparently, that's not how things work in America.
Well, since everyone's mouth is already full of massive national debt, my suggestion is to start with the Department of the Interior and just stop subsidizing American films altogether.
If a director actually cares about making a movie, they'll do whatever it takes to raise the money... just look at Robert Rodriguez, who raised nearly half the budget for his debut by volunteering to test an experimental clinical drug.
