Fight Media Consolidation? Build a New Ecosystem? Why Not Both!

The Future Film Coalition wins a Lumen Award - And is YouTube the solution for independent film?

Future Film Coalition at the Lumen Awards - Image courtesy of @chloejackmanphotography

The Future Film Coalition wins a Lumen Award and is YouTube the solution for independent film?

This week we were very proud that the Future Film Coalition was honored with a Lumen Award created by the wonderful people at the Impact Lounge/Caspian Agency. I was able to say a few words in accepting the honor along with our ED Jax Deluca, and you will find that speech below.

However - there have been a couple of articles this week related to the core mission of the Future Film Coalition - and I couldn’t just post my speech without addressing three posts.

First is Ted Hope’s wonderful must read personal appeal as to why we need to fight media consolidation.

“The modern streaming platforms are vertically integrated in ways the historical film business rarely was. The same companies now control financing, production, distribution, marketing, theatrical exhibition, and the platforms through which audiences discover films. This concentration of power leaves independent producers with little leverage and few alternative paths to reach audiences . . . Democracy requires small business owners to have a level playing field. Democracy and a healthy economy both require access to customers (audiences) and markets.”

Then came Dana Harris-Bridson’s’ article in Indiewire subtitled “Who cares about the merger when YouTube just became the largest media company in the world? Good news: The new normal is here.” Written in part as a response to Ted’s post but also as a kind of anointment of YouTube as “the new normal.”

I applaud Dana’s support of independent film and seeking new ways to make our ecosystem sustainable. I agree with her argument that we need to look to creators and how they are transforming media and film. Specifically how they develop their audience while creating and how they use YouTube to build those audiences and then leveraging those audiences to have profitable theatrical releases from the feature films they are now making. I highly recommend her great article and interview with Markiplier about his release of Iron Lung.

I agree that filmmakers do need to learn from these creators - which is why we are doing the webinar with Max Reisinger from Creator Camp and Two Sleepy People (which sold out 100 screenings earning 2.5x their budget) as a place to start learning (the first in what I plan to be a series with creators). I also agree with her audience focused approach to filmmaking as I have written about extensively - most recently here.

However, I strongly disagree with her conclusion:

“The independent film community can spend its energy trying to block a merger that will not restore what has already been lost. Or it can focus on building the infrastructure filmmakers will actually need: service providers for decentralized releases, new audience-driven distribution models, and economic structures designed for the ecosystem that already exists.

Because whether the industry acknowledges it or not, the new infrastructure is already here — and the platform at the center of it just became the largest media company in the world.”

I disagree with her for these primary reasons:

1. Why can’t we fight this merger and pursue solutions that work towards a more sustainable ecosystem through both policy and entrepreneurship? It is not a zero sum game! Fighting media consolidation and finding economic systems to make independent and nonde films sustainable are not mutually exclusive. We can create new systems, fight for policy initiatives that promote the economic health of our ecosystem - at the same time as fighting the take over of already dominant media platforms by even larger media platforms.

2. Media consolidation is not just about economics - it is about democracy. The more we let media control fall into the hands of a few - the less power we have to tell diverse stories, especially stories that tell truth to power. Ted addresses this in his post in the chill on distribution of political content. (More on this in my speech below)

3. YouTube is a tool - but certainly not the answer - nor the entire new system we should rely on. Any simple Google search such as “creators complaining about YouTube policies” will result in a plethora of posts on Reddit and ironically YouTube complaining about YouTube and how it constantly messes with creators, changed the algorithm to reduce viewers and revenue etc etc etc. I’ve been reading these posts for years - many YouTube creators have exited because of this, going to other platforms or trying to align to form new platforms.

Here is just a taste from Josh Strife Hayes “I think unexpected changes to YouTube data, especially for smaller creators who are trying to go full-time or midsize creators who need to be able to count on reliable patterns to budget can be a really scary thing.

Let’s not forget that consolidation is not just about market power - it is control over data.

Last - I highly recommend reading Cory Doctorow’s new book Enshittification. He argues that Google/YouTube is already in enshittification mode. I’m highly skeptical of building a new system reliant on a monopoly/monopsony run by people whose primary, and fiduciary interest is extracting every last cent from creators and audiences.

If you need any more reasons to pay attention to media consolidation I suggest this excellent in depth article written by the FFC ED Jax Deluca as part of her Shorenstein fellowship: If We Don’t Shape the Future of Civic Media, the WBD-PSKY Merger Will

If you are not exhausted already - here is my speech from the Lumen Awards:

Thank you Heather — and thank you to everyone at Caspian and the Lumen Awards for this honor. Here with us are my fellow co-founders Keri Putnam and Sanjay Sharma.

I want to recognize our co-founders Jeffrey Kusama-Hinte, Abby Sun, Barbara Twist, Brian Newman, and AJ Christian.

I also want to recognize our incredible Executive Director Jax Deluca, our staff, our funders — including Maida Lynn, who is with us here today — and the many branch organizers from across the independent film landscape who have stepped forward to help make this coalition a reality.

Independent media is not just about creative expression. It is foundational to a functioning democracy. Right now, we are witnessing an unprecedented consolidation of media power into the hands of a few corporations.

When storytelling power concentrates…culture narrows.

When culture narrows…democracy weakens.

For decades the independent film sector has adapted to wave after wave of disruption… consolidation, algorithmic gatekeeping, and the steady collapse of independent distribution pathways. Together these forces are reshaping what stories are made…and which stories audiences are permitted to see.

It was our joint realization that:

First - it was not lack of audience or lack of great films causing our ecosystem to suffer, but was in fact these systemic structural forces.

And Secondly, no entity had been advocating for this independent film sector for over thirty years.

So we decided to form the Future Film Coalition.

That’s me at the Caspian/Lumens Awards Image credit: @ChloeJackmaPhotography 2026

We have brought together filmmakers, distributors, exhibitors, funders and artist support organizations to advocate for ideas and policies to invigorate the economic future of our field.

Our vision is a transformed landscape for U.S. independent filmmaking where direct public support, innovative policy and regulation, and revitalized entrepreneurial activity supports a diverse array of artists and film professionals.

Even as a young organization, we are already beginning to make an impact.

Through the leadership of our staff and many members of this coalition, we’ve launched the Block the Merger campaign to help protect the pathways that allow diverse stories to reach audiences. And we also helped to ensure that there was a carve-out for independent film in the recent expansion of the California film tax credit. These are very early steps. But they demonstrate something important:

When we mobilize as a community, we discover the collective power we’ve always had. Over the past year we’ve watched an idea turn into a real movement — and we are just getting started.

A big part of our momentum comes from the leadership of our Executive Director, Jax Deluca, who has helped turn this idea into real action across the field.

Our Next Webinar…

Over the past year, “creators” who have been building audiences on social channels have started making feature films and selling out theaters across the country. Join us as we look at how these creators are reshaping the way films are made, funded, and discovered and how filmmakers can learn from them. Join us for a conversation with Max Reisinger, co-founder and CEO of Creator Camp, which recently released its first feature Two Sleepy People and Richard Rushfield, editorial director and co-founder of The Ankler & Ankler Media.

Date & Time: Thursday, March 26th | 12:00 PM ET, 9:00 AM PT

Free for all attendees.

SXSW

I will be at SXSW this weekend, and I’d love to connect if you’re there.

I’ll be on a panel with Sophia Yen (Manatt, Phelps & Phillips), Giulia Caruso (Sundance Institute), and Jared Geesey (Angel Studios), talking about how indie filmmakers can navigate today’s shifting distribution landscape and build audiences through grassroots outreach, community-driven campaigns, eventized theatrical, and digital-first strategies. It’s on Sunday, March 15, from 12:30–1:30 PM at Omni Downtown / Pennybacker—would love to see you there.