441 - How YouTube Lore Is Rewriting the Hollywood Playbook, Why George Lucas Is Right, and the New Rules of the Box Office (Your Father's IP Is Dead) - Indie Talk #103

About this episode

This episode is brought to you by our e-book Mastering Film Marketing. Get your copy today at https://themakeitpodcast.com/products/mastering-film-marketing

Hello, Hello! 

In this episode, Chris and Nick reunite for an Indie Talk episode packed with film industry insights, starting with Chris's powerful experience watching the James Baldwin documentary I Am Not Your Negro and a heartfelt shoutout to Carlton Adkins and the Enlightenment Film Academy's standing-room-only student film screening in Nashville. We dive deep into the evolving box office landscape, dissecting why certain legacy IP films are underperforming while YouTube-lore-driven films like Backrooms are shattering A24 records, and what that means for the future of indie filmmaking. We close with a rich discussion on George Lucas's comments about AI and audience testing, the Warner Bros./Paramount merger controversy, and a passionate defense of the theatrical experience as a community-building institution.

We also talk about:

• The cultural and historical significance of the deaths of Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., and Medgar Evers in the 1960s, and how their simultaneous loss effectively ended a generation of Black empowerment leadership
• The nostalgia and community value of Blockbuster Video, including employee perks, the tactile VHS experience, and how video rental stores created a unique social ecosystem that streaming has failed to replicate
• The philosophical tension between George Lucas's belief in pure artistic storytelling and Kevin Goetz's data-informed audience testing approach, and what each means for the future of cinema
• The proposed Warner Bros./Paramount merger, the protests and petitions against it, what it could mean for creative competition and content diversity, and parallels to Disney's acquisition of Marvel and Star Wars
• The complicated cultural conversation around celebrities and public figures in the internet age, and how total transparency disabuses audiences of the idea that their heroes are perfect or infallible

People, Places, Products, and Websites Mentioned:

People

James Baldwin

Malcolm X

Martin Luther King Jr.

Medgar Evers

Jesse Jackson

Al Sharpton

John Lewis

Dick Gregory

T.D. Jakes

Ray Charles

Stevie Wonder

Tom Holland

Zendaya

Tobey Maguire

Tom Hardy

Tom Brady

Carlton Adkins 

Kane Parsons

Markiplier

Kevin Goetz 

George Lucas

Steve Jobs

R. Kelly

Jean-Claude Van Damme

Jason Momoa

Bruce Willis

Viggo Mortensen

Ed Harris

William Hurt

John Hurt

David Cronenberg

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson

Samuel L. Jackson

Bill Maher

Martin Scorsese

Kiefer Sutherland

Kevin Bacon

Christopher Reeve

Josh Plasse

Tom McCullough (PB's childhood friend)

Nicholas Galitzine 

Sam Harris

Charlamagne tha God 

Immortal Technique

Chris Ferguson 

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Films & Documentaries

I Am Not Your Negro

Backrooms

Longlegs 

The Invite 

The Odyssey 

Spider-Man: No Way Home

The Fifth Element

12 Monkeys

Moana (live action)

Moana 2

Toy Story 5

Toy Story 3

Superman 

Supergirl 

The Mandalorian and Grogu

Barbie

Everything Everywhere All at Once

A History of Violence

Inception

Iron Lung

John Wick

Flatliners

Fatliners (NSFW)

Masters of the Universe 

Snakes on a Plane

Mad Men

Be Kind Rewind

Heavy Metal 

Another Version of You

Companies & Organizations

A24

Warner Bros.

Paramount / Skydance

Disney

Marvel

Pixar

Netflix

Oddfellows Pictures — THR profile

National Action Network

Enlightenment Film Academy

Nashville Film Festival

Letterboxd

Blockbuster Video

Music

Clipse – Let God Sort Em Out 

Places

Belcourt Theatre 

Oakland, CA

South Korea

Washington, D.C.

Jamaica / Caribbean

Websites & Platforms

The MAKE IT Podcast

Letterboxd

NashvilleFilmFestival.org

Products & Miscellaneous

Callwood Family Distillery (Caribbean)

Mastering Film Marketing 

Make It Academy 

VHS / DVD / Blu-ray

IMAX

Dolby

Disney Movie Club

We are humbled to have a community of creatives who care deeply about our work. And your support makes our work possible. Every subscriber, rating, and review matters. 

So, if you like what we're doing, please consider subscribing, rating, or giving us a review. Cheers, and best of luck on your filmmaking journey. #MAKEIT

www.themakeitpodcast.store/shop/support

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy