A year ago, I wrote a blog post, ” 38 American Independent Film Problems/Concerns.”

Unfortunately, all of the problems I listed then still stand today; four or so from that list have improved slightly, but they certainly remain issues. Of more concern is that the list keeps growing and growing. I can contribute another 38 even more pressing issues today. You do the math: we now have over 75 things wrong with our industry that we are not taking action to fix.

In fact, we have no one to blame for this list but ourselves. It is our inability to be proactive that has brought on us this terrible state. Ask yourself what currently concerns and frustrates you about where film culture and the film business are today. What heights is our industry capable of reaching and...

Earlier this year, while looking at Atlantic Magazine's list of Brave Thinkers across various industries, I started to wonder who are of this ilk in our sector of so-called Independent Film.

What is it to be "brave"? To me, bravery requires risk, going against the status quo, being willing to do or say what few others have done. Bravery is not a one time act but a consistent practice. Most importantly, bravery is not about self interest; bravery involves the individual acting for the community. It is both the step forward and the hand that is extended.

Frankly though, I think anyone that commits to creating film, particularly independent film, and specifically artist driven truly free film, is truly brave ... or at least, insane. It is a hard road out there and growing more difficult by the day.

All filmmakers getting their work made,...

Cinema is a driving force in my life. I don’t want it to leave us, nor do I want to have to leave it behind; it’s provided me with hope and inspiration, and an incredibly fulfilling livelihood.

It is also a 100-year-old industry and, in my opinion, damn close to both a perfect art form and a perfect entertainment. But it's also one whose applicability to our lives and livelihoods must be completely re-evaluated.

Cinema is no longer the most complete and representative art form for the world we inhabit. It is a rarefied pleasure requiring us to conform to a location-centric, abbreviated, passive experience that is nothing like the world we engage with day-to-day.

There also is no workable present-day business model to support the current mode of cinema, other than one built on the exclusionary practice of isolated control of funding,...