The independent film industry cannot afford not to take risks. This is one of the key conclusions of the Stepin 2025 report, published Thursday by Locarno Pro, the program of the Film Festival of Locarno.
Entitled “Embred the risks, but how?”, The report concludes that “the future of cinema depends on its ability to reframe the risks through the ecosystem – not as a passive, but as the engine of originality, the impact and the growth of the audience”, adding: “Globally, the participants have agreed that the independent film industry cannot afford the risk of not taking the risk of not taking risks.
Stepin is designed as an interdisciplinary and international reflection group that allows distributors, exhibitors, producers, commercial agents, cinematographic institutions, financiers, streaming platforms, broadcasters and representatives of film festivals and discussing markets, in closed work sessions, in the state of the film industry. Marcello Paolillo was project manager of the 14th edition in August, with AC Coppens of catalysts moderating the event.
The four subjects at the center of the Stepin program this year were: independent production between public and private funding; Independent distribution today: “the art of taking risks and how to manage it;”
festivals and the press; And build a really inclusive audiovisual industry.
The sections also compiled various recommendations. Among them: create public-private partnerships to strengthen production companies and allow “higher budget projects without losing talent against other markets”; Recognize entertainment as a class of assets by educating investors in Europe; “The industry should consider streaming investment obligations to reinvest a share of the income generated locally in national ecosystems;” Develop income channels using Avod, Pvod and Auto-Distribution; push for transparent streaming data; “Recede the prices of tickets to attract a younger audience, using flexible models, subscriptions and days at reduced prices;” And “Dei needs a cropping in the story – as a revenue / cultivating generator compared to a cashier exercise for companies.”
The Stepin report ended with a list of “daring requirements”, in particular “to stop the” safe “fetishization choices- they are rarely”; “Kiss changes;” “Funding and distribution are both sides of the same medal: if one collapses, the other follows;” “Transparency is oxygen;” And “collaboration beats competition in the construction of audience”.
The AI has also obtained a recommendation, namely “AI should not be taboo”. Explain the Stepin report: “Used wisely, it is a powerful tool for segments and data -oriented strategies. The mixture of algorithmic insight and human emotional intelligence is a winning combination to reduce risks and succeed in production and distribution strategies. ”
Among the veterans of the high -level film industry appearing in Locarno Pro this summer, there was Poor things,, Back seatAnd My father’s shadow Producer Ed Guiney de Element Pictures, the longtime producer of Yorgos Lanthimos, the director of the Berlin Film Festival, Tricia Tuttle, and the president and chief executive officer of the AGC Studios, Stuart Ford. A conversation between the Romanian author of the free spirit Radu Jude and Guiney on the relationship between the director and the producer took people behind the scenes of the magic of the films. And the actor and defender of disability Maysoon Zayid (You don’t like the Zohan,, General hospital) Dialogue inspired in a session nicknamed “Somewhere Over the Rainbow: Making Films that saves lives”.
