Mark Gill, former President of Miramx films, and current CEO of the The Film Department, delivers some sobering but hopeful advice on the state and future of independent film at an LA Film Fest Conference. In short, make fewer better films:

In the most reductionist fashion: tere's the holy trinity of structure, character and dialogue, of course; the crucial if more ephemeral notions of authenticity, voice, theme, and tone; and the imperative for originality of utterance and perception.

In the end, all of this has to add up (seamlessly if possible) to something that moves us-- to the quality of the emotional content. It doesn't matter if we're talking about thrills, laughs, tears, or an adrenaline rush. What matters is that we are engaged and, ideally, emotionally transformed and satisfied.

In a world increasingly dominated by numbers--financial, technological and most importantly the finite number of hours in a day, our very human desire for contact, meaning and emotional transformation isn't going away. It's growing. Those who remember that will survive and most probably win.

Everyone should be able to make a film if they want. Of course. But don't expect for your film to a success if its no good, despite the tons of marketing you might throw at it. Brutal but true.