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It All Circles Back to Money, or How to ‘Survive til '25’, According to Filmmaker Peter Zerzan
For over a century, films have been more than sheer entertainment—they have been a reflection of their time, opening a creative window overseeing the world. With that, the film industry has left an eternal impact on the universe, enriching the lives of movie buffs and curious motion picture explorers. As more and more people found themselves infatuated with this magical realm, Hollywood turned into something resembling a Holy Grail—a haven where all dreams of fame and success came true. Last year showed how fragile that perception was, leaving the film industry in turmoil that lasts to this day.
By Jon Stojan
2023 was considered the year of strikes, sparked mostly by the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA. With fewer movies, fewer TV shows, fewer available jobs, and less theatrical buzz, the industry seems to be stuck in limbo, uncertain of what is to come. Mid-2024, the situation is still dire, with many questioning if Hollywood will ever return to its glory.
According to experts, the only thing left to do is ‘survive til '25.’ Peter Zerzan, an award-winning filmmaker, shares these sentiments, saying, ‘Survive til '25’ is all over the industry. Now that the money faucet has been turned off, everyone believes that if you survive until 2025, there is a chance that you can have a long career in Hollywood.”
Amidst the chaos, Peter highlights smaller players as those that harness the industry’s potential for success the best. He alludes to the A24 Civil War film to illustrate his point, “Horror movies were once considered the last mid-budget genre to thrive in the age of streaming services, despite the rise of other genres like rom-coms and action movies. Despite the decline in theater attendance for non-big tentpole films, this genre still gained an audience. However, earlier this year, some bigger horror films broke even, some even flopped.” He further states, “The recent film—Longlegs—was the highest-grossing movie ever for its distributor Neon, with a viral campaign that only spent less than $10 million, proving there was still success in horror movies after some misfires.”
Though films’ fate cannot be predicted, with smaller players not always succeeding (Zerzan recounts The Bikeriders from 2024), he believes there are steps that can be taken to significantly increase movies’ chances for success, and it all starts with budgeting. For Peter, a filmmaker on a mission to shift the focus from uncontrollable creative changes to planned execution, cost control is essential in the process, especially in this era of Hollywood survival.
The filmmaker’s realization of this problem sparked from personal on-set experiences:
I have been on many sets in the past few years and have seen so much waste—waste of time, money, people’s creativity, and more. Too many people believe that they need luxury and absolute power while on set. Otherwise, too many resources are wasted on changes, draining the production budget and hindering ultimate success. I once read a quote that said, ‘There is no such thing as bad box office, only bad budgets.’ Especially now, as Hollywood grapples, we need to plan, prepare for all scenarios, and stop being wasteful.