The YouTube show Hot Ones hosted by Sean Evans from the channel First We Feast recently interviewed guest Matt Damon who most people know for his phenomenal acting skills, but he is also a writer and producer with great knowledge of the movie industry’s ins and outs. His new movie Stillwater is out in theatres now, which is a crime drama about an oil-rig roughneck who makes his way to France to free his daughter from prison for a crime she says wasn’t her fault.
The dynamic between this all-American father and his estranged daughter dealing with a high-tension situation with the added stress of cultural and language barriers makes this film worth seeing in theatres. Most moviegoers probably haven’t even heard much about this film, as it has been put on the back burner in light of other more popular and anticipated films like Black Widow or shows like Marvel’s Loki and What If…?
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Host Sean Evans asked Matt Damon, “at what point in the filmmaking process are the stakes the highest, like is having a solid script the most essential component to making a good movie or does the sink-or-swim moment happen further down the line?” Damon responded by saying that scripts can always be adjusted as the creators go along, but “the most hectic and high pressure (moment) is in production.” This is because there are so many jobs and roles, on and off screen, when making a movie.
When everyone is on set, Damon says it’s like “lighting money on fire,” meaning that time is money, and people have to be paid for the work they do while on set. The well-known actor said that preproduction is much more relaxed: “you can pump the breaks,” changes can be made, and scripts can be tweaked. But in the end, making a film is very expensive because of all the different people working to make the movie happen. Financing a film is essentially a gamble, as studios and creators never know if their time and money will be rewarded at the box office. This is why studios will try to use “bankable” actors to try and get people into the theatre.
During the Hot Ones interview, Sean Evans painted a picture many viewers probably find themselves in: It’s a Friday night, and viewers are sitting on their couches “going through the streaming services, cycling through the movies and thinking to themselves, 'they’re not making movies for me anymore.'” Matt Damon, who’s been in the business for over 30 years, responded by addressing how technology has sort of done away with DVD sales. What that means is creators can no longer afford “the movies (they) used to make.” With DVD sales, creators could always count on a second wave of revenue once the DVD was released.
Matt Damon went on to discuss numbers, saying how if a movie costs $25 million to make, then $25 million more would be needed for print and advertising (or PNA). Not only do creators have to spend double the budget of money on marketing, but they also have to split their revenue with “the people who own the movie theatres.” Damon said that before he could even begin making a profit off a movie that costs $25 million, he would have to make $100 million. Small scale stories, like “a love affair between two people,” just don’t have the crowd appeal to bring in that kind of revenue.
Again, Damon addressed how much of a “massive gamble” it is to make a more intimate, small scaled movie like those made in the 1990s. And although the actor, writer, and producer loves those types of movies, it’s just not possible anymore. Creators are constantly fighting for view time and eyes, as there are so many different entertainment platforms for people to choose from. Music videos, concerts, social media, streaming services, podcasts, video games: all of these things take away people’s time which means they can’t afford to watch and listen to everything that is made.
There are hundreds of short films and feature length movies being made every year all over the world. It is just impossible for each one to get enough views to make a large profit due to either not enough money for PNA or not enough public interest. Though an intimate story like the 1997 classic Good Will Hunting starring Matt Damon was able to gain enough attention to make a large profit, that was before the age of the internet. To a creator, social media is sort of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it can be great for spreading the word of a movie quickly and inexpensively. But on the other hand, social media and phones have made it possible for anyone to become a creator, which means consumers have virtually unlimited entertainment options.