MN hasn't remained competitive with their "Snowbate" (I didn't name it, don't laugh at me) film rebate program amongst the states. There have been many films shot here over the years, it's just not as fiscally attractive here as it once was. Our old Gov' didn't seem to see the value in bringing "Gig" jobs into the state (with the associated income to local business it provided - food, shelter, office space, location rental, etc...).
The programs work thusly:
1) make a film
2) spend money wherever you make it
3) whatever money you spend on local resources (people, lodging, food, equipment, etc) you can get an xx% refund after you're done because it brings money directly into the local economy.
MN's xx% is lower (lower ROI for the production) than other states that have similar looks to them, so even films set in MN are shot elsewhere now. Almost every state has these programs.
As I'm looking at this endeavor as a business rather than a one off film, the state refund program becomes a side note that helps with my ROI as I can then claim the full budget of each production and the refund (if granted by the state board) gets us closer to our return/profit case faster. Since all of our work will be in state, we have a much higher amount of our budget that will qualify for the refunds (the funds are limited though due to the cutbacks over the past dozen years).
If I were a typical producer and looking at all of the possibilities for locations in the world, I'd want to go specifically where the rebate benefitted me the most and the initial prices were the lowest (lowering my upfront costs and increasing my return on that investment)... so many productions are done in Canada and a few of the other midwest states to our East. Over time, fewer and fewer productions have come here and many of the local resources had to shut their doors - lowering my business competition here.
Forgive me if I am wrong, but why does your explanations of how film industry in MN works, and why is collapsed, sounds so much like premises on which car industry in Detroit was set up on (and look what happened to it), or Dubai's moguls ideas about how to make Dubai a skiing mecca?
In the language of New Age:
Its not sustainable!
To me that's clear sign that industry as such dosn't really exist but is rather a "Potemkin's Village"

You are basically describing MN film industry like a outsourcing center (within the same country) for bellow the line production, sub-contractor for the same thing that could have been done in California but because of tax incentives, political decisions based on questionable agendas, and similar socio-economical programs, is moved to MN where producers could save few bucks if they shoot in MN.
That's like Communist concept of economy and industry!!!!???!!?!?!!?
Completely unsustainable.
Something that depends purely on the personal view of the few.
Speculation.
The reason that Saudi Arabia is the biggest producer of oil in the world is because they have plenty of oil under their soil making it a REAL industry and profitable one too!
Now, their Sheicks could spend billions of dollars in buying snow making mashines so that they can create Alaskan chilly-full clima in order to attract tourists from neighboring heat-boiling countries, and create a whole tourist "industry" out of it, but that will last until Sheiks decide that it was enough, because they already spent too much money for snowmashines compared to profits that they gained.
Real industries don't rely on politicians and decision makers to make bills and laws in their favor.
REAL industries roll on their own strength!
They don't need a help from the side to keep them alive!
And you know when MN will have a real filmmaking industry?!
WHEN people from MN start telling their life stories and start narrating their drams, and how their catalyze. articulate, perceive, and artistically express their artistic and life experience!
WHEN MN folks start making movies about Paul Bunyan rather than wait for Hollywood studios to tell that story!
When they become the main CREATIVE force and not just physical labor nad guns -or-hire only if Hollywood studios need cheaper alternative to Californian workforce and original scenery and sets!
Because that's what people wanna see, and will pay for it to see!
It's 21st century!
People are tired of seeing how Holywood sees the world! We all already know that perspective. Thats why nobody goes to movie theaters anymore. They already seen that movie

Some clarifications here:
Do you realize what radio was in the 30s? Do you realize that Welles was a household name? A better comparison than Bon Jovi (who is not in a narrative art form, whereas Welles WAS) would be someone who is big in television....which oddly enough is where a lot of directors DO come from.
This is just flat out wrong. Blade Runner was in 82. Alien was in 79 and made 80 million. The Duelists was in 77; Box Office Mojo doesn't list it, but it did star Keith Carradine and Harvey Keitel. It was his debut, but had far more high profile actors than a debut by you or I would. Why? Because he had been directing television since 1965. Ridley Scott was not a nobody. He had been working for nearly 20 years and had one BIG hit. Incidentally, Alien was made for 11 million. You don't give 11 million to a nobody, not today, and certainly not in 1979.
All of this is you doing exactly what you said you didn't want to do...you're comparing apples to oranges here. Now, I'm not saying one is LIKELY to make money on an indie picture...or a hollywood film or what have you.
You are absolutely RIGHT about Riddley Scot!
MY BIG MISTAKE! My appologies for ignorance and selective memory, and laziness to double-check the facts.
RADIO and Orson Welles notions could be a questionable debate which I will not get into, but since neither is important to the reasons why I asked questions 1/ 2 / 3 so I will not reply to your replies but rather give my own answers to my questions because I belive it's important that I demonstrate to you that I am not talking about apples and oranges because I am not
COMPARING DIRECTLY the two, bath rather trying to learn about one from the knowledge I have of the other:
My Answers
Questiion 3:
Up until early 2000s, Coppola has filed for his 7th bankruptcy!
Question 2:
Spielberg used money he made in early successful movies as a capital to start making a profit through REAL ESTATE biz in NY and D.C. area…
Question 1:
3 mutual point for these movies are:
-All of them are GREAT MOVIES that regardless of the people's taste and opinion about them, can be considered as artifacts of human spirit and civilization, their life progress or regressions and ultimately proofs of human existence, meaning they are -ART pieces!
-All of them were considered financial failure to the point that their own producers tried to sabotage them
-All of them are still making serious money on the market, despite free downloads, torrents, rapidshares, cheap illegal DVIX copies sold on the street etc…. People still gladly buy DVDs of those movies, rent them on netflix or even better, go to movie theater to see them (last screening of Brazil that I attended was saturday's midnight theater screening and it was SOLD OUT). Now try to find any product that is commercially exploitable 20/30/70 years after it's production! Not even german cars can d that

The only product that can do that is -ART!
ART is the ultimate commercial product!!!
Or to quote somebody who said it before me:
"ARTIST is the ultimate businessman because he is actually manages to sell you things for big money that you don't even need! "
In other words, if you wanna be commercially successful, you best bet is trying to crate art!
if you're making the movie that you want to make, your odds are much slimmer than if you actually study the market you are aiming for and make something that THEY want to see, and market it to them.
If you really wanna be studious and analyze market, human's taste, what people like or dislike, you will find that actually they have no problem spending money on ART but do not want to spend money on the movie that is made "by the rules" of many instructional books ("from reel to deal" and such) in order to please them!
People wanna be moved, they wanna be surprised, they wanna be engaged, they wanna be educated, they wanna be intrigued… they want -ART!
Why all of this is important?!
Because you're all talking about he movies like they are stocks and bonds rather than - ART pieces!
I can understand that Hollywood Studio executives talk about movies in that regard because after all, non of them went to artschool nor filmschool but rather Yale/Harward biz school, but at least you, who are filmmakers with or without schools it doesn't matter, should have more self-respect and dignity towards what you do, and start treating movies like a "live being" rather than plain fact in the stats of stockbrockers! Like a ART!
Why is this so important?!
Because you will never have problems finding investors if you know what is that you do, if you honestly tell them why do you need money and especially if you manage to explain them that what you do is not biz/industry/trade specultions but rather ART madness!
I read your posts, in full, and found them to be rather negative. Not sure how you think they are anything otherwise. I'm not trying to get into a flame-war with you. I just wanted to temper your negativity with a little hopefullness. You did, after all, write this:
I didn't read anything wrong, or take it out of context. You stated, quite clearly, that you think I'm doing it wrong. I'm telling you that what you think is "right" doesn't work for me, on many levels. I'm not interested in doing what you think is "right", I'm perfectly capable of choosing the path that is best for me, and I'm not embarrassed to admit that it is the path of a dreamer.![]()
No worries I am not accusing you for anything, I am just wondering am I too cofusing for others to read because of my elaborate writing....
It's funny what you say, because I consider myself to be a dreamer!?
OK, I get the point that my comments might be more on a negative side, but even if that's the case, it's not me who is negative:
I am just accurately interpreting the situation on the field! Situation is negative!
If experts are saying that 5 out of 6 movies in Hollywood is actually loosing money (and hope for a big successful smash hit to recoup the investments for the losers), why blaming ME for negativity?!
Why not instead be open enough and say to yourself:
Yeah, it sucks! I better stop dreaming about it the way Idid so far because one day I might find myself on elm street and the day will be friday 13th.
I am sorry, but I can not and don't want to nourish anybody's insecurity of their vanity not warm up the false hopes of neither my fellow filmmakers nor film investors just so that fragile ad sensitive souls of fellow filmmakers don't find my behavior be to be too discouraging for their goals!
Quite contrary:
I am trying to help everybody reach their dreams by pointing out the fact that if they dream of big money in indie movies biz, and especially if they talk their investor into those dream, the only dreams that that will come through are their own - NIGHTMARES!
If I say that indie movies is not money making biz and that lying to your investors based on the premise that it is, how exactly am I becoming partypooper?
Huh, this is getting too implicated and it seems that other people take my writing more on a personal level…I guess I will have to reset and start from the beginning, since otherwise we might end up in dead end street of mutual accusations!
Hmmm….
Nobody finds it useful to answer the questions under numbers 4/ 5 / 6 / 7/ 8 ?