You make it sound so impossible and yet we have someone on this very board, Mara, doing what you claim is so impossible, making indie films and getting them on platforms and getting some money back in return.
It's not impossible, but it's incredibly hard, and legitimate wins with no "backstory" are incredibly rare. I'm not trying to be depressing, but I do have a moral obligation to put up signs at the edge of death valley that say "You will die if your car breaks down out here". Look it up, people like me go out there and make sure those signs are up every year, because they keep finding skeletons in cars out there.
I'm always looking for good news to give you guys, and there has been kind of a lot of it lately, in terms of democratizing films, which you will remember was my main thing from day one. I get that no one wants to learn python or UE, or do these really difficult things that take years, but there really is good news for creatives that are willing to undergo, lol, a marathon of severe mental pain and frustration. Within a few years, this whole indie film thing will be more possible than it's been in 30 years. A new golden age, at least for a moment in time. Some enterprising person should probably try to set up for the moment of opportunity way in advance. Throw together some type of organization that capitolizes on this once in a generation opportunity. Do years of setup and research, and get ahead of the curve, snatching up pole position in the race of a lifetime. Oh, if we could only find a person like that. I'm certain that the support would be overwhelming, and not just a constant grind rewarded with a tape loop of crickets.
I've pitched many times the case studies that DID have regular positive outcomes, and been mostly ignored. Basically if your mentality is a small business, with a talented core team of like minded individuals that put in sweat equity (that means working like a professional with no paycheck in sight, and all the great ones did it) towards a focused shared goal.
You'll notice that I don't post many dire warnings about becoming an indie game dev, or starting an animation studio that supplements it's income with corporate projects so it can make an anime series, or people that make tv commercials (I used to, it pays the rent), or basically anyone who -
Does case studies, and creates a rational business model with a bottom line that works
Works as a coordinated team with at least a few people. It's really most effective with complimentary skills. EG, I hate social media, so my view numbers and networking reach are stunningly low. It would likely be different if I was tag teaming the issue with someone very enthusiastic about social media, who had experience with that system where my blind spot is.
The whole Save Point thing is kind of patterned after the 300 strategy. The tech paradigm shift I saw coming years ago is arriving now. That is represented by the narrow gap in the rock, and the shield wall. It's a rare moment of underdog leverage, and if we all hit it hard and unified, we could likely achieve what I keep saying is nearly impossible.
That's exactly what got me so excited about the idea in the first place.