Over the last decade, as the tools of filmmaking became less expensive and more generally accessible, there was much excitement about what came to be known as the “democratization” of filmmaking. Suddenly, one didn’t have to be rich or the relative of a studio executive to get a movie made. In addition, websites such as YouTube and others opened up distribution to the masses, creating a new paradigm that was dubbed “user-generated content.” All of this sounded great on the surface, but like other seemingly positive advances — remember the “1,000-channel universe” or the “long-tail theory?” — there are always […]