I'm McGaris and this is post-mortem.

Everybody finds his or her way into the entertainment business in different ways.

There's no tried and true method to achieving gainful employment in the world of film and television.

Each tale of filmmakers able to make their livings telling stories is unique unto itself.

But the world has changed at a rapid pace. We find ourselves surrounded by entertainment choices.

Theatrical releases are primarily big studio blockbusters and television seems to be stronger than it's ever been.

And streaming choices from iTunes to Netflix to Hulu,

to Shutter, to Amazon, to Voodoo, to Vimio, to YouTube, to VIMO,

and on and on are mind-bogglingly diverse. But the dirty secret behind all these

choices is this. It's really hard to make money making independent movies. You'd be

surprised how many directors of movies

you've known and loved can't make a living off of their films. How many writers and

directors have to hold down day jobs, editing, working as publicists, holding down an office job, or even tempting to be able to pay the rent.

Everyone thinks that movie makers are living the high life in Bel Air or oiling their tans in Malibu. And that's true of many of the

studio and network stars. But the horror genre is mostly an independent one and the

independent world is in a constant state of upheaval trying to find its bearings.

A movie that cost half a million bucks, or 2 million bucks, or 5 million bucks,

used to be able to recover its costs in worldwide sales, theatrical

distribution, home video, and television rights. But since the digitization

and democratization of filmmaking, the sheer volume of films out there has led to a glut of movies.

A major indie distributor might only pay 50,000 dollars for North American theatrical rights.

Many really good films are made that never get bought or seen.

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