The Coming of Age Tale (feat. Instagram and Short Films)

In this current era of constantly changing modes of communication, with the shift of traffic from an offline to an online mode, platforms like Tiktok and Instagram have dominated the social app graphs and have left a significant impact on global entertainment and music markets. Reasons for it are many, but in this case, analytically, it is because, in the last decade, the internet has revolutionised the way we produce and consume media. The act of consuming media now generates an entirely new type of communication: the social data layer, which tells us what we like, watch, who and what we pay attention to, and where we are while doing so. In his article about how the internet has changed the fundamental nature of communication, Peter Hirshberg claims that viewership, which was once passive, now plays a more central and influential role than ever before. "And like anyone suddenly thrust in the spotlight, we’ve been learning a lot, and fast." Taking that into account, the shifts that have occurred in many dimensions of our surroundings are per this concept of the audience playing the central role, and because all eyes at this movement are on social media platforms, there has been a transition from OTT platforms such as Hulu, Netflix, and others to fora such as Instagram and Facebook— which are now being utilised by young aspiring content creators to advertise their work online for a more diverse and accessible audience.

Tanmay Chowdary, an independent, young short filmmaker on Instagram, says that Instagram is one of the best places to share content because it has a large number of daily users, quality measurements and analytics, and audience-building strategies. Tanmay believes that posting independent content on Instagram is preferable to working with other commercial sites because Instagram acts as an open résumé where people can see what you've worked on and produced. This essentially promotes the idea that one is aware of the type of content they want to work with, and as a result, they will receive the response they seek. “You approached me after seeing my work. This is a simple example of it.”

Illustration by Sampandi Lama

The Instagram short film or filmmaking community is a close-knit community with people working in close proximity and relationships with one another. Tanmay mentions that the most important thing for content to truly get attention is to find the right platforms to premiere it on. He goes on to say that scouting takes place in specific communities on the site, such as for music videos, @nowness is an emerging platform, or for short films and videos, @filmfatalesorg, where if one gets their content published, it puts them on the radar. And once they get access to networks and connections in these spaces, there are chances for a big firm to view their posted work and decide to turn them into larger budget movies, etc.

In contrast to this, Muzamil Bhawani, an actor and producer who, on Instagram, works with several young filmmakers on a low budget, says that profit distribution is one of the reasons why some young filmmakers prefer working independently on a small scale rather than with a corporate company. When an idea is chosen, the firm pays the ideator and purchases the idea, which is then developed and worked on further. Once work is published online, it is more likely that it will generate consistent revenue for a long time, with none of it going to the ideator’s pocket. This is one of the reasons why, rather than putting their content on OTT platforms, filmmakers nowadays prefer to start with Facebook or Instagram.

Tanmay Chowdary, in response to the type of content filmmakers create for an online audience, says he and his sister co-own an Instagram account called @peru.films, where they post their self-produced short films and music videos based on topics and brands they firmly believe in. He claims that they always strive to create content on concepts they think should be addressed and collaborate with people who share their values. It is reflected in a video on the page, titled Human Safari. The video depicts an organised tour that brings intergalactic newcomers to Earth as tourists and shows them unfamiliar places where they can observe human life.

One of the most commonly asked questions for independent filmmakers is the subject of funding. Independent short filmmakers face the most significant financial challenge, as a lack of funding frequently results in a considerable loss of invested money and time. Tanmay responds to a question about funding and financial aid in his first project by saying, "We started with no money. Just some savings and a few people willing to accommodate us." "As people begin to appreciate your work, traffic grows, and you eventually reach your targeted audience, allowing you to go mainstream and make money," he adds.

Online content creation is becoming increasingly popular as the supply chain from invention to distribution is becoming digital in many areas of the creative industries. Talking about the reach of online content, Tanmay says that the number of users who have seen and interacted with a piece of content on a social platform helps with analytics and traffic generation. This is how content is shared with a large and diverse audience. "To be honest, I don't think hashtags work," he continues, referring to the use of hashtags to disseminate content online. He adds that instead of hashtags, he prefers to share content via DMs and stories these days.

The shift that has occurred, in the past few years, centralising on the transition of the audience concentration from OTT platforms to social media, was preceded by a shift in traffic from television to OTT platforms. It was so because, when we put it all in retrospect, in the past world of record shops and video rental stores, it cost money to stock physical merchandise, while with streaming platforms it wasn't so. In essence, the internet was economically beneficial to the pocket as online, the entire world’s content could be kept on servers, and because of reasons like that, an economic shift had occurred.

Now, concentrating on the same economic shift, whereas streaming platforms require payment for subscriptions, social media platforms are free and can be accessed from anywhere. As a result, they are the pocket saviours and the audience favourite. Other than the fact that social media is now seen as a more approachable medium because of its wider reach, ease of use, and that it is now being used as a social job profile for the young generation, because of reasons like these, content creators now prefer to post their content on social me