The Circuit

Kevin Kelley's response to theories of the "long tail" -- where film sales are spread out over time across different platforms like VOD and digitial streaming -- is to question whether it really benefits the creators.  He posted his own theory in March, called "1,000 True Fans" and comments keep rolling in -- both pro and con -- and it's applications for indie filmmakers are enticing, especially for the From Here to Awesome folks, who took on the question of how exactly to make it work on this panel.

Kelley explains 1,000 True Fans:

A creator, such as an artist, musician, photographer, craftsperson, performer, animator, designer, videomaker, or author - in other words, anyone producing works of art - needs to acquire only 1,000 True Fans to make a living.

A True Fan is defined as someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce. They will drive 200 miles to see you sing. They will buy the super deluxe re-issued hi-res box set of your stuff even though they have the low-res version. They have a Google Alert set for your name. They bookmark the eBay page where your out-of-print editions show up. They come to your openings. They have you sign their copies. They buy the t-shirt, and the mug, and the hat. They can't wait till you issue your next work. They are true fans.

During the Renaissance, these were called Benefactors.  Poets depended on them.  Kelly's optimistic math spreads it out so artists can avoid having to appease a single sugar-daddy:

Assume conservatively that your True Fans will each spend one day's wages per year in support of what you do. That "one-day-wage" is an average, because of course your truest fans will spend a lot more than that.  Let's peg that per diem each True Fan spends at $100 per year. If you have 1,000 fans that sums up to $100,000 per year, which minus some modest expenses, is a living for most folks.

Read the full post and ongoing debate here.