The film industry went through plenty of changes in 2009, from the advancement of Blue Ray to improved 3D technology, to fighting to survive the recession. What’s in store for 2010? Here are three things to look for this year:

The Ongoing Demise Of The Big Budget:
On average, a Hollywood production needs to gross about 2.5 times it’s original budget to break even. While higher profile films (Avatar, Harry Potter, Transformers) tend to eventually make a profit because of market saturation and cross marketing, the majority of films fail to recoup their investment for numerous reasons (the primary one being that the films aren’t very good). With increased monetary pressures continuing to squeeze all facets of business, you’re about to see fewer and fewer big films being made from the studios. When you discover that in 2009, G.I. Joe, Terminator, Watchman, The Taking of Pelham, Land of the Lost, Surrogates, Imagine That and Pandorum collectively lost one billion dollars you know the writing’s on the wall.

The Emergence Of The Documentary:
The majority of documentaries are released by small mom and pop distribution houses and on average need to gross between around a quarter of a million dollars to be considered successful. In 2009 there were 12 films (Earth, Capitalism, Food Inc., Good Hair, September Issue, Valentino, Every Little Step, It Might Get Loud, Tyson, The Nature of the Game, The Cove, Yoo-Hoo Mrs. Goldberg) that were amongst the top 100 grossing documentaries of all time, in each case grossing over $800,000. That’s an extraordinary accomplishment, especially when you consider that a decade ago it was still foreign for a general audience to seek out a documentary as an evening of entertainment. I think it’s telling that the documentary will soon overtake the narrative as the first choice for a grown-up audience seeking a night out at the cinema.

Everything Is Out There:
When I started this column two years ago never did I anticipate the diversity and quality of free films that are now streamed on-line. Sites such as Google Video or Youtube are filled with untold riches that guarantee hours and hours of viewing nirvana from the four corners of the earth. Given the choice between watching great films legally and free anytime and anywhere verses watching a limited amount of bloated, overpriced entertainment products (usually dealing with destruction) at a defined time and place ... well the choice is obvious. Whether the powers who control will be able to change the obvious will be the story in film for 2010.