Getting a film greenlit in Hollywood often feels like trench warfare except instead of bullets, executives shoot "we love it, but" emails that kill your project just as effectively.

Let's Be Honest About What's Happening Right Now

The American film industry is bleeding jobs faster than a slasher film victim. Sound stages sit emptier than a Blockbuster Video in 2023. Crews can't make rent. Jon Voight met with Trump to propose 10% federal tax credits for domestic productions, while Trump floated separate 100% tariffs on offshore shoots.

Meanwhile, smart producers in Morocco are building world-class VFX studios, permanent production infrastructure, and distribution pipelines at costs that make Hollywood accountants weep into their Excel sheets.

Both sides think the other is the problem.

Both sides are missing the point entirely.

The Mathematics Neither Side Wants to Discuss

Hollywood doesn't have a runaway production problem. It has a runaway cost problem.

Let me translate a typical indie film budget into reality:

Traditional US Production:

• $2M budget → $0 rebates → $0 backend (after distribution fees)

• 18-month wait for any revenue

• Streaming rights sacrificed for distribution like a virgin to a volcano god

Morocco Production:

• $2M budget → $600K rebates → $1.2M effective budget

• 9-month timeline to revenue

• Full rights retention through tech-enabled distribution

The system isn't just expensive—it's designed to be expensive in ways that filter who gets to participate.

Then they act shocked when filmmakers go elsewhere.

Here's the equation nobody's sharing: Cost isn't just the enemy. It's the gatekeeper.

When movies cost what Hollywood says they cost, only Hollywood gets to decide what gets made.

"They Said My Film Was Impossible, So I Built My Own Studio"

I recently spoke with director Gino McKoy, who should be teaching master classes on how to play chess while everyone else is playing checkers.

When McKoy couldn't get his sci-fi film made in the traditional system, he didn't just whine about it on Twitter. He didn't launch a GoFundMe. He didn't compromise his vision.

He went to Morocco and built infrastructure.

"You're saving 40-60% on production costs, plus you get a 30% cash rebate," McKoy explained.

But here's the genius part that most "save money by shooting overseas" conversations miss: McKoy's sci-fi film Lumina—the first shot entirely in Morocco with Africa's largest interior sets—was produced through his company Goldove, which operates production services, VFX, and distribution arms.

This isn't about outsourcing. It's about ownership.

The One-Film Mindset Is The Real Trap

Hollywood gatekeepers and indie filmmaker rebels actually share the same delusion: they think it's about individual movies.

It's not.

The studios obsess over which film gets greenlit next quarter. The indies obsess over getting their passion project made. Both miss the infrastructure play that actually changes the game.

McKoy understood something I wish I'd grasped sooner:

"Black movies get less money than white movies or other movies, even if you have quality," McKoy noted. "But what about black music? Our music is worldwide."

He recognized that distribution infrastructure matters more than any single film. When you own the pipeline, you don't need permission to tell your stories.

Let's Talk About The Tariff Elephant in the Room

Trump wants 100% tariffs on films shot offshore. Jon Voight wants 10% tax credits for domestic production. I understand the impulse to protect American jobs. I do.

But we tried tariffs with steel, aluminum, and washing machines. How'd that work out? Prices went up. Selection went down. The protected industries innovated exactly zero.

Hollywood doesn't need protection. It needs disruption from within.

The cold truth? LA isn't expensive because films are expensive to make. Films are expensive to make because LA is expensive.

When your production office costs $15,000 a month, your grips want $700 a day, and your parking costs more than the craft services budget, that's not "the cost of quality." That's a systemic failure.

Morocco isn't just cheaper. It's mathematically saner.

Negative Pickups vs. Ownership: The Chess Move Most Miss

Most filmmakers obsess over owning their films like it's a rare Pokémon card that'll somehow make them rich.

But what McKoy and other strategic players understand is that owning distribution and production infrastructure trumps owning any single film.

"I prefer to seek out negative pickups or MGs rather than maintain ownership of individual work," McKoy explained. "The value is in owning the infrastructure and distribution."

This is galaxy-brain thinking in an industry full of people just trying to get their personal project made.

You can own one film that nobody sees, or you can own the system that determines which hundred films get seen. Pick your battle.

The Future Isn't LA vs. Morocco. It's Who Owns What.

There's a version of the future where everybody wins: LA production houses partner with global infrastructure instead of fighting it.

Imagine:

• Pre-production and post in LA, keeping high-value jobs local

• Physical production using global incentive structures

• Distribution leveraging emerging markets Hollywood currently ignores

• Profits flowing to whoever builds the best systems, not who has the most leverage

This isn't fantasy. It's already happening. Just not at the scale it could.

"Africa is the next biggest advertising video on demand market in the world," McKoy points out. "In the next three to five years, Africa will be the biggest advertising video on demand market, bigger than Tubi."

The studios know this. They're just hoping you don't.

Building Bridges Between Warring Factions

Here's my perspective as someone who's shot in actual war zones: the current battle lines are stupid.

It's not "save Hollywood jobs" versus "abandon American film." It's about building production systems that actually make mathematical sense.

When Lumina's 1,000-screen studio deal collapsed during COVID, McKoy leveraged Morocco's infrastructure to finish the film, later securing a cult following via streaming.

The future isn't fewer American film jobs. It's more global film jobs – including American ones – in a system where the math actually works.

Why Morocco Nights Isn't Just Another Film Conference

That's why I'm bringing together filmmakers, investors, and industry professionals for Morocco Nights this December.

Not for panels about "the state of independent film" that change nothing.

Not to throw stones at a Hollywood system that's obviously struggling.

But to build bridges between talent, capital, and infrastructure that actually work in today's reality.

Because what the industry needs isn't protection. It needs imagination. It needs people who can see beyond false choices and build systems where everybody wins.

Except maybe the middlemen who add no value. They can still lose. I'm fine with that.

Morocco Nights takes place December 3-6, 2025.

Only 75 seats available:

• 25 Filmmakers (fully sponsored)

• 25 Investors

• 25 Industry Professionals

→ CLAIM YOUR SEAT

P.S. If you know a filmmaker or investor who should be at Morocco Nights, forward them this email. I only want people who get it in the room