The $10,000 Hit Movie

Howdy Storytellers 🤠!

Michael, here (the one with the cowboy hat).

The economics of film are changing forever. Today, I want to show you why – and how you can capitalize on this trend. Some say television is dying. Some say microdramas are taking over Hollywood and will be the future of everything.

They are both right. They are both wrong.

Something has become undeniable though. Monoculture is fading.

In it’s place tens of thousands of niche fandoms are rising – and they all need movies and shows to watch.

By the end of this article, I’ll share with you how YOU can…

This is the thesis we founded Creatorwood on. The demand for movies and shows is about to explode – but not in the way you think. We’re building the creation and distribution engine to power this future – and help Storytellers Rule the World.

Today, I’m going to reveal to you how you can become one of those storytellers.

I won’t save the conclusion to the bottom. The takeaway is simple: you must get ultra-clear about WHO you want to watch your show or movie. It is around this designing principle – who are your viewers – that everything else follows.

And the old school advise on four quadrant movies or broad demographics or genres is broken. I want you to go hyperniche. So niche, that you may be the only show ever created in your category.

This is how you win.

But before I dive into why this is the path toward the next generation of successful stories, I first need to share with you 3 trends that have forever shaped how we consume content – and in turn our culture.

Fame used to be reserved for a small group of A-List celebrities that starred in blockbuster films.

Now, 10,000 youtube channels in the United States have more than 1 million subscribers [source] and 39,000 TikTok accounts have 1 million+ followers as of 2023 [source].

We used to have 3 cable television channels. Then dozens. Then 100+. Now there are tens of thousands of unique content providers that have amassed large audiences.

Except they aren’t on cable. They’re on social media.

For television the era of the late 2000s to 2010s got coined as “Peak TV”.

Why?

Because there was an explosion in scripted content. There’s multiple factors for this including a massive investment in original content from streaming platforms.

As you can see scripted original TV content dropped 14% in 2023. With this said, after another drop in 2024, it looks like 2025 was an uptick in scripted productions (I couldn’t find a reliable dataset on the exact amount).

No doubt it’s been turbulent times for scripted production, even if the sky isn’t crashing down as many of the industry narratives will have you believe.

There’s multiple reasons for this turbulence.

COVID forced many studios to re-evaluate their financials.

Writer and actor strikes halted many series and productions.

But ultimately… this many scripted productions at an average cost well into the millions each (if not tens of millions) is just not tenable to payback and be profitable. The entire business is driven on finding big hits.

And despite many of these shows being incredibly well-produced, most will never be big slate-returning hits for the increasing amount of private equity firms and investment banks funding Hollywood productions.

Meanwhile it’s not that people didn’t watch these shows. Just not enough to be worth continuing to invest in. Thus, the financialization of film results in more cash, chasing fewer bets that are more certain to return big (aka A-List actors, existing franchises, etc.).

But that doesn’t mean there isn’t sufficient demand to make a living from thousands and thousands of shows each year, if only it was much more cost-effective to produce. Of course, this is what Creatorwood was made for.

Working with our VIP Production Team, you can have a team of talented AI Directors produce your film for 1,000x cheaper than traditional filmmaking methods. And for distribution? No studio approval is needed. You can distribute on the Creatorwood Streaming Platform, keep 80% of the gross revenue, keep full rights to your film, and get access to all the emails of your viewers.

If you want to learn more about working with our VIP Production Team and how we can bring your story to life as a movie, short-film, microdrama, or television series, you can chat with our team HERE or respond to this email with INTERESTED and we’ll share more details.

Of course, none of this is a guarantee that your film will be profitable. Even with much lower production costs and distribution available to everyone – most films will not pay back. But the opportunity to bring your story to life is now accessible to more people than ever – and there will be many, many people who are successful in this new world of film.

How do I know this? Well, let’s look at the world of book publishing where 40% of scripted content Hollywood produces is adapted from…

Given that May is barely half way through the year, it’s safe to say that by the end of 2022, ~5,000 self-published writers on Amazon made $100,000+ in that calendar year.

Given that it’s been another 4 years, and the market has grown even more since then, when you count Amazon along with other major eBook and audiobook platforms it’s almost a certainty that more than 10,000 self-published authors make more than $100,000 a year and tens of thousands of self-published authors make a viable living.

It’s unclear how many of these authors are fiction v.s. nonfiction, but given the composition of the bestseller charts on Audible and Kindle, it’s reasonable to assume that the majority of the 10,000+ folks making $100k/year from their self-published stories are writing fiction.

So let’s say there are 6,000 or so fiction writers making $100K+ a year from their self-published stories (not counting the tens of thousands making a reasonable income between $10k and $100k a year). Wowza!

When you put this all together one thing becomes clear.

There’s more demand than ever for scripted content.

The problem? Before AI, producing scripted content at scale required tens of billions of dollars in annual investment. The audiences of each individual production did not support that level of investment – resulting in a massive supply and demand gap in film.

AI is solving that in real time.

Cheaper productions won’t destroy Hollywood.

It will grow the film industry bigger than ever.

Instead of one movie that makes $100 million+ we will have 10,000+ movies that make $10,000 each.

The demand is already there. The explosion of self-published authors making a living and social media creators with large followings proves this.

For you as a storyteller this means one thing is more critical than ever.

You don’t need to chase million dollar budgets and multi-million dollar box office payouts. Sure, that’s awesome. But that’s not where the real opportunity lies.

Instead, ask yourself something simple but critical.

Who is the audience for your story, why will they specifically love your story, and how will you share it with them?

I dive deep into this concept – what I call a Story Gap – inside this article here.

In the meantime, what story do you plan on bringing to life and what is the audience for your film? Reply to this email with your answer! We’d love to hear about your creative vision and do everything we can to help you create it 😊.

This was part 1 of in an essay series I’m working on about the Viewers First way to storytelling. If you enjoyed it, let me know! I’m excited for the next one – all about what format your film should be in and the length your film should be – based on when and where your audience is watching it.

In the meantime, don’t forget about our special offer for our VIP Production Service. Our team of expert AI Directors can turn your story into a movie or show with AI for just $200 per finished minute through June 15th (20% off from our normal price of $250 per finished minute and 99% cheaper than traditional production methods).

You can book a free consultation call with our team HERE.

Let me know any questions you have.

I’ll see you all in the next one!

And as always, don’t forget…

Storytellers Rule the World,

Michael and the Creatorwood Team

P.S. Read Beyond the Book for free HERE, it includes 100 ideas on how to make money from your stories beyond writing books. And read the Author Marketing Superpowers Deck for free HERE, 50 superpowers to help you market your book

P.S. Before you schedule a call with our VIP Production team HERE, you can learn a lot more about our one-of-a-kind service to help you turn your story into a movie or show with AI by watching the video below 👇