Audience seated in H-E-B Theater

Get Your Own Damn Audience: Indie Filmmaking in the Age of Amazon AI

ByMatthew Thornton

Filmmaking in the Age of Algorithms: Get Your Own Damn Golf Cart

If you’re an independent filmmaker like us, you’ve probably felt the ground shift. In our production company, we write, shoot, edit, and distribute our own films — usually on tight budgets, with a tight-knit team (like, less than a starting-five-sized team). And as we enter into the distribution phase with our most recent film — Ullberg: Wind in the Sails — we are aiming to build our audience and sell to them directly. Yes, we’ll play the festival circuit, and yes, we’ll release on VOD platforms (large and niche) — but our primary aim is to be completely and totally… INDEPENDENT.

Our decision became even clearer this week when we read about Amazon’s 7,000+ video-related patents — covering everything from AI story generation to automated distribution — and we paused.

Here’s a quick rundown of what is happening:

What’s Amazon Building?

Amazon is quietly building an entire filmmaking pipeline powered by artificial intelligence and automation at nearly every step:

  • Development: Concepts are tested against data before a script is even written. Algorithms help generate story ideas, simulate casting outcomes, and predict viewer reactions.
  • Pre-production: AI assembles shot lists, builds 3D sets, and creates virtual schedules based on weather, location, and talent availability.
  • Production: Footage is uploaded in real time to the cloud. Scenes are flagged and scored for emotion and audience engagement.
  • Post: Dubbing, subtitling, editing—even music licensing—can be handled automatically.
  • Distribution: Films are encrypted, optimized, and dropped into the ecosystem, monetized by user behavior data.

This system is efficient. Unbelievably efficient.

But what’s missing?

The Human Hand

Let’s not get it twisted: we’re not anti-technology. We use AI (a lot). We automate where we can. We’ve leaned into tools that save time, tighten workflow, and let us keep moving.

But filmmaking isn’t logistics. Well, it isn’t just logistics.

We don’t do this to make content. We do it to make a mark — a real one. Something weird and wonderful. Something only we could make.

That’s what’s at stake here.

What This Means for Us — And Maybe for You Too

If you’re a filmmaker working outside the system, this moment is a crossroads:

  • You won’t out-AI Amazon. And you shouldn’t try. You’ll never be faster, cheaper, or more predictable than their machine.
  • But you can be more human. That’s your edge. That’s always been your edge.

How We’re Thinking Differently Now

Here’s what we’re doing — and recommending to fellow filmmakers navigating the same landscape:

  • Treat Amazon like a faucet, not a well. You can draw from it, but don’t count on it to feed you.
  • Build your audience before your edit. Your direct list is worth more than a Prime listing.
  • Plan like an algorithm, create like an outlaw. Use smart tools. Test early. Get feedback. But don’t let that override your instincts.
  • Tell the stories that only you can tell. The more specific and human your work is, the more future-proof it becomes.

Our Indie Toolkit for the Future

We have a phrase we use a lot: “Get your own damn golf cart.”
It started during a beach weekend in Port Aransas, Texas. We were waiting on a friend’s golf cart to pick us up for a party. He was wrangling kids and chaos — and we were stuck. So we crossed the street, dropped a few hundred bucks, and rented our own. It wasn’t cheap, but it was the best decision we made all weekend. We had freedom. We moved on our own time. And ever since, it’s become a kind of rallying cry for us.

Same thing goes for filmmaking. Don’t wait around. Get your own damn golf cart.

Get Your Own Damn Audience

  • Build an email list.
  • Offer behind-the-scenes access.
  • Talk to people who care about your work — not just whoever stumbles into a thumbnail.

Sell Direct First

  • Use platforms like Gumroad, Vimeo OTT, or Eventive.
  • Let Amazon be your wide net, not your first move.

Be Technically Fluent

  • Meet delivery standards.
  • Add subtitles.
  • Get your audio right.
  • Don’t give platforms a reason to kick you out.

Create a “Creative Integrity Checklist”

Ask yourself:

  • Am I chasing a trend or telling the truth?
  • Would I make this if no one else ever saw it?
  • Does this excite me enough to fail at it?

Document Your Process

Your creative hand is your value. The more you show that, the more you stand out in an AI-saturated feed.

The Closing Shot

We’re not worried. We’re energized. Movie-making just became punk rock again.

Let Amazon build its cinematic autobahn.

We’re staying off-road. Telling dangerous little stories. Hitting bumps. Making weird turns. Failing (forward, hopefully). But at least we know who’s driving.

Stay creative. Stay scrappy. Make the film only you could make.

P.S. Follow our podcast — Creative Moonlighting — if you want to hear more on this subject or find more content like this.

Until next time…

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