ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses success-keeping in mind, of course, that the definition of success is both personal and fluid. Ultimately, for a filmmaker, the measuring stick for success typically has more to do with personal achievement and less to do with box office numbers. Michael Apted is widely known as one of the most prolific and critically and commercially successful filmmakers of the past five decades. He began in news, documentaries, and television in the United Kingdom in the 1960s and started making features in the 1970s, including the classics Stardust and Agatha, the latter starring Dustin Hoffman and Vanessa Redgrave. The development of distribution through online streaming already provides benefits to the mainstream film industry by lowering costs and expanding markets, but it also opens up space for smaller independents. Ramon Lobato notes that newer forms of online distribution are disrespectful of trade agreements and intellectual rights law.
