(Source: Springboardmedia.com) Brian Newman is a business development consultant focused on entertainment projects (read about him in How to Give Your Movie Away Free and Still Make Money), and in this invaluable top ten article he delivers an unbiased and sugar-free perspective on the many hyped trends circling the industry. The tone is admittedly a little negative, but sometimes you need to feel the sting to know something is real. He tackles the realities of social media, crowdfunding, transmedia and several other buzz-worthy topics. Great stuff.

This has been the year of new experiments in film and media. Whereas there used to be a few of us touting the new models, it now seems to be a cacophony of voices all extolling how the new tools available to us will change the world and make indie film successful. Ok, there's been a lot of gloom and doom talk as well, but as my reading list shows, there's been a lot of great new models proposed. But whenever a crowd agrees on something, well, something's wrong. So, here below are ten of the most promising developments of the year and a few words about why I think each one is also worrisome. Or rather, why the future remains uncertain. Note in advance - I really believe in the good side of many of these things, but I'm always contrarian...

1. Direct connection with your fans. Earn 1000 Fans and you can make a career. You can now connect directly with your audience and make a living. But to quote Matt Rosoff of CNET - "The common wisdom today dictates that musicians need a personal connection with their fans. They must blog, tweet, maintain their MySpace and Facebook profiles, and generally act like your next door neighbor who's always pestering you to see his band. There's a word for receiving "personal" messages from your favorite 100 bands--it's called "spam." Eventually, this cloud of self-promotional noise will dissipate, and will be replaced by old-fashioned word of mouth." I can't say it better. So, remember, as every other filmmaker catches up with audience-connection - and this means Hollywood too - you've got more emails, more requests for micro-funding and a lot more noise. Who do you think will drown in this noise....?

2. Advertising Models and Sponsorships. I don't think I've been to a single conference where these two topics haven't been mentioned as the savior for indies. But I've worked at getting sponsorships and advertising for many things (fests, videos, programs) for years, with some of the best people, and it's f-in' hard work. It's going to be the rare indie film that cracks this nut. Few brands want to be associated with your little indie film. They want numbers, even in the niche, and few indie films reach enough people. I'll also say it again - if advertising worked as a model for niche content, it would have worked on TV. Advertising will start to work online, but returns for niche content will remain weak. Forever. And think about it, Tivo was kinda collectively invented by all of us because we don't like watching ads. You're a consumer as well as a producer. Don't do things to your consumer that you would prefer not be done unto you ...

Read Newman's complete list at Springboardmedia.com, or follow him on Twitter @bnewman01.