If I may take an analogue audio analogy. For over 20 years post the intro of the CD and then MP3 to now downloads the death of vinyl sales was to be imminent. Yes, by the late 90's it was hanging on by a finger hold. But funny thing started to happen and ironically now fueled by the internet and social media. By the mid 2000's vinyl began to see a resurrection in popularity. More and more new vinyl is being made, once closed factories were snapped up for pennies on the dollar by smaller entrepreneurs and reopened in a smaller scale. Record player sales began to notably rise. Sales of used vinyl shot up. Not just aging boomers but the hipness of the younger demographic who are looking for an experience that is different and unique to the now daily drudgery of online life and downloads they partake in. No, none of these folks are going to ditch their digital media downloads and playback devices as such, but they want to get a feeling for what analogue audio gives and the now growing coolness of vinyl. Sharing this growing coolness with friends enhances this experience for them.
Now nobody in their right mind suggests vinyl playback will reattain its halcyon days of the 70's. But it's being shown to have a lasting and growing pleasurable interest.
I suggest we will see a similar lasting value for film over the years. No, film won't regain its status of sales and popularity. But it will maintain a useable base and enough so to be profitable all be it on a smaller scale and by design a way to be viable at such . Technology will be its asset in keeping costs of production under control. Ingenuity for this will be maintained by entrepreneurs, techs and engineers for what will be a stable and maybe improving market. There may be fewer sku's in the future but interest will be as in vinyl audio maintained and enhanced as such I think we will see film colour and B&W viable for a long time to come. No it may not ever be dirt cheap, but like vinyl its value will be enhanced and those who use it will value the cost to performance of it.
Industries change and reshape but many a once doomed industry is still viable today but in a smaller scale and often a more profitable scale for those who partake. If I may make one more example.
100+ years ago the automobile was a limited production item made by craftsmen. Henry Ford led the ideal of mass production and as such made cars viable to the masses. Hand crafting all but disappeared. Now 100+ years later we see a relative plethora of limited run, specialized and hand crafted for the most part autos. No, they are not a huge market but they see techs, engineers and craftsmen who partake of now do so with generally a healthy profit.
