Tag: trends in indie filmmaking

Indie Film Today: Retiring or Resurging?

Posted on by Jon Reiss

This post came from The Indie Auteur blog and was in response to an ongoing argument on the future of indie film. Stephan’s mentality of “do something about it or stop complaining” struck a chord with me. Article is re-posted below:

It’s Always A Hard Time To Be Indie
by Stephan Vladimir Bugaj

A recent post on John August’s blog, titled “A hard time to be an indie,” inspired me to inaugurate this blog with a post about the idea that it’s a particularly difficult time to be an Indie filmmaker (John quotes a speech by James D. Stern, which is also worth reading). It was a particularly synchronous post by John since I recently just attended the first annual Produced-By Conference, where a number of Producers were singing a somewhat different tune (or, perhaps a similar tune, but in a different key).

One point that several Producers made at the conference is that it’s always “a hard time” to be an Indie filmmaker, and that it’s an unusually bad time merely because it’s a hard time for the whole industry, and the whole economy. Their perspective, as working Indie Producers, was that if your passion is for Independent Cinema then you have to make a go of it when the time is right for you as an individual filmmaker — because the time is never “right” for entrepreneurial filmmaking.

A perspective I found especially compelling was Continue reading →

TRENDS: Is Indie Film Destined to Die and be Reborn?

An interesting and provocative take on the future of indie filmmaking by Film School Rejects.

Trends: Is Indie Film Destined to Die and Be Reborn?

Posted by Cole Abaius (FilmSchoolRejects.com) on June 25, 2008

Despite the fad-like popularity of indie films looming over the entire industry, threatening to forever destroy corporate-behemoths in a flurry of democratic, fan-based economic coups d’etat – the reality of independent film is much bleaker. Lawsuits, financial woes and studio division closings loom over the future of the industry. The amount of movies in theaters can’t be supported by the marketplace, and indies will be hit as hard as anyone. New media is changing the face of the game, and a world that demands one or two major hits to support hundreds of art house ghosts is in trouble.

We’re going to see fewer movies released in fewer theaters, yes. But we’ll also see more IMAX theaters being built, more movies being shot in 3D and a growing number in 4D. Hollywood will still be making bad movies that cost nothing and make millions, but they will continue to release incredible pieces of art that audiences will drive to box offices for despite the influx of home-theaters being built around gigantic HD monitors and cheaper surround-sound speakers. Continue reading →