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Can the Internet Save Indie Film?
wired.com — As CRM's chief operating officer Janet Brown says: "For anyone in this indie business, the clock never stops -- and Matt embodies that to the fullest."
msaleem- 415 diggs
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- mattbrighton, on 06/27/2008, -3/+3Really this is like applying a band aid to a chainsaw wound. More imagination/vision please!
- JamesMorris, on 06/27/2008, -0/+9No the new indie film was dire, gtfo dr jones.
Oh wait.. - Premier, on 06/27/2008, -1/+4I don't see the internet as an entity that saves things. Mainly it destroys them or takes away the access or connection to something already existing and provides it to a larger audience, and while this may be helpful to the indie audience it's done more in a destructive way than a constructive way.
- BrandonJM, on 06/27/2008, -0/+1I absolutely agree. The indie audience is pretty small and that means having to find THEM as much as they find new material. This is a much bigger task than many Internet journalists understand.
- solecize, on 06/27/2008, -5/+2wait- the independent film industry is in danger, and can only be saved by the internet- f**k! Anyone want to buy a camera?
- magic6435, on 06/27/2008, -2/+9Save indie film? indie film is bigger than ever! bs article.
- corbettkroehler, on 06/27/2008, -0/+1The old Hollywood studio system continues to fade. Now that good independent films (or spec scripts which are developed through independent production houses) win Oscars on a regular basis, their security for the next few years has solidified.
The Internet can help. YouTube is a concept everyone understands and it makes for easy viral growth.
Besides, look at Tila Tequila. If she can become a cable star, it ought to be possible to move insightful motion pictures for pixels to picture houses! - seinman, on 06/27/2008, -0/+2Define bigger. Are there more indie films being produced now than before? Sure. Is more money being spent overall? Absolutely. However, a much smaller percent of them are becoming hits (or making any money at all). This is the problem. If 100 indie films were made in 1990 and 2 of them became popular, then 1000 were made this year and 10 became popular, sure it looks like the "indie scene" is exploding, but as far as quality output is concerned, it's failing miserably.
- magic6435, on 06/27/2008, -0/+1With netflix and on Demand many more indie movies are seeing the light of day. netflix alone carries over 1,300 titles and they started that back in 2006.
- GJBlizzard, on 06/27/2008, -1/+1"but as far as quality output is concerned, it's failing miserably."
Good if you can't make a good movie, then don't make movies. Lord knows the last thing we need are 500 more "quirky" coming of age movies from people who have no clue what they're doing.
The only reason the "indie film scene" needs be saved is because there are hundreds of bums who think they can direct and don't want to get a real job.
- corbettkroehler, on 06/27/2008, -0/+1The old Hollywood studio system continues to fade. Now that good independent films (or spec scripts which are developed through independent production houses) win Oscars on a regular basis, their security for the next few years has solidified.
- hardcorecomb, on 06/27/2008, -1/+5no
- sarixe, on 06/27/2008, -0/+1i thought this was already the case.
- zionKing, on 06/27/2008, -1/+3The Internet can do anything... never question again, you're angering it...
- Rudegar, on 06/27/2008, -0/+1maybe the lego game can save the indy film
- ElAssoWipo, on 06/27/2008, -0/+5It's indie. It doesn't need to be saved, it's nothing.
As long as there will be people who make crap nobody would invest in, there will be indie films.
It's like people talking about indy music replacing commercial music. There are a lot more indy music makers than signed ones. And they've always been there: in that 1$ box at the music store (those are the ones that "made it"). - goo3r, on 06/27/2008, -2/+0The question is, can indie film save the internet?
- easypie, on 06/27/2008, -0/+0Can the Internet Save Indie Film?
Can you stop being an *****? - daxsymbiont, on 06/27/2008, -0/+1What a stupid question is this. Internet IS independence incarnated.
Don't you see corporations trying to shape it to their image? It's not in their image. - e36wheelman, on 06/27/2008, -0/+2What can't the internet save?
- Midtowner, on 06/27/2008, -0/+4The indie film needs to be saved? As far as I can tell, the indie business is alive and well. I live in Oklahoma City across the street from an indie film theater. They do quite well. If the industry is doing well here, I imagine it must be doing quite well in places with more arts-oriented citizens.
- johnpaul191, on 06/27/2008, -0/+1Even if the theater goes out of business... there are still other channels of distribution. Don't get me wrong, i love my local indie theaters, but the advent of large flat panel TVs+Netlfix is just making it easier for lazy people to stay home.
- johnpaul191, on 06/27/2008, -0/+6I work on indie films, so i have some insight into the sub sub $10million budget world. They mention sub-$10million films, but there is a whole world of people that never go anywhere near this mark and still make money. Indie films are getting just as much boost from digital cable as they are from the internet. A friend of mine made a $1.5 million Vampire film in 1998 (Cold Hearts, shot on 35mm film). By the time it was edited and released, Showtime had just launched Showtime Beyond. Off and on his film would literally run a few times a day for months on end. All of these digital cable/satellite channels need content. The current wave is for it to be shot in HD, so they are looking for new low-budget films as opposed to stuff 10+ years old.
There are niches for film, and while many fail, many do just fine. If you do it right, you can make a profit off a $10,000 horror or sci-fi film. I'm not kidding. HD cameras are relatively cheap and changed the market like nothing i can think of. You can make a film for $100,000 that is not total crap and pay people *something*. That was barely possible before HD. Think about Clerks. As great as it was, it was pretty much a student film. There has to be a really good script to make people look past the technical glitches of something like that. That's why it took the world by storm.
People are getting financiers for films budgeted at $1million - $5million who only have the motivation of making money. The world of DVDs, cable, and maybe internet releases have made a whole class of films that will never screen in theaters (beyond film fests), but they still make money. Forget Sundance. Most of what screens there is barely indie. The films that will lead the charge on alternative distribution will not be ones owned by major studios. It will be niche films, or super low budget ones that get ignored by other channels.
When it comes down to it, there are people making low budget films as a quick way to make a buck, and people that are trying to make art, hone their craft etc etc. Those clashes can be a mess, but in the end it means more films are being made. As much as people may complain about something like Transformers, look at how much money it made. Hollywood is about money, not art. The artists have to answer to the money guys in the end. They are the ones writing the checks and green lighting the projects. As long as the Saw series is making money, they will keep cranking those out. It may have nobody left from the first ones, but if there is a film to shoot, i bet we keep seeing more of them. If they don't make enough money for theatrical releases, they may slash the budget and make the straight to DVD sequels. There is a lot of momentum in that franchise. I don't mean to specifically single it out, but no matter what you think of Saw... the films pull in an audience that are not going to see the newest dramedy. It makes business sense to keep turning those out, and i'm sure it's fun for the people behind the film to see what they can come up with next.
Any film distribution over the internet is going to require better broadband. The downside of that is that a lot of people have their fast broadband from a cable company. A company that is directly opposed to you getting movies from something that is not their On-Demand service. Even with Verizon's FIOS, they are trying to sell you TV/movies. That may be the big roadblock in the US for interweb film distribution.- JamesMorris, on 06/27/2008, -0/+1Wall Of Text.
- rfedeleo, on 06/27/2008, -0/+0With sites like reeltime.com and netflix's streaming service, they are big showcases for Indie film viewers.
- digiframes, on 06/27/2008, -0/+1Don't think this will do CRAP.
- minorthreat, on 06/27/2008, -0/+1Nothing can save the latest Indiana Jones film...
- maildave, on 06/27/2008, -0/+1Don't consider Sony Pictures Classics an Indie, and you start to see the problem. The studios are closing their 'farm teams' meaning these filmmakers have nowhere to turn. There are too many companies to split theatrical revenue
I don't know that the internet will be able to save the indie feature, but I do think that shorts and documentaries can and will make a comeback because of the new medium. - duckyinc, on 06/27/2008, -1/+1No indie films suck most of the time, don't think we internet users have bad taste..
- asiantoast, on 06/27/2008, -0/+0the internet may be indie film's only hope... it has a lot to do with distribution and getting your work out there...
theres a shop online that has some really cool indie movies. check it out:
www.brink.com/shop.php - miker71, on 06/27/2008, -0/+1Can the internet save indie film save Rod Shuffler's career?
http://www.denmedia.net/crookedfeatures
***** in every hole, frankly - Rich711, on 06/28/2008, -0/+1Save Indie films?? Indie films have been on the rise since 1990, who said they need saving?
- BrinkDVD, on 07/01/2008, -0/+0Lots of films never get picked up because the filmmaker won't know what to do next, is afraid of getting ripped off, or expects to make a million dollars up front. If you've got more realistic expectations, check out Brink DVD is looking for films to distribute online and on DVD. Check out www.brink.com or www.brinkdvd.com for more details.
- wildest, on 10/11/2008, -0/+0Indie films will do well in the current climate anyway, but the net will certainly help
http://wallbrawl.com - randomheadlines, on 11/30/2008, -0/+0I dont really see Indie films doing bad, but I think the internet can definitely boost interest in people around the world. Good ole internet!
http://computerht.com
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