Annotated Bibliography

Jevon Williams

Annotated Bibliography

ENG 1101

Hope,Ted . “Indie Film Is Dead”, Filmmaker Magazine, Fall 1995

Hope is co-president of New York’s production company Good Machine and, along with his partner James Schamus, has produced or executive produced such films as The Brothers McMullen, Safe, and The Wedding Banquet. Hope also produces Hal Hartley’s films, including his new Flirt. Ted Hope shares his opinions by lamenting the downside of today’s indie film scene. Hope’s candid diagnosis prompted Schamus, who is currently adapting Rick Moody’s novel The Ice Storm for Ang Lee, to pen a piece of his own, a reply which amplifies the terms of Hope’s argument. The article then goes on to argue why the success of indie films today aren’t authentic. In Hope’s argument, he states that the marketplace is ‘nasty and brutal’ and follows by explaining how it has effected unique films. Hope recognizes this is a problem and prompts an urgency about the future of indie films. Hope further discusses the reality of todays’ problem with businesses in the film industry- Today’s new media giants are embracing the independent film but as a marketing concept only; every day they bring more and more of the production, distribution and exhibition apparatus under their control.

O’Falt, Chris. “How Do Independent Filmmakers Make a Living? 20 BAM cinema Fest Directors on Day Jobs That Pay the Bills”, Indie Wire, 22 Jun. 2019

An article about day jobs for indie filmmakers where all the jobs are also working on film, or commercial-BAM directors share how they make ends meet when they aren’t making personal films. Rashaad Ernesto Green states, ‘When I’m not making an independent film, I direct episodes of television to pay the bills.’ Rodney Evans: When I am not immersed in filmmaking I teach introductory and advanced film production courses and screenwriting in the Film and Media Studies Department at Swarthmore College just outside of Philadelphia. The commute from Brooklyn can sometimes be a challenge, but the students at Swarthmore are sharp, passionate and deeply engaged with the art of filmmaking and the cultural and sociopolitical issues in the world around them. Since I have been there for the last four years there has been a marked increase in the number of students of color and LGBT+ students taking production and screenwriting courses. Sometimes all it takes is for a student to see someone that belongs to the same demographic as they do and showing work that reflects their experience for them to think about filmmaking as a valid career option. It’s also important that they see me as an example of a teaching artist/working filmmaker making only work that I care deeply about and control from idea to completion.

DE PABLOS, EMILIANO. “Top supplier accords give distributor edge.” Variety, 13 Dec. 1999, p. 94. Gale Academic

The motor driving Lauren Films’ growth has been distribution. Since 1979, the company, the distribution division of the Lauren Group, has released more than 600 films in Spain, making it unquestionably Spain’s most important indie distribution over the last 20 years. Lauren speaks on her success by crediting multiple “pillars”, and explains her experience. “To survive in the Spanish market, a company needs at least two sources of different product,” says CEO Antonio Llorens. “As an indie, we don’t have access to products like ‘Wild Wild West’ so we look for a range of titles from…”. Lauren has played off important multititle and multiyear distribution accords. These multi pic accords has allowed Lauren to lead the pack of indie distributions since 1985. A crucial local factor has been Lauren’s ownership of cinemas, which has permitted the company to nurse titles at its own sites until word of mouth has kicked into gear. “These films wouldn’t have made so much money if they hadn’t been in my cinemas,” Llorens modestly comments. Lauren’s high-profile, multi pic deals naturally involve high payments, hence, risk. Accessing top product allows Lauren to benefit from a competitive Spanish TV market, enriched first in 1990 by the launch of two free-to-air commercial nets — Antena 3 TV and Tele 5 — plus pay service Canal Plus Spain and two digital operators in 1997, Sogecable’s CanalSatelite Digital and Telefonica’s Via Digital.

Cieply, Michael, “A Rebuilding Phase for Independent Film”, New York Times, 25 April 2010

For more than a decade, the indie film movement centered in New York flourished, at times almost eclipsing the output of the mainstream Hollywood studios in terms of impact and accolades. But the financial collapse and the credit crisis had a deep impact on all of the movie world, which has responded with fewer expensive releases and safer bets. The struggling indie scene is getting a boost from fleet-footed, penny-pinching guerrilla operations that are trying to resuscitate the business by spending less on production, much less on marketing and embracing all forms of distribution, including the local art house and the laptop. Indie experiments are being closely watched in the business because what happens in Hollywood often first happens in New York City. According to Mr. Weinstein and others, the New York-centered independent film world faltered largely because companies, flush with cash from a DVD boom that has since played out, put too much money behind too many films for an audience that was never large enough to absorb them in theaters. Independent distributors that survived the great shakeout include Focus Features, a Universal Studios unit that is anchored in Manhattan, and Sony Pictures Classics, a specialty film label based in New York that has consistently released about 20 movies a year with a staff of just 25.

D’Alessandro, Anthony “Does The Success Of Streaming Signal The Death Of Indie Cinema? – Sundance”, Deadline 24 Jan 2019

The success of Netflix’s Roma this Oscar season with ten nominations has some traditional film distributors worried sick that the streaming service’s theatrical/SVOD release model will ultimately spell the death of indie cinema. Their concern: No longer is a lengthy theatrical release needed for an independent movie seeking an Oscar. This has been an unfortunate several years for independent films, as the major studios shut down their indie distribution labels and focus on blockbuster material for the global market. The avenue for indie films gaining wide recognition is narrowing. “Films can be the antidote or a reprieve from things we disagree with,” says NEON boss Tom Quinn about the the theatrical experience. “It’s the only communal experience outside of going to church.” In sum, streaming hasn’t killed the indie cinema star, it’s only expanded the independent cinema marketplace. There are those in indie circles who praise Netflix: They are making and releasing movies that otherwise would not have gotten made by a mainstream distributor. “What the success of Roma does show is that that Harvey Weinstein way of Oscar campaigning works with Netflix movies,” says one independent studio cappo about the streaming giant’s reported $20M-plus awards season campaign spend on the film. Another reason for the slowdown in indie fare goes back to the age-old excuse of product. “I’m not scared right now and I believe in the theatrical business and the basic principles why theaters were formed initially and that still holds,” says League.

KELLY, BRENDAN. “Canadian market remains risky.” Variety, 21 Feb. 2000, p. S30. Gale Academic

Distributing independent films in Canada remains, at best, a high-risk venture, and things aren’t getting any easier. Indie distribution is tough everywhere in the world, but the odds are even tougher in Canada compared to most other countries outside the U.S. because of the proximity to the powerful American market. The Hollywood majors tend to release their pics the same day in the U.S. and Canada, which allows the Canadian promotion campaign to take full advantage of all the media coverage south of the border. There are not a lot of strong independent film-distribution players in Canada, with the notable exception of Alliance Atlantis Releasing, which handily dominates the indie market in the country. The Toronto-based distributor released more than 90 pics theatrically last year and grossed more than C$100 million ($69 million) at the box office, ranking it second nationally behind Buena Vista. The other independent players in Canada handle fewer films than Alliance Atlantis and have to struggle for market share. One of the new aggressive companies on the scene is Blackwatch Releasing, a Montreal producer and distributor that has output deals with Sony Pictures Classics, Trimark and the Shooting Gallery. “It is still a tough market because distribution expenses have been going up, advertising costs have been going up, we’re paying bigger minimum guarantees and there are not a lot of films that pop out,” says Yves Dion, president of Blackwatch Releasing. Snaring quality titles for theatrical release is the biggest dilemma for distributors without the output deals, says Stephen Greenberg, president of distribution at Motion Intl. of Montreal. “It’s a continual challenge,” says Greenberg.