When did independent film become so mainstream?
03-03-14, 08:50 AM
#1
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When did independent film become so mainstream?
I'm sure this topic comes up a lot...
Watching the Spirit Awards this weekend and it's just become so dull. This isn't my first year feeling this way. I remember maybe 10 years ago keeping a list of all the films I would hear about during the ceremony so I could add them to my Netflix queue. Now all the "indie" films are mainstream releases. Yes they may have been made independently and picked up by a studio for distribution later... but their budgets are still north of 5 million.
I get annoyed seeing the same people win an Oscar and a Spirit Award. Cate Blanchett, while amazing in Blue Jasmine, does not project indie spirit. 12 Years a Slave, to me, is not an indie. The budget is listed at 20million.
Watching the Spirit Awards this weekend and it's just become so dull. This isn't my first year feeling this way. I remember maybe 10 years ago keeping a list of all the films I would hear about during the ceremony so I could add them to my Netflix queue. Now all the "indie" films are mainstream releases. Yes they may have been made independently and picked up by a studio for distribution later... but their budgets are still north of 5 million.
I get annoyed seeing the same people win an Oscar and a Spirit Award. Cate Blanchett, while amazing in Blue Jasmine, does not project indie spirit. 12 Years a Slave, to me, is not an indie. The budget is listed at 20million.
03-03-14, 09:05 AM
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Re: When did independent film become so mainstream?
A little bit after pulp fiction maybe? Dunno.
I will say that the use of the Internet for streaming and etc has easily brought us the simplicity if knowing there are many of them being made all the time. Unfortunately... You've got to sift through a lot of shit to find the gem.
I will say that the use of the Internet for streaming and etc has easily brought us the simplicity if knowing there are many of them being made all the time. Unfortunately... You've got to sift through a lot of shit to find the gem.
03-03-14, 09:09 AM
#4
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Thread Starter
Re: When did independent film become so mainstream?
A little bit after pulp fiction maybe? Dunno.
I will say that the use of the Internet for streaming and etc has easily brought us the simplicity if knowing there are many of them being made all the time. Unfortunately... You've got to sift through a lot of shit to find the gem.
I will say that the use of the Internet for streaming and etc has easily brought us the simplicity if knowing there are many of them being made all the time. Unfortunately... You've got to sift through a lot of shit to find the gem.
03-03-14, 09:23 AM
#5
Re: When did independent film become so mainstream?
When Miramax started collaborating with the major studios and was eventually purchased by Disney. This happens all the time in entainment, something independent becomes popular (Sub Pop records)
and it gets purchased by a bigger company therby losing it's individuality but still delusionally pretending that nothing has changed.
and it gets purchased by a bigger company therby losing it's individuality but still delusionally pretending that nothing has changed.
03-03-14, 09:40 AM
#7
03-03-14, 09:48 AM
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Re: When did independent film become so mainstream?
Cloud Atlas is very interesting in how they got their money.
Like it or not. I'm glad CA was made. We needed something like that.
I await the news that Dredd 2 is financed officially. How popular was it on DVD/BD sales?
My understanding of indie and mainstream studio is that it's an independent if it isn't started up by a big studio. Am I wrong?
Cloud Atlas was financed by the German production companies A Company, ARD Degeto Film and X Filme. In May 2011 Variety reported that the film had a production budget of $140 million. The filmmakers also secured approximately $20 million from the German government, including €10 million ($13.5 million) from the German Federal Film Fund (DFFF), €100,000 ($130,000) development funding and €1.5 million ($2.15 million) from Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, a German funder, as part of their plans to film at Studio Babelsberg later in 2011. The project also received €1 million ($1.5 million) financial support from Filmstiftung NRW, €750,000 ($1 million) from Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung and € 30 million ($40 million) from UE-Fonds (the biggest proportion of the budget), and €300,000 ($400,000) from FFF Bayern, another German organization.[36] The Wachowskis contributed approximately $1 million to the project out of their own finances. The budget was updated to $100 million.
The directors stated that due to lack of finance, the film was almost abandoned several times. However they specified how the crew was enthusiastic and determined: "They flew—even though their agents called them and said, 'They don't have the money, the money's not closed'". They specifically praised Tom Hanks' enthusiasm: "Warner Bros. calls and, through our agent, says they've looked at the math and decided that they don't like this deal. They're pulling all of the money away, rescinding the offer. I was shaking. I heard, 'Are you saying the movie is dead?' They were like, 'Yes, the movie is dead.'... At the end of the meeting, Tom says, 'Let's do it. I'm in. When do we start?'... Tom said this unabashed, enthusiastic 'Yes!' which put our heart back together. We walked away thinking, this movie is dead but somehow, it's alive and we're going to make it." "Every single time, Tom Hanks was the first who said, 'I'm getting on the plane.' And then once he said he was getting on the plane, basically everyone said, 'Well, Tom's on the plane, we're on the plane.' And so everyone flew [to Berlin to begin the film]. It was like this giant leap of faith. From all over the globe."
The directors stated that due to lack of finance, the film was almost abandoned several times. However they specified how the crew was enthusiastic and determined: "They flew—even though their agents called them and said, 'They don't have the money, the money's not closed'". They specifically praised Tom Hanks' enthusiasm: "Warner Bros. calls and, through our agent, says they've looked at the math and decided that they don't like this deal. They're pulling all of the money away, rescinding the offer. I was shaking. I heard, 'Are you saying the movie is dead?' They were like, 'Yes, the movie is dead.'... At the end of the meeting, Tom says, 'Let's do it. I'm in. When do we start?'... Tom said this unabashed, enthusiastic 'Yes!' which put our heart back together. We walked away thinking, this movie is dead but somehow, it's alive and we're going to make it." "Every single time, Tom Hanks was the first who said, 'I'm getting on the plane.' And then once he said he was getting on the plane, basically everyone said, 'Well, Tom's on the plane, we're on the plane.' And so everyone flew [to Berlin to begin the film]. It was like this giant leap of faith. From all over the globe."
I await the news that Dredd 2 is financed officially. How popular was it on DVD/BD sales?
My understanding of indie and mainstream studio is that it's an independent if it isn't started up by a big studio. Am I wrong?
03-03-14, 09:58 AM
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Re: When did independent film become so mainstream?
I'd say with The Blair Witch Project. After that, studios took notice and started buying up all the good independent movies they could find in hopes that they would make millions like Blair Witch did.
03-03-14, 10:06 AM
#11
Re: When did independent film become so mainstream?
From the book : Contemporary American Independent Film: From the Margins to the Mainstream
With so many expensive independent feature films now produced and released by mini-majors and the majors' own independent arm, independent films would seemed to have moved squarely to the mainstream, away from the margins where historically they served to supplement studio production and often expressed 'outsider perspectives. Has 'indie' become merely a brand, a label used to market biggish budget productions that aim to please many by offending few? What does the shift toward the mainstream entail, especially for those located on the margins?
With so many expensive independent feature films now produced and released by mini-majors and the majors' own independent arm, independent films would seemed to have moved squarely to the mainstream, away from the margins where historically they served to supplement studio production and often expressed 'outsider perspectives. Has 'indie' become merely a brand, a label used to market biggish budget productions that aim to please many by offending few? What does the shift toward the mainstream entail, especially for those located on the margins?
03-03-14, 10:11 AM
#12
Re: When did independent film become so mainstream?
When was the last time independent films that got significant play were truly independent? I'm guessing the mid-80s when Jim Jarmusch's STRANGER THAN PARADISE, John Sayles' BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET and MATEWAN, the Coen Bros.' BLOOD SIMPLE, Spike Lee's SHE'S GOTTA HAVE IT and Robert Townsend's HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE all made a splash. Then, with DO THE RIGHT THING and SEX, LIES AND VIDEOTAPE in 1989 and then Tarantino a few years later, the lines began to blur significantly.
03-03-14, 10:32 AM
#13
Re: When did independent film become so mainstream?
When was the last time independent films that got significant play were truly independent? I'm guessing the mid-80s when Jim Jarmusch's STRANGER THAN PARADISE, John Sayles' BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET and MATEWAN, the Coen Bros.' BLOOD SIMPLE, Spike Lee's SHE'S GOTTA HAVE IT and Robert Townsend's HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE all made a splash. Then, with DO THE RIGHT THING and SEX, LIES AND VIDEOTAPE in 1989 and then Tarantino a few years later, the lines began to blur significantly.
Most of todays 'indie' films have established stars, filmmakers & mullti-million dollar budgets.
03-03-14, 10:40 AM
#14
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: When did independent film become so mainstream?
There was that brief explosion of interest in independent filmmaking in 90s with people like Tarantino, but nowadays, even so called "indie" movies tend to be pretty formulaic-depressed guy meets girl, they have lots of sex, he rejuvenates his life, lots of ambient cinematography, etc.
03-03-14, 10:57 AM
#15
Moderator
Re: When did independent film become so mainstream?
I think I could go the rest of my life without seeing another mumblecore movie and be just fine.
03-03-14, 11:14 AM
#18
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Re: When did independent film become so mainstream?
I can't name the specific starting point, but I remember around the time of Juno and 500 Days of Summer, I felt like there were no true indies left and that they had all become studio projects.
03-03-14, 11:17 AM
#20
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Re: When did independent film become so mainstream?
Yea... I feel it was largely within the last 10 years. 2002/2003 was still the last I can remember where smaller films were still recognized and not overshadowed by studio Oscar bait.
03-03-14, 11:51 AM
#21
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
You also have to factor the Internet into the equation. Once upon a time, seeing a Kenneth Anger film was really difficult and underground movie circulated on beat up prints at film festivals. Nowadays, pretty much anyone can watch pretty much anything from the couch instead of driving out to a place where one print is showing. The notion of the importance of telling a story about a subculture or social issues is still here, but the mainstream absorbs almost everything. Even the shaky cam of verite and Dogme eventually filtered into mainstream action films.
03-03-14, 11:53 AM
#22
Moderator
Re: When did independent film become so mainstream?
it's called the Sundance Film Festival - where the bastion of twee, self-referential films are showed off, then pawned off to the major studios B-grade studios (i.e, Fox Searchlight)
03-03-14, 12:28 PM
#23
Banned by request
Re: When did independent film become so mainstream?
You also have to factor the Internet into the equation. Once upon a time, seeing a Kenneth Anger film was really difficult and underground movie circulated on beat up prints at film festivals. Nowadays, pretty much anyone can watch pretty much anything from the couch instead of driving out to a place where one print is showing. The notion of the importance of telling a story about a subculture or social issues is still here, but the mainstream absorbs almost everything. Even the shaky cam of verite and Dogme eventually filtered into mainstream action films.
03-03-14, 12:32 PM
#25
DVD Talk Hero
Re: When did independent film become so mainstream?
Independent just means "not studio commissioned"
Wasn't There Will Be Blood an indie?
Wasn't There Will Be Blood an indie?