Back to reality. That may be the best way to describe both the status of our global economy and the previous 12 months in independent film. Little irrational exuberance; no breakout blockbusters; but a few profitable indie films, perhaps countable on one hand, that stand out as carrots for hundreds of others to try to reach out and emulate. Calmer heads prevailed at Sundance 2012 as sellers and buyers got down to the more complicated business of the current indie marketplace, with its delicate mix of theatrical and VOD platform releasing. No one was throwing money around like it was […]

Ten years ago this summer, Good Machine, the film company responsible for helping launch the careers of such American auteurs as Nicole Holofcener, Ang Lee, Todd Field, Todd Solondz and many, many others, was absorbed by Universal Studios, effectively marking the end of an era in indie film. Good Machine co-president James Schamus would start Focus Features, the Universal subsidiary that he still oversees today (one of the last specialty distributors based in New York), while Ted Hope, the other co-president, started his own production company, This is That. But the company closed its doors in 2010 and now, Hope, […]

Independent film has long been considered the farm leagues for Hollywood’s majors. But with fewer specialized distributors and a risk-averse studio system, do up-and-comers still have the opportunities they once did during the ecstatic exuberance of the sector’s heyday? The crossover success of former DIY filmmakers Lena Dunham (with HBO’s Girls), Sean Durkin (who is developing The Exorcist TV series) and the Duplass brothers (with their studio-indies Cyrus and Jeff, Who Lives at Home), suggests that breakthroughs are still very possible. And yet, for every Jeff Nichols (Mud) or Zal Batmanglij (The East), there are numerous filmmakers who have made […]

Earlier this year, The New Yorkermagazine hosted a panel discussion titled, “Is Television the New Cinema?” In his opening remarks, The New Yorker’s editor, David Remnick, posed the question, “Television is in the process, in many ways, of eclipsing cinema: True or false?” While the panelists didn’t give a definite answer, it was generally agreed that the TV medium — once considered a mainstream form of “junk storytelling” — has recently blossomed. Journalist Emily Nussbaum noted the rise, beginning in the late ’90s, “of a breed of irascible, aggressive and auteurist TV makers,” and the creation of shows like Buffy […]

Will 2011 be remembered as the year the indie film biz rebounded after nearly two years of contraction, consolidation and caution? Or was it merely a brief minor upsurge, hardly enough to sustain the numerous companies, executives and filmmakers trying to make a go of it? The beginning of the year started bright, even dazzling. Independent films like Black Swan, The King’s Speech, The Kids Are All Right and Winter’s Bone were big at the Oscars and the box office. And at Sundance, more than 40 films were acquired during and immediately after the fest. It looked like independent films […]

The world doesn’t need another list of the best films of the year, but after considering my own recent lists, I realized there were a handful of movies‹excellent independent work that has largely flown under the radar‹that even I initially overlooked. Here are seven bold American low-budget movies from 2011 that may have been forgotten in theatrical release, but should make for essential home viewing (if you haven’t seen them yet) in 2012. And I’ll be among the first in line to see where these young directors go next. 1. Silver Bullets. ­ All I can say is that I […]

Below-The-Line Blues. By Anthony Kaufman

“Though I don’t have any children,” says John Gianvito, “I imagined a child someday saying to me, ‘You regard yourself as a political filmmaker, did you do anything during the longest war in U.S. history?’” Gianvito, the Boston-based director of the acclaimed feature The Mad Songs of Fernanda Hussein, recalls this thought coming to him earlier this year as the 10th anniversary of the U.S. war in Afghanistan approached. On Thursday, October 6, in honor of that day of infamy, Gianvito and a team of filmmakers will unveil an ambitious omnibus project to raise awareness about the enduring conflict.   […]