One
cool thing about independent film is just how long it’s been around, well before
Roger Corman or John Cassavetes in the
1960s and 70s. By the 1920s, African-American
independent filmmakers already had an outsider cinema, with Oscar Micheaux and others serving
audiences who were excluded from whites-only theaters and wanted to see
blackness portrayed more fully and honestly onscreen.
For
me, a compelling part of this longevity is the ongoing need to “keep it real” while
contending with social and economic challenges.
Just to survive, those early African-American filmmakers, for example, struggled
with scant resources and endless compromises.
With no formal training or industry support, how to finance, staff, write,
shoot, edit, market, and distribute a film?
How much to compromise, when, and with whom so as to make both a film
and enough money to pay it off and keep going?
All tough questions for independent filmmakers past and present.
I
like how sometimes the socioeconomic forces have supported the outsiders. In the late 1960s and early 70s, Hollywood
was struggling economically like never before.
The studios had gotten stodgy, TV was ascendant, and baby boomer
audiences wanted new alternatives. Forced
to innovate, the studios took risks with young filmmakers as well as styles
and subjects previously limited to niches, or simply invisible. The marginal became central, and it paid off
economically and critically. In crude
economic terms, the dynamics of supply and demand made for an exciting moment
of creativity and independent-mindedness that broke the mold and still
influences movies today, even as Hollywood has long since returned to its
comfort zone of blockbusters, star vehicles, and recycled pop culture.
It’s
great how films have evolved, as well as their marketing and distribution. When I was young, there simply weren’t any websites,
DVDs, or satellite TV. My rural hometown
had a few movie theaters; my TV had four channels, including a PBS station with
early Siskel & Ebert, before they went commercial. You can guess how times have changed since
then in Grants Pass, Oregon. New media
galore, and even a local film festival, the Siskiyou Film Festival; and, a few
towns away, the Ashland Independent Film
Festival has been thriving for years.
If I’d had those as a kid, I might have stayed.
But
have times changed so much? Are things really
better now? For consumers like me,
definitely. For independent filmmakers, I
think so, but maybe not as much as it may seem.
Though there are more and better resources available than ever before,
indie filmmakers still grapple with many of the same challenges as their
forebears. And, as filmmaking and
distribution have gotten more accessible, more people are doing it, which
clutters the marketplace. Or does
it? What do you think?
---
This
post is part of a series in which I talk about independent film in a more
detailed, wide-ranging, and personal way than I usually do here. And it’s a chance to hear from you. Feel free to post a comment anytime or let me
know if you’d like to write a post.
By
James
Latham
No comments:
Post a Comment