In the ’80s, I can’t say that Amy and I were aware of an independent film community. We could only get a certain amount of money for our pictures, which made them low budget movies, but they were distributed through studios.
It’s never easy getting an independent film made and distributed – even when it’s easy.
TV, in particular cable channels, has assumed the role of independent film.
Independent film is almost nonexistent right now, because all the distributers that used to love to put out these little art films are all out of business right now, because it costs so much to open a movie.
TV is really hard to break into. This may be the worst piece of advice, but make an independent film. TV oftentimes takes people who are established. The great benefit of not breaking in yet is purity of voice.
We’re told that independent film lovers… folks that are used to watching art house films, won’t come out and see a film with black people in it – I’ve been told that in rooms, big rooms, studio rooms, and I know that’s not true.
All in all, I’d like to venture into film. Films are my staple diet, so I would love to be part of a feature film, independent film… it all just depends on the story and the people behind it, really.
I can’t wake up every day and not thank Sundance. They’re a great beacon of light for any independent film. Just to have a film that you made shown on a screen for an audience in a theater is beyond me, so I owe them everything in the world.
The culture of independent film criticism has totally gone down the drain and this seems to come with the territory of the consumer age that we are now living in.
With an independent film, you have a little more freedom, and you also have less money, so you’re sort of struggling to get it done, to get something that works. With a big studio, everything is there for you, and it’s easier.
The movie industry has collapsed into two types of film – the $100 million blockbuster or the small independent film of $1 million or less – and the huge middle ground has been lost. Cable is filling that void.
I come from Venezuela, from the independent film arena, and you work with one camera.
I’m used to always having struggles getting finances together and keeping precarious budgets alive in the independent film world.
There aren’t many American directors here trying to direct a Japanese yakuza film. When you combine that with the fact that I don’t speak much Japanese and this was an independent film I was financing myself – people were curious about what I was doing.
I love independent film so much, and that’s kind of where I made my mark.
I believe that independent film making is the last frontier of creative expression available. So I’m always willing to lend a helping hand to a young film maker who’s just getting into the business.
The size of a studio film lets you see technology in a way that you wouldn’t on an independent film, like the gadgets and the angles and all that.
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