In recent weeks, there’s been increased chatter around the moment independent film is having. Sure, this isn’t the first time it looked like the indies would inherit the (film) earth. Back in the 1990s, there was a renaissance of independent films from small studios like Miramax and Sony Picture Classics, with movies like Slackers, Reservoir Dogs, and Do The Right Thing filling not just arthouse theaters, but the multiplexes as well. Those films showed that independent film could be financially successful, and do it with a minimal amount of corporate meddling.
With the recent box office success of Backrooms, Obsession, and Iron Lung, it feels like it’s time for indie film to shine again. It’s also worth noting that today’s indie hits have been made with even smaller crews and budgets. In fact, many have been created without any studio at all. (And there’s also healthy discussion around the proper payment for crew on low-budget films that become hits.)
It would be easy to look at the recent successes and conclude, “Indie is the future, baby!” And obviously we hope that’s true. But if we really want that to happen, indie films have to find a way to consistently be successful, rather than hoping that bigger players come along and cherry-pick certain films for success. Studios looking for the next hot thing isn’t new: right now their sights are set on “hot” projects from YouTubers and other new creators. Eventually, they’ll be pulled in another direction, and that’s when the long-term survival and growth of modern independent film will be tested. It falls on us to cultivate an audience, distribution plan, and economic model that isn’t predicated on studios occasionally re-acknowledging the value of independent film.
That said, we should all take the uptick in interest from “Hollywood” in independent film as a good thing; it’s proof that we’re on the right track, and perhaps a tacit admission from established studios that their models are in real trouble. Keep creating, and let’s forge the path for independent film together.