Mark Duplass (and his brother Jay) first landed on the indie film scene when their 2005 film The Puffy Chair debuted at Sundance, and later screened at SXSW. I was at that SXSW, when it felt like we were on the cusp of an indie revolution. In addition to the Duplass Brothers, that year also saw Joe Swanberg debut Kissing on the Mouth. The era of low-budget filmmaking made possible by miniDV was upon us!
However, times change. And as Duplass points out, your film can look and sound ten times better than those first films. That doesn’t mean that finding success has become easier though. Back in 2015, Mark Duplass offered his take on the industry at that time. That speech now known by some as “The Cavalry Isn’t Coming,” stressed how important it was for filmmakers to “save themselves,” as it were, with finding ways to promote and distribute your own work to stay alive.”
Fast-forward to 2026, and Duplass has offered an update of sorts as part of Variety‘s “New Frontiers in Entertainment” series at Sundance 2026. The key takeaway is the messages of 2015 mostly still resonate, even as the industry has become more challenging. “I find myself saying things less confidently than I did ten years ago. Because I’m more uncertain.” The whole thing is an interesting watch, and isn’t all doom and gloom, but it also isn’t Pollyanna on the reality of the market today: