At this blog post , IndiePix's Bob Alexander says: " Question: If a festival can’t pay a filmmaker, then why are festivals important? Answer: Because they represent the collective judgment of the independent film community." (thanks A.J. Schnack for the link to Bob's post) But do festivals really represent "the collective judgment of the independent film community"? I would have to say no. Because, the independent film community is, by my definition (and this is probably a definition that most people involved in indie films to some significant degree can agree with) people who purchase/watch indie movies (at theaters, on DVD, at festivals, etc.), people who make indie movies, people who distribute indie movies, people who promote indie movies, people who organize film festivals and other indie film screening events, people who criticize or otherwise write about, discuss indie movies. That is a lot of people; several hundred thousand people, at least, in the