While indie film gets ever more indie (thanks DV, web & self-distribution!), IFP warmly embraces Hollywood with '06 Gotham Awards
Pretty much everyone is blogging today about the indie film non-profit IFP/The Independent Feature Project ignoring their pro-indie mission & nominating 3 big budget Hollywood films for their Gotham Awards program, so I will begin by pointing to The Reeler's excellent entry re: the subject.
So, why bother with the pretense of independence IFP? Just change your name to the Feature Project, drop the Independent from the title (which will only be a symbolic gesture now since you've already shown your preference for Hollywood/the-budget-&-stars-makes-it-impossible-to-ever-call-it-indie films with this year's Gotham Awards nominations), & have yourself fully funded by the big studios in exchange for getting them some press & publicity for their movies.
Looks like the era of big indie film non-profits is coming to an end, with 2006 being a significant year for that slow death. Some organizations die due to lack of member interest (AIVF), while others sell their approval to Hollywood/adjust their definition of independent film to include Hollywood's big budget films and become irrelevant to indie filmmakers (first FIND/ex-IFP LA, & now rest of IFP or at least their Gotham Awards). Meanwhile, real indie filmmakers such as Lance Weiler, Andrew Bujalski, Kelley Baker, and Team Jumping Off Bridges self-distribute their low budget, non-Hollywood movies. Independent filmmaking has become a larger field of activity this year, thanks to digital video, the web & self-distribution, and in this same year IFP heads towards getting out of the assist-independent-filmmakers business and going into the help-sell-Hollywood-movies business.
- Sujewa
So, why bother with the pretense of independence IFP? Just change your name to the Feature Project, drop the Independent from the title (which will only be a symbolic gesture now since you've already shown your preference for Hollywood/the-budget-&-stars-makes-it-impossible-to-ever-call-it-indie films with this year's Gotham Awards nominations), & have yourself fully funded by the big studios in exchange for getting them some press & publicity for their movies.
Looks like the era of big indie film non-profits is coming to an end, with 2006 being a significant year for that slow death. Some organizations die due to lack of member interest (AIVF), while others sell their approval to Hollywood/adjust their definition of independent film to include Hollywood's big budget films and become irrelevant to indie filmmakers (first FIND/ex-IFP LA, & now rest of IFP or at least their Gotham Awards). Meanwhile, real indie filmmakers such as Lance Weiler, Andrew Bujalski, Kelley Baker, and Team Jumping Off Bridges self-distribute their low budget, non-Hollywood movies. Independent filmmaking has become a larger field of activity this year, thanks to digital video, the web & self-distribution, and in this same year IFP heads towards getting out of the assist-independent-filmmakers business and going into the help-sell-Hollywood-movies business.
- Sujewa
