The face of Indie films in the marketplace...

Independent filmmakers are jockeying to gain a place of relevancy as the model for exhibiting their product changes before their eyes. As the new paradigm of models like video-on-demand begins to take hold as the new normal; independent filmmakers find themselves being marginalized and squeezed as they lose access to market share.

While there is no lack of quality and creative product being produced and put up for possible distribution; the reality is that there is only a finite amount of space being allocated for the independent market. These films are being shown for a limited run in theaters or completely bypassing those venues are fighting it out in what can only be called a “film festival bubble” (Gleiberman, 2010). Whether it is a Tribeca, Sundance, or the Toronto film Festival, these films only give small-scale release if at all.

What comes next as we are currently noticing is that video-on-demand requires a re-creation of the promotion model that currently exists. Moreover, what will happen at a festival now is to create as much buzz as possible for a independent film at a festival and to use that to promote that film using social media in the form of Facebook or Twitter to enhance favorable word-of-mouth. It then becomes a matter of whether a project goes viral and finds a favorable selling environment.

In conclusion, as the deals which have found homes for films at this year’s Sundance Film Festival showed; the marketplace for Indies had the clout of names (actors and directors) attached to them. The remaining space went towards a series of aggregators who purchased projects like Fox Searchlight and some other boutique studios for the large houses like Sony Pictures. The rest encompassed a varied field of players including a very active HBO (Beard, 2012).

References:

Beard, L. (2012, January 24). Sundance: Deals so far. Retrieved from http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/01/24/sundance-deal-report-2012/?ew_packageID=20469830

Gleiberman, O. (2010, January 28). Sundance: In video-on-demand the future of indie film? for titles like 'the freebie' and 'bass ackwards,' yes. Retrieved from http://insidemovies.ew.com/2010/01/28/is-vod-the-future-of-indie-film/