Category Archives: Industry practice

Quality Hollywood, and beyond

My current project is a book on the notion of the ‘quality’ film in contemporary Hollywood, for which I now have a contract, titled Quality Hollywood: Markers of Distinction in Contemporary Studio Production. I’ve posted some thoughts on issues relating to … Continue reading

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‘How to fake being an indie auteur’: indie and the notion of the contrived

I like this tongue-in cheek article from Suzanne Ballantyne, head of programming of the Raindance Film Festival: How to Fake Being An Indie Auteur part one and part two. It’s a witty satire of a number of indie cliches, but painfully close … Continue reading

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Indie strategies: Cheesecake Casserole

Always interesting to read accounts of particular strategies that have enabled indie films to get made and out into distribution, particularly in these difficult times. See for example co-writer and producer Jamie Stein’s account of the production and distribution of … Continue reading

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New move towards equity in crowdfunding

Attempts by the crowdfunding platform Indiegogo to enable funders to gain an equity stake in projects to which they contribute have taken a step forward in an announcement by its co-found Danae Ringelmann that it might introduce such a possibility … Continue reading

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LES festival guide to filmmaking on the cheap

Nothing wildly original, but a brief guide to low-budget production is provided by the LES Film Festival, a new showcase on New York’s Lower East Side for films costing $200,000 or less. Unsurprisingly, good writing and actors are seen as … Continue reading

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African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement

Interesting piece on FilmSlate about a new initiative for the release of African-American indie films, which fits in with some broader recent trends relating to the building of links between festival screenings and (at least relatively) wider theatrical openings. I Will … Continue reading

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Auteurs, very much alive… but socially situatable

The announcement yesterday of the death of Andrew Sarris, the critic who did more than anyone else to propagate the ‘auteur’ notion in the United States, is a timely moment to note how large such a concept still looms, particularly … Continue reading

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Coordinated international releases for indie films

Is it just me, or is it becoming an increasing trend for indie films to be released simultaneously in the US and it at least some overseas territories such as the UK? I posted a while back on this in … Continue reading

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‘Django Unchained’ will no doubt contribute to growing strength of Weinstein Company

The growing strength of The Weinstein Company (see previous post), after its slow start following the departure of Harvey and Bob Weinstein from Miramax, will no doubt be confirmed by its release of the new Quentin Tarantino film, Django Unchained. … Continue reading

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BBC news report on crowdfunding films

BBC news has an interesting, if quite brief, report on crowdfunding of low-budget indies from the Tribeca Film Festival, one I missed at the time in April. It’s certainly the case that crowdfunding is starting to have more impact and … Continue reading

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