No One Knows Anything

Is it the internet? Crowdsourcing? Self-distribution? Indie film is struggling to find a way to save itself.

Other potentially compelling economic social-issue docs included “Hungry in America,” from Kristi Jacobson (“Toots”) and Lori Silverbush (“On the Outs”), and “Twelve Ways to Sunday,” a superbly lensed look at rural poverty in Western New York. The predictable, but always alluring teen-based competition doc was also on display in “Magic Camp” and “Fame High” (no additional explication necessary).

Narrative films are few and far between at Independent Film Week, but those that generate the most heat reside in the “No Borders” section, a co-production market comprised of films not yet made. Some notable names looking for financing this year included Jodie Foster (“Cockeyed”) and Fred Schepisi (“The Secret River”) and producers Scott Macaulay (James Ponsoldt’s “Refresh, Refresh”) and Lisa Muskat (Todd Rohal’s “Scoutmasters”).

What will become of all these projects is a big question mark. At a state-of-the-industry panel called “The Times, They Are A Changin’,” which included indie producing luminaries Ted Hope and Christine Vachon, and new media guru Lance Weiler, director of the horror film “Head Trauma” and founder of the tech and entertainment site workbookproject.com, the panelists offered some possible answers.

Hope, an eternal optimist, and Vachon, less so, managed to be both grim and inspiring at the same time. “When we started working, there was limited supply, limited access, limited opportunities,” said Hope, the producer of early IFFM standout “The Brothers McMullen” as well as such indie landmarks as “Simple Men,” “Happiness” and “American Splendor.” “Now there’s a completely different situation where we’re all competing not just with each other, but with all of the films in the history of time for the attention of the audience, who can watch anything anytime anywhere.”

If the financing of films has become equally competitive, with conventional funding models — such as foreign pre-sales and European television — having “all dried up,” to use Vachon’s words, the producers also felt there were other ways to raise coin these days. Hope cited “crowdfunding” as a viable new method, for example, where hundreds or thousands of supporters donate a small amount of money, just like in a political campaign. “I’m totally convinced you can raise a good six figures this way,” he said.

For Vachon, producer of Todd Haynes’ work as well as such films as “Boys Don’t Cry” and “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” first-time filmmakers can no longer practically expect to make movies with budgets upwards of even $1-2 million. (Hope suggested, wryly, the financial standard for today’s indie budgets is specifically $232,000.) “A lot of financing sources don’t want to take a chance on first-timers,” Vachon admitted, though she added there is the rare exception, such as Academy Award-winning “Milk” screenwriter Lance Dustin Black’s debut “What’s Wrong with Virginia?”, currently in production. Vachon’s tongue-in-cheek advice for first-timers looking for a greenlight: “Win an Oscar first and then get in touch with Gus Van Sant to be your executive producer.”

There was unanimous agreement during week’s panels, discussions and summits that the industry isn’t sure how to value independent films nowadays — and that filmmakers must be more proactive about getting their films seen, embracing the long-considered DIY approach. With “fundamental problems” such as “the fracturing of audiences and distribution,” as Weiler said, “and the royalty structures in the digital space [being] a mess and [the fact] they haven’t caught up with consumption, where we stand right now with independent film is that the value of the films are dropping. The valuable currency is the audience itself.”

For Weiler and Hope, filmmakers need to harness new media tools — such as social networking sites, Twitter, or internet-based short films — to gather loyal audiences for projects early and repeatedly. Weiler suggested “audience-sharing protocols” could be used by filmmakers to share dedicated groups of core followers.

“We have to shift over to an ongoing conversation with our fans,” said Hope, citing the example of Neill Blomkamp’s success “District 9,” which is based on a widely seen short “Alive in Joburg” that’s available online. “If it works for Peter Jackson, maybe we should listen to that,” said Hope.

Indeed, there was the sense last week that both newcomers and veterans were equally oblivious to the right way forward in the current paradigm-shifting environment. “The wide gap between Vachon and Weiler that existed 15 years ago is gone in terms of where the knowledge base is coming from,” said IFP’s Michelle Byrd. “What’s interesting is that people in more traditional theatrical jobs are finding they need to learn as much as people just starting out, so I’m finding that everybody is trying to discover where things are going, what’s the new direction and how we can all make our way.”

As Vachon said, echoing William Goldman’s famous Hollywood dictum, “No one knows anything.”

[Additional photos: "Budrus Has a Hammer," Julia Bacha, 2009; Dustin Lance Black accepts his Oscar]

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