You know a situation is dire when Gawker puts away the snark and gets serious. And that’s just what they did Friday, in a guest post by film industry expert Edward Jay Epstein in which the author asks the question, “Can Indie Movies Survive?” His thorough, well-considered response, which cites everything from the huge profits major studios need to project to purchase a movie to the rapidly disappearing world of independent distribution, pretty much amounts to “no.”
Reading Epstein’s piece, it occurred to us that while indie film may be in the midst of a crisis, indie music has never been stronger or more vibrant. The number of new and exciting bands out there seems to increase exponentially every few years, bigger groups like Animal Collective and Vampire Weekend are all over the Billboard charts and vinyl sales are growing every year. So what gives? Why is indie film dying while indie music thrives? We’ve listed our best guesses after the jump.
1. Overhead
This one is pretty obvious. All but the tiniest of films take a significant amount of cash to make. So when studios aren’t buying small movies, what kind of investor is going to be foolish enough to lay out a million or two on your unmarketable product? Unless you’re independently wealthy or are game for going to bed with rich, lonely, old ladies, Producers-style, then you may never even get your project off the ground. By contrast, all an unknown band needs to do to record an album is write a few songs and buy (or, you know, pirate) some professional-quality software.
2. Distribution
Epstein paints an especially bleak picture of the distribution options for the independent films that do manage to get made. One major studio, he recounts, wouldn’t buy a $20 million film with a projected box office of $100 million; it just couldn’t devote its resources to any project that wouldn’t earn at least $150 million. And smaller studios — the ones that still exist, that is — aren’t picking up the slack: “Sony Pictures Classics does not buy any film that costs over $2 million, Focus Features is putting its resources mainly in co-production deals in Asia, and Lionsgate is investing in horror sequels like Saw VII.” Ouch.
But in music, indie labels seem to be faring better than majors. Hardcore music fanatics are more likely to purchase the albums they like (often on vinyl), and smaller distributors have been quicker to catch onto an increasingly digital paradigm. Plus, indie fans have an allegiance to the labels they love, from powerhouses like Matador and Sub Pop to tiny operations like Siltbreeze. Unlike their film counterparts, independent record companies are still seen as gatekeepers to and curators of excellent music.
3. Other income
What can you do to make money from a film? In most cases, only a few things: You can screen it in theaters, license it for TV viewing and sell it on DVD/Blu-ray. If you’ve got a major kids’ movies or action blockbuster, you can do marketing tie-ins or sell branded toys, clothing, etc. But when was the last time you saw someone wearing a Wendy and Lucy T-shirt?
Musicians have a lot more options, even now that so many fans have stopped paying for the music they listen to. These days — despite short-sighted accusations of “selling out” and “cashing in” — bands are licensing their relatively obscure music for use in commercials, film soundtracks (irony noted) and on TV. Hell, O.C. and Gossip Girl creator Josh Schwartz has probably broken more indie musicians to the mainstream in the past 10 years than your average major-label A&R dude. Outside of licensing, bands can also make a fairly tidy income on concert ticket and merch sales.
4. Community
This is a simple one: Music fandom is generally a very social activity. Friends dance at shows together and trade tips on (and share the music of) artists they like. While much has been made of the internet’s power to attract fans around the world, local scenes — especially in smaller cities — remain vital. More established bands help promote their newer, more obscure brethren, kids move into warehouses that they quickly convert into DIY show spaces and great performers (many of whom haven’t even recorded an album yet) become well known and loved in their home city, generating momentum that will eventually help them garner the attention of a label.
Film just doesn’t have nearly as many outlets. Yes, there are small groups of experimental and underground filmmakers working together around the country, watching and critiquing each other’s work, volunteering to hold a light on the set of their friends’ project. But this community is much smaller and attracts few fans who aren’t filmmakers themselves. Film just isn’t social the way music is; sure, you go to a movie with friends — and then you sit there, silent, in the dark.
5. Coolness
This point is something of a corollary to the one above. Independent music has a built-in fanbase: young, urban, largely white, middle-class kids — otherwise known as hipsters. That isn’t their only audience, but it’s a major one, and it’s also a group with a lot of cultural capital. They are the trendsetters, the early adopters and (perhaps most importantly) the unencumbered young professionals who spend a ton of money on their own entertainment. For better or for worse, they’re who marketers spend untold amounts of cash trying to win over, and their allure is such that a new shipment of post-college 20-somethings arrives every year in cities around the country to get some freelance graphic design gigs and drink cheap beer at loft parties. Indie music is at the center of this social life.
Contrast that to your stereotypical film geek: unwashed, anti-social, constantly spouting quotes from cult movies you’ve never heard of at inopportune times. (Perhaps the best examples can be found in the documentary Cinemania.) Of course, most indie film fans (ourselves included) aren’t eccentric loners: They’re everyone from the same hipsters who make the underground music world go ’round to, well, our 55-year-old dentist dad who single-handedly keeps Netflix in business. But the fact remains that indie music is an essential element of a certain, increasingly popular, lifestyle, while its film counterpart just isn’t.
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26 Responses
“Independent music has a built-in fanbase: young, urban, largely white, middle-class kids — otherwise known as hipsters.” Your treading on dangerous ground her, Judy. That is a very bold, broad and general statement. You may have to explain this further; A part of my disagrees but maybe you meant to say something else and did not have enough time.
Excuse me, “..A part of (me) disagrees ..”
ibeat, are you saying it’s not true that the largest audience for independent is young, white, middle-class and cosmopolitan? Is there another primary audience that doesn’t fit this description? Also, remember that I did qualify the statement: “That isn’t their only audience, but it’s a major one, and it’s also a group with a lot of cultural capital.”
This article generalizes on an industry that is creatively thriving beyond old conventions and it is at a crossroads to redefining distribution, but quite far from dying…
This is a really badly done article that completely ignores the fact that quite a few indie filmmakers have given up on the studios and are self-distributing, the same way bands gave up on the labels years ago.
From someone who actually works in independent film distribution, well done. This should be required reading — people want to focus on the statistically insignificant DIY / self-distribution success stories without giving any thought to the systemic differences between indie film & music, especially as regards economic viability: overheads vs. potential revenue streams.
I like the article but I also object to the sweeping generalization that all young urbanites from middle class backgrounds are hipsters – that’s just not the case. OK, in Brooklyn and San Fran it is, but the rest of the country is thankfully a lot more interesting and diverse.
You also neglected the fact that there are a few superstar hipster films/filmmakers who get a lot of love from the bearded indie rockers in the bay area and Brooklyn – twee kings Wes Anderson and Dave Eggers, brothers bloom half nelson etc.
You’re missing the most fundamental between indie music and film. Vampire Weekend can blow up overnight because all it takes to sample their wares is a ten second download from Stereogum and three minutes of your listening attention. Whether a band is terrible or not, most people are willing to give them thirty seconds if a trusted source recommends them.
Even with today’s video streaming capabilities, you’d be hard-pressed to find a random cinephile willing to give an hour or two of their day to some unknown, no-budget filmmaker. Watching their movie in sub-par quality on a computer screen isn’t exactly a bonus either.
*fundamental difference
[...] as “indie.” Judy Berman wrote an opinion article based on Epstein’s called “Why Is Indie Film Dying While Indie Music Thrives?” What does Berman think of underground filmmaking: Yes, there are small groups of [...]
Why Is Indie Film Dying?
Maybe because indie films tend to be about quirky white people that, in the end, really aren’t that interesting.
Not all middle class urban white kids are hipsters, thank God, and it’s a pretty unbelievable trick to try to classify us as such. I realize it’s a throw away comment in the piece, but it’s quite a disturbing view of our generation.
qwerty, you’re right.
Jon, the rest of the country as diverse? I’ve been to quite a few towns where diversity means (outside of the chinese food restaurant) you’re either German or Norwegian.
Check this out. Indie film may be in crisis, but it’s not dying, and doesn’t have to. In NYC, folks like Reel Sisters, Imagenation, and other voices of color have started to bring their films to the people, by way of the parks. This has been met with great success; the filmakers generating new audiences and support for their work (contributions, dvd’s, etc.). If you don’t want to be marginalized, sometimes you have to butt in to the conversation!
The snobbery and myopic attitudes of many indie filmmakers creates a type of incestuous bond, which doesn’t allow for growth. After all, if you can’t even understand why someone like me would see your film (and even worse) enjoy it, why should I support you?
i’m starting to believe that flavorpill will take ANY excuse to refer to hipsters in a piece for the incendiary potential, regardless of its accuracy, relevance, or importance. that is, unless you really do classify ALL young, urban, largely white, middle-class young people as hipsters (except yourselves, OF COURSE), in which case: that explains so much.
Sorry to be pedantic, but (in music at least) ‘indie’ and ‘independent’ mean two different things, and have since at least the mid eighties. You mention Vampire Weekend as an example of ‘indie’ music…they are signed to XL Recordings. Looking at their wikipedia page, XL Recordings (who do I’ll admit claim to be independent) have released records by (to name a few) Radiohead, The Prodigy, Beck, Basement Jaxx, Damon Albarn, Dizzee Rascal, M.I.A., Sigur Ros, The White Stripes. This is not some obscure label, run by some bloke in a bedroom, battling against the might of the major labels! I don’t think you’re really comparing like with like. There are plenty of genuinely independent musicians out there, and for most of them, things are pretty bleak!! (For the record, the last Animal Collective record was released by Domino Records, and they have a similarly impressive roster, including Arctic Monkeys etc etc).
[...] Berman responds to Epstein in order to ask why indie film is struggling while indie music seems to be thriving. Like a lot [...]
Good point Liney.
Interesting article…I came across a band that is doing BOTH music and film, combining their indie music with their own indie film. They perform live with the film integrated into their performance, and it’s really cool.
They’re called X: THC. Here is the link to their YouTube Video:
oops, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhJnmfIoO0Y
Maybe indie/independent music is thriving economically compared to film , but artistically? I’m not so sure. Most indie/independent bands are simply repeating the cliches of 70s 80s 90s music. Where is the original, the innovative, the new?
I agree 100% Chris. Everything on Billboard sounds the same to me …garage rock, Lady Gag-a, or hip-hop. To find the cool stuff, you really have to search through the sheep, LOL.
So, can anyone out there recommend bands artists who are genuinely trying to create something original, rather than be the next Killers or Prodigy? It’s a fine line between being original and being unlistenable but surely somewhere, someone…?
Scott Walker’s last album, “the Drift”, is very original. Takes a few listens, but pays off.
I should point out once again though that “the Drift” is not (in my book) an independent record…it was released by 4AD, whch form part of the Beggars Group.
It seems to me that a lot of people judge whether or not something is independent by the way it sounds. This is a bit like saying that “Cloverfield” is an independent film because it uses a shaky cam.
There are only four major record labels: Sony, Universal, EMI, and Warner. But does that make any label other than them an independent? In a sense they are, but that doesn’t mean that some of them aren’t pretty big, well established, with good contacts and networks.
For instance, to go back to the example of Animal Collective, they have performed on the David Letterman show. Now if I make a record tomorrow that is just as good as the Animal Collective one, do you think I’ll be able to ring up the David Letterman show, get them to listen to it, and then perform on the show? No…you need a bit of industry muscle to make that happen.
Before this article has any meaning, it needs to establish what exactly is being compared between music and film. If you want to find some genuine independently distributed music, go to cdbaby.com. The artists on there are all struggling to be heard, make no money…and I doubt you ever will have heard of any of them.
[...] Read this piece wondering why indie film is dying while indie music is thriving. [...]
[...] Berman’s article from Flavorwire, “Why is Indie Film Dying While Indie Music Thrives?” has, to say the least, stirred some argument, such as Filmmaker Magazine’s Scott Macaulay in [...]
I think this is apples and oranges. But IMHO;
(1) Film makers need 2 hrs to win audiences over, Indie Bands need 3mins to make a fan. (2) Film making is a collaborating effort, takes time and can be expensive, Musicians can write s song by themselves in 15 mins and record for nothing. (3) One is projected, the other is Live (and is how most indie bands make their money)
Last, “Coolness” is Subjective and shouldn’t be part of this debate. What you think is cool, is corney to someone else. Besides how many bad songs get stuck in your head and become big hits.
My2cents
[...] Berman’s article from Flavorwire, “Why is Indie Film Dying While Indie Music Thrives?” has, to say the least, stirred some argument, such as Filmmaker Magazine‘s Scott Macaulay in [...]