Independent Films

Independent films are films made outside of the big studio system. Independent films are usually low budget, compared to the big studio films, and quirky. this is why many people love independent films. Independent films are films that just wouldn't get made by the big studios. Independent films are usually mainstream projects. Independent films are not usually motivated by the hope for big box office receipts. The big studios are first and foremost businesses. They are businesses that have shareholders and boards of directors. They are businesses that are keenly interested in making money, not art.

And art is usually what independent films are interested in. Independent films are usually interested in money only to the extent that you need money to make films, even low budget independent films can eat up a lot of cash. Independent films are risky business. It is hard to make any money with independent films. The audience for the average independent film is not the mass audience that the studios are looking for so you can't expect much of a return on your investment even under the best circumstances. And independent films never operate under the best circumstances.

Distribution is always a problem for independent films. Just getting independent films into enough theaters to even have a chance at any kind of sizable audience is a battle. Sure, once in a while, independent films break through. They get seen by enough people and talked about enough that some major studio or distribution company picks them up and they get a much wider showing than they normally would have and these independent films achieve some level of financial success much to the surprise of everyone involved.

Of course, the big studios are thinking sequel and the independent films are no longer independent films. They are big studio hack jobs masquerading as independent films and they don't do nearly as well as the original because they have had their hears and souls ripped out and they are not independent films anymore. a lot of filmmakers will only work on independent films because on independent films, they have the freedom to create their vision, not some sanitized, big studio version of their vision. Due to this freedom, independent films often have a special quality about them. Independent films have an aliveness, a freshness that is lacking in the big studio films. Independent films have an immediacy and a realness that big studio features films lack. Independent films are a place where people can try out experimental things that they couldn't do otherwise, which is one of the the things that makes independent films so great.

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