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Independent Filmmaking – A Road from Obscurity to Mainstream Fame

Read to find out how exactly did independent films become so mainstream.

By Marie NievesPublished 2 years ago 4 min read
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There is something inherently appealing about independent filmmaking that makes us root for them so much. Who knows, maybe it’s an old tale of the underdog trying to take down the system or the lack of studio control simply gives birth to more creativity.

Be that as it may, independent movies had the rep of cult classics that dared to do something no Hollywood producers typically shy away from. And yet, the indy movies are the new award and commercial powerhouses competing for the attention with the blockbusters.

How exactly did independent films become so mainstream?

The long road to critical acclamation

If we were to be quite honest, the movies financed and shot outside the major studio system never felt truly obscure, to begin with. You always had a Romero, Jarmusch, or some other famous indy director to shake things up and push some new trend into the mainstream consciousness.

But, if we are to find the point when independent films finally broke into the mainstream, earned real money, and took home a hefty amount of awards, we would need to look at Steven Soderbergh’s cult classic Sex, Lies, and Videotapes that made quite a splash at the 1989 Sundance Festival and proved independent films can be both critically approved and financially viable.

This killer debut instigated an entire wave of rockstar directors like Tarantino, Linklater, Rodriguez and, of course, the indy god Wes Anderson which all managed to challenge the Hollywood conventions while producing smart and vibrant movies the edgy 90s audience accepted with hands wide open.

The rest is history. The fact that directors like Tarantino now regularly open at number one doesn't truly illustrate how indy films became corrupted by the Hollywood system as much as how Hollywood became influenced by independent filmmaking.

The age of the geeks

Of course, critically approved flamboyant directors are not the only reason behind the ever-growing popularity of independent films. Nerd culture that, for a long time also existed on the fringes of public consciousness found a very good pair in the directors and producers that waged the same war.

It was the moment when the audience, primarily interested in horror movies, sci-fi and neo-noir, and comic books finally took over the reins when everything became possible.

Take for instance Sin City: A Dame to Kill for – an Independant movie Executive Produced by Kia Jam, based on the cult graphic novel by Frank Miller and released by a major Hollywood studio.

But, putting aside this break into the Hollywood system, the so-called nerd sensibilities are still fueling the independent scene as well. The production house A24 practically built its small empire by releasing a whole slew of movies that combined the esthetics and conventions of the horror genre mixed with the artistic sensibilities of their independent directors playing to the taste of both audiences. And then there are movies like Mandy and Color out of Space that are simply delightful indy-produced throwback gore-fests made with genre audiences in mind.

The rise of streaming platforms

Last but not least, we would like to mention the growing popularity of streaming as a film distribution service which completely threw a wrench in the way we think about mainstream and independent movies. The streaming war is incredibly competitive and any director with decent-enough tech can easily get a platform for reaching millions of moviegoers all around the world without having to go through the complicated and often exhausting Hollywood system.

These days, some of the most popular movies are released to the global audience on the apps like Netflix or Hulu with little to no meddling by the distributor. Can’t we call that the ultimate victory of indy filmmaking?

Also, these platforms play a huge role in what we can describe as grooming the mainstream audience for the content that is slightly off the Hollywood radar. Take for instance the titles like Midnight Mass, Squid Game, and BoJack Horseman that would hardly ever find a home outside probably HBO.

And yet, they are devoured by the massive audiences proving that the conceptual border between indy and mainstream is slowly fading away.

In conclusion

With all this in mind, we can only summarize that the evolution of independent filmmaking and its growing popularity wasn't so much surprising as it was inevitable. Sure, it took some time for the right directors to find the right audience and a healthy dose of genre fuel to move the things off the ground but now that the genie is out of the bottle is there any reason we would continue to put labels on movies.

Seriously, the independent female director Chloe Zhao took the Oscar for Nomadland and proceeded to direct Marvel’s Eternals.

Even if we limit the discussion to financing and distribution, streaming wars pretty much tore down these walls as well. So, why wouldn’t we simply call the things the right way – good and bad movies?

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About the Creator

Marie Nieves

A lifestyle blogger who loves unusual trips, gadgets and creative ideas. On her travels she likes to read poetry and prose and surf the Internet. Her favourite writer is Tracy Chevalier and she always carries one of her books in her bag.

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