Independent Film:
An independent film, or indie film, is a feature film that is produced mostly outside of a major film studio. The term also refers to art films which differ noticeably from most mass marketed films. In addition to being produced by independent production companies, independent films are often produced and/or distributed by subsidiaries of major studios. In order to be considered independent, less than half of a film's financing should come from a major studio.
Independent films are sometimes distinguishable by their content and style and the way in which the filmmakers personal artistic vision is realized. Usually, but not always, independent films are made with considerably lower budgets than major studio films Generally, the marketing of independent films is characterized by limited release designed to build word-of-mouth or to reach small specialty audiences.
Resistance to the Edison Trust
The roots of independent film can be traced back to the filmmakers in the 1900s who resisted the control of a trust called the Motion Picture Patents Company or "Edison Trust".
The motion Pictures Patents Company, founded in December 1908, was a trust of all the major film companies, the leading distributor (George Kleine) and the biggest supplier of raw film, Eastman Kodak.
The studio system replaces Edison:
In early 1910, director D.W. Griffith was sent by the Biograph Company to the west coast with his acting troupe, consisting of actors Blanche Sweet, Lillian Gish, Mary Pickford, Lionel Barrymore, and others. They started filming on a vacant lot near Georgia Street in downtown Los Angeles. While there, the company decided to explore new territories, traveling several miles north to Hollywood, a little village that was friendly and enjoyed the movie company filming there. Griffith then filmed the first movie ever shot in Hollywood, In old California, a Biograph melodrama about California in the 1800s, while it belonged to Mexico. Biograph stayed there for months and made several films before returning to New York.
The Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers:
In 1941, Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin, Walt Disney, Orson Welles, Samuel Goldwyn, David O. Selznick, Alexander Korda, and Walter Wanger--many of the same people who were members of United Artists--founded the Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers. Later members included William Cagney, Sol Lesser, and Hal Roach. The Society aimed to preserve the rights of independent producers in an industry overwhelmingly controlled by the studio system. SIMPP fought to end monopolistic practices by the five major Hollywood studios which controlled the production, distribution, and exhibition of films.
Independent films are sometimes distinguishable by their content and style and the way in which the filmmakers personal artistic vision is realized. Usually, but not always, independent films are made with considerably lower budgets than major studio films Generally, the marketing of independent films is characterized by limited release designed to build word-of-mouth or to reach small specialty audiences.
Resistance to the Edison Trust
The roots of independent film can be traced back to the filmmakers in the 1900s who resisted the control of a trust called the Motion Picture Patents Company or "Edison Trust".
The motion Pictures Patents Company, founded in December 1908, was a trust of all the major film companies, the leading distributor (George Kleine) and the biggest supplier of raw film, Eastman Kodak.
The studio system replaces Edison:
In early 1910, director D.W. Griffith was sent by the Biograph Company to the west coast with his acting troupe, consisting of actors Blanche Sweet, Lillian Gish, Mary Pickford, Lionel Barrymore, and others. They started filming on a vacant lot near Georgia Street in downtown Los Angeles. While there, the company decided to explore new territories, traveling several miles north to Hollywood, a little village that was friendly and enjoyed the movie company filming there. Griffith then filmed the first movie ever shot in Hollywood, In old California, a Biograph melodrama about California in the 1800s, while it belonged to Mexico. Biograph stayed there for months and made several films before returning to New York.
The Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers:
