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Old 09-15-2003, 01:19 AM
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Question What is "indie" today? Is Cabin Fever a real indie?

I was thinking about this. What makes a movie be classified as an indie these days? I was reading an article about Cabin Fever and the movie was made for a relatively low budget, but then there was a bidding war and Lion's Gate paid "in the high seven figures" for the rights to the movie. I'm guessing they must go back in and fix up the movie, at least the special effects, with all that money, right? Then, how much money was spent on the promotion of the movie - many millions obviously.

I just wonder if a movie with tens of millions of dollars behind it can still be called an indie? When I think of indie, I think of movies with smaller budgets and directors who aren't super rich.

For example, if a band records an album, then sells it off to Sony for 25 million dollars, then Sony makes MTV videos, and promotes it on talk shows and radio, it's not really an indie release anymore.

On the other hand, if an artist makes a painting, and then sells it to a rich guy, it doesn't change that the art was originally created by the artist alone.

In some cases, it seems like "indie movie" is a marketing term more than a real category these days.

What is an "indie" movie to most people?
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Old 09-23-2003, 02:04 PM
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Amelie Amelie is offline
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I've always believed that an "indie" movie/book/record/whatever is one that is independently produced, promoted, and shown. If the indie eventually gets picked up by a big distributor later on, it's still an indie. However, if you have a case - like "Blair Witch" - where the makers of the film had a small film budget, but then used corporate connections to market & distribute the movie, then it's not indie.

IMHO, independent doesn't just mean "small budget" - Columbia and Universal probably put out tons of small budget releases and that doesn't make them "indie". Indie means independent - it means a movie made without help from entertainment conglomerates.

Hope that makes sense. :p
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Old 10-14-2003, 06:03 AM
Sean1605 Sean1605 is offline
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I consider Cabin Fever an indie....they made the movie with no help from any major studios (they had KNB's help...which is about as big as the production got), they used non-union workers, and they pretty much just shot it out in the NC woods much like Evil Dead 24 years ago stressing about money every day (the DP went out and bought film stock on his credit card so Eli wouldn't get mad about the budget) and they did it all on their own.


That's pretty independent if you ask me, Lion's Gate paid $10+ million for it so they could distribute it. Which means they made the $20+ million that the box office has pulled in. They dedicated a million I think to promotion, which is why it had all those nice posters, billboards, TV spots, and such wide distribution. But that doesn't change the finished film or the process in which it was made.




And for the record, Lion's Gate may have cut some stuff for it to get an R, but otherwise all the effects were practical, done by the best in the biz at KNB. Not to mention all you can really do in post is toss in CGI and Eli was very adimant about no CGI.
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Old 10-15-2003, 08:27 AM
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I classify indie as a film that doesn't have the backing of a big name movie company. The guys making the film get the movie funded on their own and get it made. Then if a studio likes it and picks it up they pay the people who did the film big money for the rights etc. The film is still indie. It's just under new ownership so to speak, and the creator and those involved are just a little richer now.
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