Distribution

Tick off the job description of an independent filmmaker: creative writer, talent handler, business manager, financier, marketing guru, technical genius, oh yeah, and relentless artistic visionary. Does any one human have all of these proclivities? No. But those who find even limited success bringing their own projects to screen and to audiences (not automatically the same thing) can attest that all areas need someone’s attention. And the very nature of making a film outside the system means often enough, everything’s left to you.

Twenty-seven years ago, an elementary school teacher in Fitchburg, Massachusetts decided he wanted to enlarge his classroom. But he wouldn’t be using a sledgehammer or drawing up architectural blueprints. His only tool would be a video camera. That was when Chip Taylor decided to take his passion for education beyond the schoolyard and into an even bigger classroom: the world. Taylor wanted to make films that educated -- films that opened eyes and challenged minds.

A more sober mood set the tone for the 2001 Independent Feature Project (IFP) Market this past October.

Don’t get me wrong -- there was the usual blanket of postcards, moviegoers with short-attention spans, and a handful of zany costumes. But generally, things seemed toned down.

A clown serenading. A woman scantily clad in (yes, it’s true) postcards. These are just some of the signs to remind you where you are -- at the Independent Feature Project Market (IFP) where certain filmmakers will try just about anything to boost the attendance of their screening.

Distributing independent films isn’t what Laura Bernieri set out to do. Neither was producing, though you would never know it watching her juggle our late-afternoon interview with signing a stack of invitations, supervising a mass mailing and getting the last of her daily phone calls in before driving home. Bernieri commutes to her Brighton Avenue office in Boston from her home in Andover, a drive that offers a welcome respite from her work as a producer, now make that distributor, of independent films.

A struggling filmmaker, beret askew, shoots in black and white on a deserted city street, with only one goal in mind: to capture the grit and reality of everyday life. "Finances be damned!" he thinks. "This is art."

For many, that is the image that comes to mind when the topic of independent film comes up. But filmmaking is more than art; it is also business. Just ask David Kleiler, director of Local Sightings, Inc., and a 30-year veteran of the Boston film community.

Supposedly it's as tough to complete independent work in Boston as anywhere else. Supposedly. For nearly 25 years now, the Boston Film/Video Foundation has provided local filmmakers with invaluable services, from low-cost technical support and a wide range of workshops and master classes to screenings and exhibitions of work by members and local artists. Encouraging extensive interaction among video and filmmakers, BF/VF has perhaps single-handedly nurtured the growth of a noted independent filmmaking community in Boston.

26-year-old Andrew Mudge is steeped in all three. He has written and directed four short films. He also edits them and acts in them. All of his shorts have traveled to film festivals. One even traveled to that famed fest in Park City, Utah.

In big, bold letters on its Web site, CDF promotes its "Films That Challenge." Judging by the awards CDF has won over the past 25 years, it seems they're also films that tell good stories. CDF's catalog focuses on the biggest social issues of the past three read more...

Q: How do independent filmmakers get their films seen?
A: Any way they can.

There's a new way of getting independent films out there that is looking more and more promising: online distribution. The next Academy Award-winning short could be coming to a computer screen near you, and the film could be yours.

PRE-PRODUCTION

How do I write a short film script?

Bruce Jenkins, the new curator of the Harvard Film Archive, says for him, the best introduction to working in film was his summer job during school at NYU as a shipping clerk at small documentary distribution company, Icarus Films. "There," he says, "I learned the fine art of rewinding, cleaning, and strapping films into shipping cases."

The thought of self-distributing can strike fear in the hearts of independent filmmakers, or it can provide a great challenge. Traditionally, self-distribution has been viewed as a last resort, but there are filmmakers out there who choose to self-distribute. There are those precious few who know their market: Frederick Wiseman’s Zipporah Films has distributed its own films for over 20 years to universities and libraries.

The small room on the second floor of the Boston Film & Video Foundation was packed for the Master Class on Distribution. Jason Bloom, Senior Vice President of Co-Productions and Acquisitions at Miramax, walked in carrying his Au Bon Pain coffee, and everyone settled down. He was the only guy there in an Armani suit.

The increase in independent films has created a buyer's market. Industry observers estimate that there are now 800-1,000 independent pictures made each year in the United States – a dramatic increase from a decade ago.