Long Live the Indies!

I read the SALON article yesterday titled America’s next Wal-Mart: The indie film industry by Beanie Barnes and honestly, I don’t think I could have disagreed more. In it she proposes that too many Indy films are causing a glut to the system and there should actually be fewer Indy films made, for the good of the whole.

Read the article for yourself if you haven’t here:
http://www.salon.com/2014/02/22/americas_next_wal_mart_the_indie_film_industry/

But here’s the thing – Beanie is an industry professional. This entire rant smacks of desperation. Industry insiders are scared to death that the playing field is being leveled more day by day. Initially it was the studio system that kept the infidels at bay, then the scarcity of professional equipment, and finally, the cost of creating a feature was just too inhibitive. The haves were in control and the have-nots couldn't play in their field.

But you know what? Each and every one of those barriers has collapsed – equipment is now affordable for the common person, alternative channels are open for distributing work, and crowdfunding has made anyone capable of raising funds. Studios are worried, and this article is a prime example of elitist mentality. They are losing CONTROL, and that is what this article is really about.

Beanie tries peppering the article with scare tactics and comparisons to the evils of Reagonomics and Wal-Mart. It’s actually laughable, because the agenda on display is so transparent.

Power to the people. Artists will create, and this genie is already out of the bottle. People like Beanie can whine and complain all they like, doesn’t change the fact that thousands of amazing films, documentaries, and shorts are produced yearly by people well outside the studio system, with no thought other than creating an artistic vision and ENTERTAINING viewers.

And you know what – that’s a beautiful thing.