“I’m a filmmaker, and have been for more than a decade. Seriously, I’ve got an IMDb page and everything (it’s less impressive than you think; they’ll give those things to a dog). I spend sickening amounts of money on gear and graduate school. And at this moment, I’m as qualified as anybody else to say we really are about to see doors open to artists who never would have been able to afford filmmaking, and also open the floodgates to a tidal wave of crap unlike any outside of sewer workers playing with dynamite have ever witnessed.”

Read the rest of this article from UPROXX.

“Hollywood has had a stranglehold on movie making since the early 20th century but since the late 60s more and more mavericks have taken independent film making to greater heights. Movies like Putney Swope and The Graduate were innovative when they were first released and paved the way for future generations of independent film making students and directors.

Who can forget the young, fresh-faced Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate? This movie not only introduced us to Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft but also brought us the great song from Simon and Garfunkel Mrs. Robinson.”

Read the rest of this article from Free Web News.

“I have devoted a significant part of my life’s work in support of the independent artist — independent referring not to the size of a project, its funding or subject matter; rather, to the singular vision and voice of that artist. I founded Sundance Institute 30 years ago out of the belief that it is vital to ensure that the artist’s voice remains vibrant, valued and heard in civil society at large.

It is with this in mind that I ask you to join me in bringing wider attention and broader support to a critically important case currently in play in U.S. courts.

On May 6, 2010 Judge Lewis A. Kaplan ordered filmmaker Joe Berlinger to turn over to Chevron Corporation all raw footage — some 600 hours — from the making of his documentary, Crude: The Real Price of Oil. Chevron has sued to use this footage to bolster its legal proceedings in the very same case that is the central subject of Berlinger’s film. The potential ramifications of this for the journalist community, film world and society in general are both shocking and profound.”

Read the rest of this article from USA Trends.

Haile Gerima, the internationally acclaimed director of Teza, Adwa, Bush Mama and Sankofa, hosted a discussion on the challenges of independent film-making last week here in New York.

The public discourse was part of a series of events designed to promote the release of Gerima’s latest film Teza.

The Q & A session, moderated by Tigist Selam, was held on Wednesday, April 7, 2010 at the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute.”

Read the rest of this article from Tadias.com

“Doom and Gloom. That’s was the pervasive feeling at the last AFM in Santa Monica. As someone who made my small urban movies on the fringe, I never really felt the pressure as most of my mainstream counterparts. The urban genre always had a built in audience, and not just black people as you would think.

Because the African-American audience and to a large part the “Hip-Hop” generation is normally under represented as far as selections at the multi-plex, home video has always been fertile ground for black filmmakers. In fact is been something we depended on.”

Read the rest of this article from Script Shark.

“After introducing now-iconic indies like Steven Soderbergh (Sex, Lies, and Videotape), Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs), Wes Anderson (Bottle Rocket) and Kevin Smith (Clerks) to mainstream success in the late ’80s and early ’90s, the Sundance Film Festival became the world’s greatest showcase of low-budget moviemaking. In more recent years, however, it has been criticized for being more glitz than grit, complete with celebutantes and gifting suites.”

Read the rest of this article from Moviemaker.

The Ten Commandments of Filmmaking
How to Work (and Survive) in the
Film and Television Industry
by Peter D. Marshall

Many of us have read or heard an Hollywood backed movie getting bashed for not making it into theaters and going straight-to-DVD. The straight-to-DVD label is a meant as an insult. I guess considering the amount of cash spent a well funded movie with name actors going straight-to-DVD isn’t a victory. There’s also viewers that put down straight-to-DVD straight away. Which is cool. When you make movies you’re putting yourself out there for people to say your movie, “sucks.”

Read this article from Screenwriting Basics.

The Ten Commandments of Filmmaking
How to Work (and Survive) in the
Film and Television Industry
by Peter D. Marshall

Lots of independent filmmakers cannot afford to cast bankable stars or known celebrities. That’s a major hurdle independent filmmakers deal with after their movie is done and they seek distribution.”

Read this article from Screenwriting Basics.

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Read this article from Film Sensei.

Read this article from Deadline Hollywod Daily.