I know I’m just one of many who have been concerned about the future of independent film, following the closing in quick succession of Picturehouse and Warner Independent Pictures, and the incorporation of Paramount Vantage into the main body of the studio.
Someone who has a different perspective on matters, however, is Miramax head Daniel Battsek. Screen Daily reports that, in his keynote speech at the London Film Finance Market, he expressed the view that the specialty field is, if anything, overcrowded:
Asked whether Miramax had been helped by the recent closure of Warner Independent Pictures, Picturehouse and Paramount Vantage, he replied:
“Not significantly…the sector of the business was definitely overcooked. There were too many players. There probably still are too many players … Even with the slight reduction of companies operating in this space, there are still too many movies being released. It is very, very difficult to get your voice heard.”
Well, he would say that, wouldn’t he? After all, the opinions of a studio head and an ordinary filmgoer of what constitutes “too many movies” will inevitably differ. In what has generally been deemed a lean year for good cinema, I would say we need all the movies we can get, but then admittedly I’m not the one stuck with funding and marketing them.
Turning his eye to the awards race, Battsek anticipates a stiff battle between big studio products and specialty fare:
“(Awards season), for us, is absolute make or break time.”
Battsek predicted that this year, the competition for awards will be even fiercer than usual. “If there’s a year like last year – the year of the independents, when No Country For Old Men won best film – that tends to result in a fight back from the majors.” he commented.
He may have a point there. I’ve had a feeling for a while that, after a couple of years of rewarding modestly- scaled fare (“The Departed” being an exception, though it was hardly typical Oscar fodder either), the Academy might look to go big this year. That’s surely part of the reason why talk is beginning to swirl around “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” a lavish studio production that might yet prove eccentric enough to please the artier voters too.
Comments
4 responses to “Too many independents?”
As if Picturehouse, Warner Independent and Paramount Vantage were really making independent films?
Guy, didn’t you just attend the London Film Festival? You must see what real independent films are and where they thrive. Samuel Goldwyn, Sony Classics, Roadside Attractions, Magnolia, ThinkFilm, IFC Films, First Look, Zeitgeist, Strand, First Run and many others are not going anywhere and releasing great product every year. “Hunger”, “Momma’s Man”, “Medicine for Melancholy”, “The Pleasure of Being Robbed”, “Sugar”, “Paranoid Park”, “Nights and Weekends” and “Ballast” have already ensured that this is a banner year if anything.
All true, Chad — but I still tend to take a “the more, the merrier” approach. They may not have been making the most cutting-edge fare, but they were putting some worthy films nonetheless.
And yes, especially, to “Hunger” and “Sugar.” Two of my favourite films of the festival so far.
I can’t help it – “Too many independents” brings to mind the “Family Guy” bit where Don Knotts stars in the movie “Too Many Ostriches.” He’s just standing there, surrounded by ostriches, saying, “Why are there so many ostriches? There said there would be some, but there are too many ostriches.”
There’s no connection to the article whatsoever, but that’s just a hilarious bit.
Should be four articles actually. I was erased.