Indiewood (also known as "specialty", "alternative", "indie", or "quality") films are made outside of the Hollywood studio system or traditional arthouse/independent filmmaking system yet managed to be produced, financed and distributed by the two with varying degrees of success and/or failure.
Background The American independent film, prior to the 1980s and first half of the 1990s, was previously associated with b movies, exploitation films, avant-garde underground cinema (when it was known as the New American Cinema), social and political documentaries, experimental animated shorts (since the mid-1930s featuring works by pioneer animators Mary Ellen Bute and Oskar Fischinger) and social realist dramas.27 Of The Best Indie Movies Of All Time|Esquire
Throughout the middle of the 1990s, the word "Indiewood" (a.k.a. "indie boom" or "indie film movement") was invented to describe a component of the spectrum of American films in which distinctions exist, it seemed as if Hollywood and the independent sector had become blurred.
Divisions Indiewood divisions gain from expert experience of the niche industry by hiring leading independent personalities such as Harvey WeinsteinAmerican Indies, 1980-1989|MoMA from the Disney fold after the exit of the Weinsteins from Miramax, at The Weinstein Company,Review: Indiewood, USA: Where Hollywood Meets Independent Cinema, by Geoff King|Film Quarterly|University of California PressChapter Eight. Maxed Out: Miramax and Indiewood in the New Millennium - De Gruyter and James Schamus, former joint head of Good Machine, at Focus Features.
Other "mini-major" subdivisions/indie distributors Searchlight Pictures Fine Line Features (established by New Line Cinema) Lionsgate NEON A24 Paramount Vantage Summit Entertainment Orion Pictures The Samuel Goldwyn Company Samuel Goldwyn Films Warner Independent Pictures Picturehouse United Artists (first founded in 1919 as an independent studio for former silent film stars like Mary Pickford and Charles Chaplin) Blumhouse Productions Cannon Films Sony Pictures Classics Independent Film Company Magnolia Pictures Janus Films Kino Lorber Roadside Attractions Bleecker Street MUBI Amazon Studios (in association with MGM) Oscilloscope Laboratories Miramax The Weinstein Company Focus Features Good Machine Castle Rock Entertainment
Sources Somewhere Only We Know on Notebook|MUBINew Yorkers Films, an Independent Distributor, Will Close After 44 Years - The New York Times
Differences from Hollywood
The films are often made for far less money than Hollywood filmsHow Indiewood gatecrashed the Oscars|Financial Times (some films like Robert Townsend's 1987's satire Hollywood Shuffle and Kevin Smith's 1994 Gen X comedy Clerks were funded by using credit cards) and each aspect of the filmmaking process has to undergo less scrutiny by committees. Additionally, within the Indiewood approach the filmmaker can take as long as they need in the post-production phase of their film - whereas in Hollywood they are contracted to finish the film in a specific period of time (usually 10 weeks). In Hollywood, the film then goes on to show in focus group screenings on the studio lot. In Indiewood, the filmmakers can determine the next steps of the film. They also bear striking similarities to as well as were influenced by the "proto-indies" of the 1960s such as Robert Downey Sr's still image film Chafed Elbows (1966), John Cassavetes's Academy Award-nominated Faces and Brian de Palma's Greetings (each from 1968) which in turn were influenced by the culture of the Beat Generation, the polar opposite to the conformist, gray-flannel conformity of 1950s America.Proto-Indie - A Companion to American Indie Film - Wiley Online Library
Most Indiewood films are first shown at film festivals with the hopes of further distribution by being picked up (or purchased) by a larger film company or distributor in order to find broader audiences alongside awards consideration (e.g. 2009's A Single Man).Overcoming the Stigma: The Queer Denial of Indiewood on JSTOR
List of selected Indiewood/Pre-Indiewood filmmakers
Julie Dash Cheryl Dunye Kathleen CollinsDeep focus: The other side of 80s America|Sight & Sound|BFI Lizzie Borden Ava DuVernay12. Not Just Indie: A Look at Films by Dee Rees, Ava Duvernay and Kasi Lemmons - DegRuyterIndie Reframed - Google Books Dee Rees Chloe ZhaoStumbling Out of the Gate - Critic's Notebook Lulu Wang Mira Nair Barry Jenkins Billy Woodberry Marlon Riggs Stanley Nelson Charles Burnett25 Years Later, Charles Burnett and Richard Brooks Reflect on Indie Classic 'To Sleep with Anger'|IndieWire
William Greaves Wendell B. Harris Jr. Oscar MicheauxIndependent Film’s Sorry Quarter Century?|Filmmaker Magazine Ryan Coogler Tyler PerryTyler Perry: creator of a racial stereotype or the greatest indie film-maker ever?|Comedy films|The Guardian Spike LeeHollywood: A Short Introduction - Google Books (section: "Indiewood")
Reginald Hudlin John Singleton Robert Townsend Walter Salles Ramin Bahrani Alfonso Cuaron Denzel Washington Ang LeeEpilogue: from independent cinema to specialty content - De Gruyter Lee Daniels Daniels Wayne Wang Lee Isaac Chung Lisa CholodenkoChaos Below Canal|Independent Magazine Mario Van Peebles Melvin Van Peebles Robert Rodriguez Gregory Nava Robert M. Young Miguel Arteta Guillermo del Toro Chris Eyre Taika Waititi Nina Menkes Claudia Weill Donna Deitch Joyce Chopra Mary HarronAdelaide Research & Scholarship: Postclassical Hollywood/postmodern subjectivity: representation in some 'Indie/Alternative' Indiewood films Jennie Livingston Penelope SpheerisDGA Quarterly Magazine|Fall 2011|Women Directors and Their FilmsHow Wayne's World Made—and Broke—Its Director's Career|Vanity Fair Martha Coolidge Kelly Reichardt Debra Granik Alice Wu Eliza Hittman Susan Seidelman Adrienne Shelly Joan Micklin SilverMUBI Special: Silver Linings: Films by Joan Micklin Silver|MUBI Ralph Bakshi8-Minute Video Boils Down the Essence of Animation Legend Ralph Bakshi - VICE Don BluthJuly 2022 Programming on the Criterion Channel Announced - CriterionCast.com Will VintonA celebration of Will Vinton|Just Make AnimationWill Vinton, Oscar winner and pioneering Portland animator, dies at 70 - oregonlive.com Suzan Pitt Don HertzfeldtDirecting Animation - Google Books (ch.4: "Directing Animation for Indie Films)Second Edition of the Skwigly book ‘Independent Animation’ out now - Skwigly Animation Magazine Bill PlymptonICONS OF ANIMATION - THE ART OF ILLUSTRATION|Oscars.orgIndie Animation - WSJ John and Faith Hubley George GriffinKeep it in Motion: Classic Animation Revisited – George Griffin’s 'Head'|Animation World Network Mark Osborne Candy KugelThe Academy To Present ‘Women in Indie Animation’ September 21|Animation World Network Janie GeiserKeep it in Motion - Classic Animation Revisited: 'The Red Book'|Animation World Network Fred MogubgubFilms by Fred Mogubgub|Cartoon Brew John CanemakerDeclaration Of Independents Independent Animation is Alive and Well in New York by Melissa Chimovitz - AWN.com Joanna PriestleyAnimation Outlaws: Spike & Mike Turned Indie Shorts Into a Phenomenom|IndieWire PES Nina Paley Nicole Holofcener Tom McCarthy Alex Garland Patty Jenkins Sarah Polley Sian Heder Lena Dunham Greta Gerwig Miranda JulyMiranda July: The Quiet Power of Her Indie Movies - MovieWeb Bette Gordon Nancy Savoca Todd HaynesPost-Classical Hollywood: Film Industry, Style and Ideology Since 1945 - Google Books (pg.237)
John WatersJohn Waters|Underground Film Journal
Greg Araki Sean Baker Lodge Kerrigan Alex Ross PerryAlex Ross Perry: 'Avengers: Endgame' Deserves Oscar for Best Picture|IndieWire Jeff Nichols'Midnight Special,' 'Fantastic Planet' and more home theater releases out this week - Los Angeles Times Mike Nichols Henry Jaglom Jim McBride Jonas Mekas Mark Rappaport Andrew Bujalski John Cameron Mitchell Gus Van Sant Steve James Wim Wenders Jim McKay Bo Burnham Joel and Ethan CoenCANNES 2000: Embracing Indiewood, Cannes 2000 Lineup Selected from Nearly 1,400 Films; 15 Countries|IndieWire
Mark and Jay DuplassHow an Unlikely Hollywood Juggernaut Came to Rule Netflix|WIRED Sam Raimi Josh and Benny Safdie Joe Swanberg Rian Johnson Christopher Guest Alan Rudolph James Gray Andrea Arnold Robert Eggers George A. Romero Wes Craven John Carpenter Yorgos Lanthimos Ari Aster Paul Schrader Alex Kendrick Mike MillsFather Figurine: Mike Mills's "Beginners"|IndieWire Joe Wright"Pride & Prejudice," "Capote," "Brokeback Mountain" (and more), and Why Audiences Matter|IndieWire Jim Jarmusch
Rob Nilsson Zach Braff George Clooney James Mangold Sam Mendes Spike Jonze Errol Morris
Martin Scorsese Sam FullerHouse of Bamboo - Trailers From HellCalling all Samuel Fuller fans: You need a copy of “Forty Guns”|High-Def Watch John Cassavetes
The Greatest Independent Films of the 20th Century|The New Yorker Brian de Palma Robert Downey Sr Norman Mailer Andy Warhol Kenneth Anger Herk HarveyClassic Thrills & Late-Night Chills on Tap for 'Freaky Fridays' at the Film Society - Film at Lincoln Center Ron Rice Robert Frank Kent Mackenzie Neil Jordan James Marsh Greg MottolaWhy the 'King of Underrated Movies' Returned to Hollywood - Esquire Jon Favreau Bennett Miller Jonathan Caouette Larry Clark Abel Ferrara Michel Gondry Wes Anderson
Noah Baumbach Sofia CoppolaSofia Coppola: A Cinema of Girlhood - Offscreen Kathryn Bigelow Allison AndersInside Indiewood|The Nation
Barbara Kopple Shirley Clarke Barbara Loden Roger Corman Paul Bartel10 Great Indie Movies You May Have Never Seen - Page 2 - Taste of Cinema Herschell Gordon LewisThe Moviegoing Experience, 1968-2001 - Google Books (pg.59) John Sayles Jonathan Demme Tom DiCillo Carson Davidson Doug Liman Darren Aronofsky Jason ReitmanActing Indie - Google Books Godfrey Reggio Ross McElwee Alexander Payne Kimberly Peirce David O. Russell Kevin SmithKevin Smith claims Harvey Weinstein is keeping Dogma 'hostage' – Film Stories
David Mamet Quentin Tarantino
Tim Burton Neil LaBute Todd SolondzDowntown Film and TV Culture 1975-2001 - Google Books (pg.xvi)
Terry Zwigoff David Cronenberg Christopher NolanIndie Cinema and the Neoliberal Commodification of Creative Labor - A Companion to American Indie Film - Wiley Online Library Whit Stillman Todd Field Richard Kelly Jean-Pierre Jeunet Julian Schnabel Jared HessWes Anderson, tone and the quirky sensibility: New Review of Film and Television Studies Volume 10, 2012 - Issue 1: Wes Anderson and Co. Charlie Kaufman Hal Hartley David Lynch
David Fincher Steven Soderbergh
The 25 Essential American Indie Films, 1988-2013 - Flavorwire Rob Reiner Oliver Stone Dennis Hopper Shane Carruth Anthony Minghella Harmony Korine Richard Linklater
Robert AltmanIndiewood and Improvisation|Robert Altman's Soundtracks: Film, Music, and Sound from M*A*S*H to A Prairie Home Companion|Oxford Academic William Friedkin James Cameron Damien Chazelle Tom Ford Michael Moore
Mel GibsonIndiewood - Backstage Paul Thomas Anderson Vincent Gallo Paul Haggis'Juno' Laid Low by Success - The New York Times Bryan SingerThe Sundance Kids - Google Books (ch."Section II: Indiewood") James Toback Allen Baron Woody Allen
List of selected notable and important Pre-Indiewood films
Pre-1950s City Lights (1931)≈ Reefer Madness (1936)Reefer Madness: an undeserved classic movie - Hall - 2021 - Addiction - Wiley Online Library The Great Dictator (1940)≈ Rebecca (1940)≈
1950s Little Fugitive (1953)The 52 most important American independent movies|The A.V. Club≈ Salt of the Earth (1954)Great U.S. Indie Films: 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' to 'Pulp Fiction' - Rolling Stone≈ 3rd Ave. El (1955) The Adventures of an * (1957) Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957) Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957) On the Bowery (1957)≈ 12 Angry Men (1957)The Top 10 Indie Movies of All Time | A Cinefix Movie List - IGN≈ The Screaming Skull (1958) Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959)Underrated Horror Movies of the 1950s, Ranked - MovieWeb