TV, in particular cable channels, has assumed the role of independent film.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
The network shows have this very commercial voice that you have to adhere to, and the cable shows, it's kind of like winning the lottery. The independent film world is a world you can actually get to. You can get the under-a-million-dollar film by finding a good cast and financing.
Independent films, for the most part, to me, are not so independent. They often feel like people auditioning for a big commercial career. They often do not have independent spirit to them.
When you're doing the work, film and TV are exactly the same. TV is just film in reduced pieces.
I would define independent film as a movie that is not financed by any of the smaller film companies. Because then, those are movies that in all likelihood are made without stars. And then they have to rely just on the material.
Basically, independent film doesn't exist anymore. It does if you have two or three stars in your film, but it's just very difficult.
Independent film is for actors that love to act.
I watch mostly independent films.
There's a way in which filmmaking is a director's medium and television is a writer's medium, so even as TV gets more cinematic, it's still guided by the writer.
My theory is, independent movies only work if you're willing to push the material and do something different.
Cable television stations in America are now producing such smart, in-depth, non-formula, character-based dramas. Film has turned more and more into big action or cartoons.