AA SNAPSHOTSNAPSHOT OFOF INDEPENDENTINDEPENDENT FILMFILM HISTORYHISTORY

QUICK TAKES ON 100 YEARS OF UPSTART FILMMAKING

1900 1908 The Motion Picture Patents Company forms Edison Trust, creating a stronghold of lm production and distribution for the major lm companies. Those who decline entry become known as “independent.”

1910

1914 Mentored by pioneering French director Alice Guy-Blaché, Lois Weber becomes the rst U.S. woman to direct a full-length feature lm with The Merchant of Venice. 1918 A leading member of the Harlem Renaissance movement, Oscar Micheaux produces his rst lm, The Homesteader. He is later regarded as the rst major African-American feature lmmaker, having 1919 independently produced more than 44 lms Fed up with the restrictions of the major studios, throughout his career. four of the leading gures in silent lm, including Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, D.W. Grith and Mary Pickford, form United Artists, the rst independent studio in America.

1920

1922 Robert Flaherty directs and produces Nanook of the North, later considered the rst feature-length documentary.

1930

1935 David O. Selznick resigns from MGM to establish his own independent company, 1939 Selznick International Pictures. The top grossing Gone with the Wind is the most expensive independently produced lm of the decade, costing $4.25 million.

1940

1940 Experimental lmmakers Maya Deren (Meshes of the A ernoon), Kenneth Anger (Fireworks) and James Broughton (The Pleasure Garden) pioneer the American underground cinema movement.

1950

1953 Little Fugitive, directed by Ray Ashley, Morris Engel and Ruth Orkin, becomes the rst independent lm to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best 1959 Original Screenplay. Shadows, an improvised lm written and directed by , is considered a highlight of independent lmmaking in the U.S. It wins the Critics Award at the in 1960.

1960

1961 Bruce Baillie and Chick Strand form Canyon Cinema, an organization to protect the history and future of independent, experimental and artist- 1962 made lms. A handful of lmmakers, including Jonas Mekas and Shirley Clarke, found the Film-Makers Cooperative, a non-pro t focused on avant-garde lm distribution.

1968 George Romero directs Night of the Living Dead on a budget of $114,000. The lm grosses $12 million during its run.

1970

1970 The original cult movie, El Topo, directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky, helps launch the enduringly popular midnight-movie phenomenon in the U.S.

L.A. REBELLION FILMMAKERS INCLUDE

Charles Burnett 1974 Larry Clark Produced by Tobe Hooper on a budget of less than Julie Dash $300,000, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre grosses over Haile Gerima $30 million and gains a reputation as one of the best Billy Woodberry horror lms in cinema history, prompting six sequels and remakes.

1975 Young African and African American lmmakers studying at U.C.L.A. begin to coalesce into a lm movement later referred to as the “L.A. Rebellion.”

1977 John Waters, a lm director, screenwriter and actor, rises to fame in the ’70s for his transgressive cult lms, beginning with Desperate Living (1977). Waters oen cast the infamous and occasionally the criminal.

Charles Burnett creates the Third World Film Club to break the American boycott banning all forms of cultural exchange with Cuba. His rst full-length We’re feature Killer of Sheep is written as his U.C.L.A. back! master’s thesis. 1979 John Sayles funds his rst lm, Return of the Secaucus 7, with $30,000. The lm is later selected for preservation in the National Film Registry at the Library of Congress.

The Independent Feature Project launches during the New York Film Festival and will evolve into America's oldest and largest organization of independent lmmakers.

1980

FAMOUS NOTABLE FILMS 1984 DIRECTORIAL THAT MADE A SPLASH DEBUTS AT SUNDANCE ’s rst major lm, Stranger than AT SUNDANCE Paradise, is produced on a budget of $125,000. Reservoir Dogs (1992) The lm is awarded the Camera d’Or at the 1984 Joel and Ethan Coen Clerks (1994) Cannes Film Festival and Best Film award from the Blood Simple (1984) Before Sunrise (1995) National Society of Film Critics in 1985. Stephen Soderbegh sex, lies and The Blair Witch Project (1999) videotape (1989) Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001) Richard Linklater Capturing the Friedmans (2003) 1985 Slacker (1991) Me and You and Everyone We Know Robert Rodriguez Spike Lee’s rst feature lm, She’s Gotta Have It, is (2005) shot in two weeks on a budget of $175,000. El Mariachi (1992) Once (2007) Richard Linklater founds the Austin Film Society, Reservoir Dogs Precious (2009) which is credited for solidifying Austin as a hub for (1992) Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012) independent lmmaking. Fruitvale Station (2013)

1986 The American Film Institute creates the Maya Deren Award to honor independent lmmakers. 1989 Steven Soderbergh’s lm sex, lies, and videotape debuts at the newly-named Sundance Film Festival (formerly U.S. Film Festival). The lm is credited with helping to inaugurate the independent lmmaking boom of 1990s cinema.

1990

1998 The Cannes Film Festival begins actively supporting young independent lmmakers through the creation of the Cinéfondation. 1999 The Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award is named in honor of the actor/screenwriter/director, a pioneer of American independent lm. The Blair Witch Project receives the rst award, which is given to the creative team of a lm budgeted at less than $500,000. 2000

INDEPENDENT FILMS IN THE 2000s

The 2000s see remarkable independent lms from established directors, as well as formidable debut releases from young lmmakers. The growth of digital technology has a large impact on the way lms were created and promoted.

2002 From 2000 through 2010, the lm industry is de ned by The Tribeca Film Festival is founded by Jane the rise of the documentary lmmaker, increasing digital Rosenthal, Robert De Niro and Craig Hatko. The distribution and the growing popularity of lm festivals. event now draws over three million people each year. NEW FACES DURING THE 2000s

Spike Jonze (Adaptation) Zach Bra (Garden State) So a Coppola Michel Gondry (Eternal (Lost in Translation) Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Brokeback Darren Aronofsky Mountain) (Requiem for a Dream)

NOTABLE FILMS OF THE 2000s 2004 American Splendor (2003, Mutual Appreciation Fahrenheit 9/11, directed by Michael Moore, is dir. Shari Springer Berman (2005, dir. Andrew the highest grossing documentary of all time and Robert Pulcini) Bujalski) ($119.1 million) and winner of the Cannes Film Festival’s top award, the Palme d’Or. George Washington (2000, The Puy Chair (2005, dir. David Gordon Green) dir. Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass) Humpday (2009, dir. Lynn Shelton) Punch-Drunk Love (2002, dir. Paul Thomas Hunger (2008, Anderson) dir. Steve McQueen) The Science of Sleep Lost in Translation (2003, (2006, dir. Michel Gondry) dir. So a Coppola) Sideways (2004, Me and You and Everyone dir. Alexander Payne) We Know (2005, dir. Miranda July) The Squid and the Whale (2005, dir. Noah Medicine for Melancholy Baumbach) (2008, dir. Barry Jenkins)

2010

2011 The Artist is the 20th non-studio lm between 1980 and 2011 to win Best Picture.

2012 Independent box oce receipts in North America hit $4.5 billion, which accounts for 41.7% of the $10.8 From 2010 through 2013, the lm industry is de ned by billion total. the rise of transmedia and crowd funding, with platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo. Kickstarter-funded lms comprise 10% of Sundance’s 2013 slate in 2012 and 2013, and 10% of the 2012 slates at Aer a career that began with sex, lies, and videotape, the SXSW Film Festival and Tribeca Film Festival. Steven Soderbergh announces his retirement from “cinema” but will continue to direct for TV.

CITATIONS

1908 1940 1989 Sklar, Robert. Movie-Made America: A Cultural History of American Lev, Peter. Transforming the Screen, 1950-1959. 2nd edition. Berkeley, CA: Seibold, Witney. "The Indie Boom of the 1990s." Carveonline. Carveonline, Movies. 2nd edition. New York: Vintage Books, 1974. 33-47. Print. University of California Press, 2009. 286. Print. 28 Feb 2012. Web. 5 Aug. 2013. http://www.craveonline.com/lm/articles/183835-free-lm-school-37-the- 1914 1961 – 1962 indie-boom-of-the-1990s Slide, Anthony. Lois Weber: The Director Who Lost Her Way in History Haven, Cynthia. "Archives of experimental lmmaker Bruce Baillie now in (Contributions to the Study of Popular Culture). 1st ed. Greenwood Stanford University Libraries." Stanford: The Dish. Stanford University, 2002 Press, 1996. 17. Print. Stanford, California 94305, 12 Sept 2012. Web. 5 Aug. 2013. Mandall, Zach. "Tribeca Film Festival history." examiner.com. Clarity Digital https://news.stanford.edu/thedish/?p=21481 Group LLC, n. d. Web. 5 Aug. 2013. 1918 – 1920 http://www.examiner.com/article/tribeca-lm-festival-history Mabunda, Mpho, ed. "One of Our First Filmmakers, Oscar Micheaux." 1960s - 1980s African American Registry. African American Registr, n.d. Web. 5 Aug Widener, Daniel. Black Arts West: Culture and Struggle in Postwar Los 2010 – 2013 2013. Angeles. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2010. 257-282. Print. Dvorkin, Eli. "Kickstarter-funded lms headline Sundance." Kickstarter http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/one-our-rst- http://www.dukeupress.edu/Catalog/ViewProduct.php?productid=18658 Blog. Kickstarter, 01 Feb 2013. Web. 5 Aug. 2013. lmmakers-oscar-micheaux http://www.kickstarter.com/blog/kickstarter-funded-lms-headline-sundance 1979 1935 – 1939 Wood, Jennifer. "Go Shoot Yourself: Evaluating The Acting Chops Of 2013 Grossman, Mark. "Hollywood, 1919–1939." Encyclopedia of the Directors That Cast Themselves." Complex Pop Culture. Complex Pop Mary Kaye, Schilling. "Steven Soderbergh on Quitting Hollywood, Getting Interwar Years: From 1919 to 1939. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2000. Culture, 10 05 2013. Web. August 5, 2013. the Best Out of J-Lo, and His Love of Girls." Vulture. 27 Jan 2013: n. page. Modern World History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2013/05/evaluating-the-acting- Web. 24 Sep. 2013. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE53&iPin= chops-of-directors-who-cast-themselves/john-sayles http://www.vulture.com/2013/01/steven-soderbergh-in-conversation.html interwar00373&SingleRecord=True