INDIEBLOCK
THE INFLUENCE OF ‘SUNDANCE’ ON INDIEWOOD
The creation of Indiewood was partially inspired by the work of The Sundance Institute, a non-profit organization founded by renowned actor Robert Redford in 1981. Based in Park City, Utah, Sundance offers financial support for emerging screenwriters and directors, annually showcasing a special independent film selection, known as the Sundance Film Festival. The festival rose to popularity in the 90s with films such as Clerks (1994), Pulp Fiction (1994) and Sling Blade (1996).
THE SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL
This year's promotional poster for the
Sundance Film Festival.
Films produced and distributed in this domain have attracted a mixture of praise and controversy...[there is] an attractive blend of creativity and commerce [but there is also] duplicity and compromise, in which the true heritage of the independent sector is sold out, betrayed and/or co-opted into an offshoot of Hollywood.
- Geoff King, Film Professor
in Indiewood USA: Where Hollywood Meets Independent Cinema (2009)
* Pramaggiore, M. & Wallis, T. (2012) “Film Authorship” and “Cinema as Industry: Economics and Technology” in Film: A Critical Introduction, Third Edition, Laurence King Publishing, London, UK, pp. 441
The festival granted the general public greater access to independent films, and the 'independent' genre spread very quickly through word-of-mouth. Towards the end of the decade, 'independent film' became household phrase, familiar even to those with conventional taste*.
In 1998, journalist Bernard Weinraub wrote an article for The New York Times, stating, "...what's obvious about Sundance, but not stated very often, is that its output of movies has a strange resemblance to that of most Hollywood studios...[however] the sensibility of each is different". He proceeds to discuss how in spite of independent filmmakers turning to Sundance ("a potential gold mine"), many films are "simply not good and and [can still] collapse at the box office".
In saying that, independent and blockbuster films are not so different after all. While financial assistance may contribute to the production of a film, it does not define the quality of its content.
ON FILM QUALITY
“Some critics argue that the popularity of the [Sundance] movement has made independent cinema just another part of the mainstream, threatening the idiosyncratic approach to filmmaking that attracted audiences in the first place.”*
The Sundance Film Festival has since grown to accomodate more Hollywood-esque films, which are only supported by the presence of prolific actors. However, many adamant auteurs are stamping their authority on each of their films; managing successfully to direct actors in new ways, and tell stories that have not been heard.
Written by Ezra May Aringay
Robert Redford,
Sundance Founder / Actor