Indie films over $5M
- Thread starter abab
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quite a bit, actually, however there is a such thing as subdivision companies of large studios... for example, the film "Little Miss Sunshine" was made by Fox Searchlight Pictures, which is but a small portion of 20th century Fox that specializes in "independent" movies. This is not an independent film, but a major studio film disguised as independent... Though, these types of films generally feature a lower budget than most movies, to give them an "indie feel" Little miss sunshine was made with a budget of $8 million, a DREAM for most real indie filmmakers.
So, calling that movie independent is an outright lie, which happens a lot, allowing these major studios to dominate the film festival scene, which was developed mainly to keep them away. Look at Fox Searchlight's filmography and you might see a lot of movies you formerly believed to be independent.
Though technically, in a way, they can be called independent, most people would agree that they aren't independent... just low budget.
So if we remove all the movies that are produced this way, then the answer to your question would be significantly lower.
So, calling that movie independent is an outright lie, which happens a lot, allowing these major studios to dominate the film festival scene, which was developed mainly to keep them away. Look at Fox Searchlight's filmography and you might see a lot of movies you formerly believed to be independent.
Though technically, in a way, they can be called independent, most people would agree that they aren't independent... just low budget.
So if we remove all the movies that are produced this way, then the answer to your question would be significantly lower.
- Column V, 2010 Independent Film Distribution & Revenue Analysis: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AsBznn8D13zOdHh6cHJBMW5aQkZSMzZYR2V3VUxQVUE#gid=0
- Column Q, 2011 Sundance Feature Film Distribution & Revenue Analysis: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AsBznn8D13zOdGlCeDRmWTFCYXJRWjJ3SUphZDNzMGc#gid=0
Roughly, about half - of those that receive any theatrical distribution.
Of those that receive no theatrical distribution, probably relatively few.
Of the four to eight thousand "independent" feature length films produced each year most are probably sh!t terrible films made to the best of their writer/director/producer's abilities with budgets far under $5m.
But God knows there's plenty of sh!t films made with budgets far in excess of $5m.
Budget goes a long way towards quality, but it ain't no "be all, end all."
However, a $200k feature length film still looks like $200k, maybe $500k, but not $2m.
And a $20k film... well... I hope everyone involved had fun.
- Column Q, 2011 Sundance Feature Film Distribution & Revenue Analysis: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AsBznn8D13zOdGlCeDRmWTFCYXJRWjJ3SUphZDNzMGc#gid=0
Roughly, about half - of those that receive any theatrical distribution.
Of those that receive no theatrical distribution, probably relatively few.
Of the four to eight thousand "independent" feature length films produced each year most are probably sh!t terrible films made to the best of their writer/director/producer's abilities with budgets far under $5m.
But God knows there's plenty of sh!t films made with budgets far in excess of $5m.
Budget goes a long way towards quality, but it ain't no "be all, end all."
However, a $200k feature length film still looks like $200k, maybe $500k, but not $2m.
And a $20k film... well... I hope everyone involved had fun.
Not a lie at all, I think you're confusing production with distribution there. Fox Searchlight Pictures didn't make Little Miss Sunshine, they picked it up for distribution after it was finished and after it premiered at festivals. In general most indie films that get widespread distribution will be in a similar situation, getting picked up by a subsidiary of one of the larger studios which specializes in acquiring independent films.
That does skew things a bit when you're talking about budgets though. Taking LMS as an example, it's production budget was $8 million. How much did Fox Searchlight spend on promotion though? My guess would be 2-3x that much. Most people don't take promotion into account when thinking about budgets - but that's also why most indie films made with budgets in the several million range are done so with the hopes that they will get picked up for distribution by one of the big studios.
I'll list a few
Juno:$7 million
Moonrise Kingdom: $16 million
Thank you for smoking: $16 million
Memento: $9 million
Bottlerocket: $7 million
Little Miss Sunshine: $8 million
These films have the Indie spirit. They were all made outside the Hollywood studio system. The indie directors and producers that I work with usually have budgets around $50k to $200k. Some even lower. The real Indie directors and producers would love to have $7 million (which is small by Hollywood standards).
Juno:$7 million
Moonrise Kingdom: $16 million
Thank you for smoking: $16 million
Memento: $9 million
Bottlerocket: $7 million
Little Miss Sunshine: $8 million
These films have the Indie spirit. They were all made outside the Hollywood studio system. The indie directors and producers that I work with usually have budgets around $50k to $200k. Some even lower. The real Indie directors and producers would love to have $7 million (which is small by Hollywood standards).
okay, i researched it and realized that you are correct. one person paid for the budget, then it was picked up by fox searchlight, so i guess i was wrong, it is an indie film. That was just my example, would anyone have a better example to replace Little Miss Sunshine with?
There are many indie films made for over $5mil. Recent example would be The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Indie doesn't necessarily mean 'low-budget indie'. It just means independent of a major studio. The thing with indies though is that there is the whole gamut of budgets, from $10mil films that could well be studio films, to $1000 backyard films.
In fact, in our local Australian industry, <$5mil is considered low-budget, and all of our films might be considered independent as we have no major studio in Australia and most Hollywood studios have no business in funding Australian films.
In the US, as far as I can tell, even <$20mil is seen as relatively low budget. When you are in the business of making micro-budget features, then it can be easy to think of yourself as a low-budget production, when in actual fact you are more of a micro budget production. I know of films that have been shot for $500,000 that have been classified as 'micro-budget'
Indie doesn't necessarily mean 'low-budget indie'. It just means independent of a major studio. The thing with indies though is that there is the whole gamut of budgets, from $10mil films that could well be studio films, to $1000 backyard films.
In fact, in our local Australian industry, <$5mil is considered low-budget, and all of our films might be considered independent as we have no major studio in Australia and most Hollywood studios have no business in funding Australian films.
In the US, as far as I can tell, even <$20mil is seen as relatively low budget. When you are in the business of making micro-budget features, then it can be easy to think of yourself as a low-budget production, when in actual fact you are more of a micro budget production. I know of films that have been shot for $500,000 that have been classified as 'micro-budget'
Example of what? There are a lot of distributors out there that you may confuse with studios simply because their similar names or because their idents appear at the start of the film. That doesn't necessarily mean they did any more than just distribute the film though.mussonman said:
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'Magic Mike' is a another good example that's currently in theaters. Budget is in the $7 million range, financed primarily by Soderbergh and Tatum. I think Warner Bros is distributing it... box office is currently at around $80 million so it's doing pretty well for an indie!
But yeah, when most of us around here talk about indie film we're talking about under $1 million budgets - generally well under - which would really be considered 'micro-budget' in comparison to wide release indies like 'Magic Mike'.
But yeah, when most of us around here talk about indie film we're talking about under $1 million budgets - generally well under - which would really be considered 'micro-budget' in comparison to wide release indies like 'Magic Mike'.