IFP, the Independent Feature Project, has defined for the last 30 years its mission as helping independent film makers to break into the industry. It has evolved as the most important US organization serving indie film makers and staged its annual conference each fall with financial support from the media industry. This year the one week conference, the Independent Film Week , formerly known as the IFP market, analyzed over six days in day- long seminars in than 30 panels film making, film markets, film distribution, documentary productions and funding. The 2008 Independent Film Week lasted from September 14-19 and included presentations by IFP graduates, free public screenings of their work, the showcasing of about 150 works in progress and of new films from the UK and Canada, complemented by forum sessions on documentaries, emerging narratives and the International Coproduction Market . As sponsored by HBOFilm the market included close to forty productions.

For the project forum, covering productions in development, 156 projects were selected for three sections including ‘Emerging Narrative for writers and writer/directors seeking producers”, “No Borders International Coproduction Market for producers with partial financing seeking additional partners”, and “Spotlight on Documentaries for filmmakers in production or post seeking financing partners, broadcast distribution, and festival invitations”. Based on project dossiers made available to the industry in the summer of 2008 more than 2000 individual pitch meetings with film makers were arranged during the Independent Film Week as requested by buyers and producers. This is probably the single most important component of the Week since it stands for pro-active career networking lasting beyond the six day meeting for film makers who have in most cases no connection to the industry.

The task which IFP has set itself under the guidance of Michelle Byrd, its executive director with the support of the film production and distribution industry is certainly extraordinary or formidable. As IFP notes, the organization represents 10, 000 filmmakers in the New York area and overseas, has set up special programs to school indie film makers and tries to build audiences through screenings and awards.

We observe in the US and probably other post industrial societies an explosion of independent film making driven by the visual media culture, an everlasting expansion of college and private programs training film makers, access to low cost production and distribution technologies, and the seeming ability to create audiences for each production. For students becoming a college credentialed film maker certainly carries more prestige than becoming an accountant. Most colleges training these prospective film makers do not engage in realistic film market analyses, nor keep data as to how many of their graduates actually make a living as film makers. Unfortunately, IFP has not articulated clearly enough through its panels that most of those attending its annual film week will not survive by producing independent films.

It has been estimated conservatively that there are more than 100 000 independent film makers in the United States and that at least 4000 leave each year colleges with a degree in film making. Emanuel Levy pointed out that in 1985 50 independent films were produced and that this number rose to one thousand by 1990. By now with the advent of low cost digital production that figure is probably far in excess of 5000 for the US alone, the number of production entering the last Sundance Film Festival pipe line. But very few of these independent films recoup their production costs. Mark Gill, former Miramax executive, suggested that only five films which made it through Sundance into distribution eventually will make a profit, amounting to the sobering recognition that 99.9% of the films submitted to Sundance are financial failures apart from being most likely also artistic failures. There seems to be a consensus among major film festival directors that much of recent independent film making is simply dreadful.

Yet indie film makers are not necessarily deterred by these observations. For once they believe that they can place their film into a film festival, which is probably possible given the mushrooming of film festivals in the United States in any genre on any topic amounting now to about 1000, specifically if they are willing to pay whatever the submission fee is. Or they plan to create their own audience by placing their productions on outlets such as youtube or alternative distribution channels such as Netflix. Success on these channels presupposes however prior audience recognition of their production, an obvious fact to which many film makers are oblivious. In that sense IFP could play an important role, to wit to make young film makers more realistic and pragmatic about their fate.


Claus Mueller
New York Correspondent
filmexchange@gmail.com