Top 10 Film Rebels Fighting For Independents
Making movies costs lots and lots of money. Indie filmmaking is indeed a high-risk venture, as with anything that requires little money up front and the potential for a huge payoff. And these heroes have all proven that it can be done without the backing of a larger studio. Start the revolution!
'Indie' is one of the haziest terms in the film industry; in the era of Steven Soderbergh’s watershed indie hit SEX, LIES, AND VIDEOTAPE, things were more cut and dry, you were either in or outside of the studio system. Now, the boundaries have blurred, with studios trying (in their ever-pushy way) to get in on the independent action, which naturally is where a lot of the most cutting edge work is happening. Indie filmmaking is indeed a high-risk venture, as with anything that requires little money up front and the potential for a huge payoff.
Walking in the well-worn path of Robert Redford, this fresh crop of indie heroes have all proven that making movies can be done without the backing of a larger studio. Start the revolution!
10. SARAH POLLEY
Independent Breakthrough: THE SWEET HEREAFTER, Atom Egoyan’s groundbreaking 1997 tragedy, may not be considered classically ‘independent’, but as an entirely Canadian-produced film, this was far outside the realm of southerly Hollywood.
Biggest Success: AWAY FROM HER, Polley’s directorial and feature writing debut, was nominated for two Oscars, for her screenplay and for lead actress Julie Christie, as a woman suffering from Alzheimer’s.
Historical Battle: Polley’s main battle, it would seem, is against Hollywood itself—after charming the Canadian masses on TV in AVONLEA, she left acting altogether to partake in the political struggles of the far left wing in her home country, at one point even losing some teeth in a bloody clash with the police. Although she’s returned to acting and film, she is outspoken about not being seduced by Hollywood and only making films that are ‘socially relevant’ (and in some circles, DAWN OF THE DEAD is considered extremely socially relevant).
Missed Opportunity: In her quest for artistic purity and anti-establishment greatness, Polley passed up the role in ALMOST FAMOUS…that went to Kate Hudson.
Author: Dan Heching9. MIKE MILLS
Independent Breakthrough: THUMBSUCKER featured a phenomenal cast (including Tilda Swinton, Vincent D’Onofrio and Keanu Reeves as a smooth-talking new agey orthodontist) and managed to take a small and quirky concept and make it relatable, funny and tender.
Biggest Success: Last year’s even more well-received BEGINNERS scored an Oscar for Christopher Plummer, as an aging father who at last comes out of the closet. The semi-autobiographical story (Mills’ father took a similar path) has set a new bar for the director. Plus, the film cost just over $3 million to make but has to date grossed more than $14 million (the fabled indie success formula at work).
Biggest Struggle: Not terribly prolific as a filmmaker, Mills has made the two features, a healthy number of shorts, a documentary (DOES YOUR SOUL HAVE A COLD? about the anti-depressant craze in Japan) and lots and lots of music videos and commercials (for folks like Moby, Yoko Ono, Gap and Nike).
What’s Next? We’re not sure, but here’s hoping it won’t take another 7 years. Perhaps he’ll collaborate with wife (and fellow indie darling) Miranda July?
Author: Dan Heching8. ED BURNS
Independent Breakthrough: THE BROTHERS McMULLEN, a small film that took Burns years to make (and cost him every last penny of his savings), was first denied by every major Hollywood distributor but then went on to win the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.
Biggest Success: This is a mixed bag. Critically, his recent NEWLYWEDS (viewable principally via iTunes and OnDemand) was a fresh, witty and intimate take on intersecting relationships in downtown Manhattan; as well-trodden as the subject matter sounds, he did wonders with it. As an actor, his involvement with SAVING PRIVATE RYAN is still up there (and hey, the studios can make good films sometimes too).
Historical Battle: This is another writer-director who finds himself often at odds with the Hollywood system, citing that the most difficult times in his career were when he was pandering to please a studio or write what he thought ‘they’ would want (whoever ‘they’ is).
Biggest Failure: Failure is something Burns is more than ready to talk about, having even hosted a panel on the subject at the recent Vimeo awards.
Author: Dan Heching7. SPIKE LEE
Spike Lee took the profound indie success of his films SHE’S GOTTA HAVE IT and SCHOOL DAZE and ran with it in the late 80s and early 90s, creating his independent production company 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, which is still a major player today. He’s also remained relevant as the creator of several stirring documentaries, including 4 LITTLE GIRLS, PASSING STRANGE, WHEN THE LEVEES BROKE, and an upcoming doc on Michael Jackson.
Independent Breakthrough: SHE’S GOTTA HAVE IT: Costing a mere $175,000 to make, Lee’s film exploded on the scene as the new standard in urban filmmaking, with a return on investment of some $7 million.
Biggest Success: With its fearless take on racial stereotypes, Lee’s follow-up to his first two films was DO THE RIGHT THING, which garnered him an Oscar nom for writing. Other notable successes include MALCOLM X and GET ON THE BUS.
Historical Battle: The critical and popular reception of BAMBOOZLED, his take on historical racism in American television, was embattled at best; many considered it heavy-handed and over the top.
Author: Dan Heching
Photo Credit: Sundance Institute6. TODD SOLONDZ
Solondz may be able to lay claim to the title of weirdest indie filmmaker of all time. A true artiste of the cringe-filled awkward moment, Solondz continues to make films about some of the most offbeat (and at times pathetic) characters around, most recently last week’s DARK HORSE.
Independent Breakthrough: WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE is still a cult fave, with the quirky queen Heather Matarazzo reigning as the first Solondz freak-hero.
Biggest Success: Although not a solid box-office hit, HAPPINESS may very well prove to be Solondz’s most memorable work, a true horror film wrapped up in a suburban black comedy.
Notable Failure: His sophomoric STORYTELLING, starring resident muse Selma Blair, failed to win over many critics, or an audience for that matter.
Author: Dan Heching5. TERRENCE MALICK
Independent Breakthrough: BADLANDS held up the grand tradition of BONNIE AND CLYDE and served as a vital precursor for films like TRUE ROMANCE and NATURAL BORN KILLERS, but is really in a class by itself for its eerily mellow ambiance; all of Malick’s films are very much odes to the natural surroundings in which the stories unfold.
Biggest Success: In his grand return to cinema, Malick’s heavily lauded THE THIN RED LINE scored 7 Oscar nominations and remains on most critics’ lists as one of the best war movies ever made.
Historical Battle: After his first two films (BADLANDS followed by the equally-if-not-more brilliant DAYS OF HEAVEN) Malick broke away from moviemaking for over 20 years, not to return to the director’s chair until 1998’s THE THIN RED LINE. One wonders what he was up to for all that time…
Biggest Failure: Following RED LINE, the director took another extended hiatus (this time only 7 years though) and came back with THE NEW WORLD, which received mixed reviews and performed poorly at the box office.
Author: Dan Heching4. WERNER HERZOG
Having founded his own production company in 1963 (Werner Herzog Filmproduktion, still going strong), Herzog is best known for his incredibly thorough and thought-provoking documentaries; however, he has also done well with the studio projects he has chosen to take on, like RESCUE DAWN and the Nicolas Cage vehicle BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS.
Independent Breakthrough: Herzog scored big with his early film collaborations with the temperamental, outlandish German actor Klaus Kinski, like FITZCARRALDO and WOYZECK.
Biggest Success: There have been so many, but my personal pick is 2005’s GRIZZLY MAN, which still sparks incredibly lengthy conversations about the relationship between man and animal.
Historical Battle: Herzog once stated, publicly, that if a certain young film student (that being Errol Morris) actually went and made the film he was planning (that being GATES OF HEAVEN), he would eat his own shoe. And that he does, in the short film WERNER HERZOG EATS HIS SHOE.
Author: Dan Heching3. MICHAEL MOORE
Even though his first feature documentary ROGER & ME was backed by Warner Bros, Moore deserves recognition as a fiercely independent, anti-establishment documentarian with the chutzpah to ask the right (or very wrong) questions to get to the bottom of his chosen subject.
Independent Breakthrough: With ROGER & ME, about the downsizing of the GM factory in his birthplace of Flint, Michigan, Moore became a brazen voice of the everyman.
Biggest Success: BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE fearlessly tackled the hot-button topic of gun control and gained unprecedented access to some of the biggest names of the day, including (the surprisingly insightful) Marilyn Manson and the late head-dog of the NRA, Charlton Heston. The documentary also made back worldwide more than 7 times its budget.
Historical Battle: The famously embattled personality is always at odds with detractors in the media, with most accusing him of being purely sensationalistic. This came to a head when rival documentaries took Moore himself on as their primary subject: the films are MICHAEL MOORE HATES AMERICA and MANUFACTURING DISSENT: UNCOVERING MICHAEL MOORE.
Author: Dan Heching2. BENH ZEITLIN
Benh Zeitlin is the director on everyone’s lips these days. His Sundance Award-winning BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD literally feels cobbled together (in the greatest of ways) from various sources, all very far afield of Hollywood; the result is beautifully, wildly handmade.
Independent Breakthrough: BEASTS has been making waves everywhere from Sundance to Cannes, notably for director Zeitlin and the film’s extraordinary, organic cinematography. If you haven’t yet, you should go see it while it’s still in theaters!
Biggest Success: The box office numbers for BEASTS so far is at $220,000, but that’s in very limited release (4 theaters) and before the film takes real traction with word-of-mouth and a wider release. To compare, the film has done almost twice as well as Woody Allen’s new TO ROME WITH LOVE, on a per-theater basis.
Historical Battle: According to Zeitlin, one of his teachers told him never to shoot with animals, kids, or on water. And in BEASTS, he bravely did exactly the opposite to remarkable effect, also adding non-actors to the lot for the two lead roles (which means even more work for the director). Take that, college!
Author: Dan Heching
Photo Credit: Sundance Institute1. LENA DUNHAM
Yes, we’ve all talked about GIRLS to death. But the notion of a 25-year-old girl landing a development deal with HBO after one (very well-received) film is nuts, and deserves recognition on this list.
Independent Breakthrough: Costing a paltry $50,000 to make, the irreverent and intelligent TINY FURNITURE earned almost $400,000 at the box office and won an Independent Spirit Award for best first screenplay.
Biggest Success: HBO’s GIRLS has inspired some of the most polarized critical discussions in recent memory, with spirited acclaim and noted denunciation from all sides. But the sheer fact of the writing remains; Dunham is exceptionally gifted at dialogue, and her characters sing off the screen in their gen-Y, super self-aware and not always sympathetic zaniness.
Historical Battle: Dunham has been fighting against the idea that her show is racist for not including people of color, and would probably do good to include some more diverse characters on the next season…
