Independent Hollywood

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Nick Lacey explores what we mean

Images courtesy of image.net

when we talk about an independent
movie, and suggests that it’s not as
clear cut as we might expect ...
How do we know if we are watching an
independently produced film? Maybe it
has an ‘offbeat’ narrative featuring quirky
characters (such as Me and You and
Everyone We Know, US-UK 2005) or maybe
it is a movie that pushes the boundaries
of ‘good taste’ and seeks to disturb the
audience (Happiness, US 1998). One thing
that unites such films is that they are not
mainstream.
The mainstream is exemplified by
Hollywood, which aims for big audiences in
order to maximise profitability. That doesn’t
mean all its productions target a mass
audience, though many do, for example
the big budget ‘family film’ franchises
such as Pirates of the Caribbean (2003-).
Hollywood is also happy to ‘mop up’ niche
audiences via relatively cheaply made
movies, such as the American Pie series

(1999-2012) aimed at young people.* They
also produce ‘prestige’ product for the
‘middlebrow’ audience that are designed
to win awards (which are themselves a
marketing tool), for example Fox’s Life of Pi
(2012). These ‘award’ films, however, are not
actually made by the major studios but are
produced by quasi-indie subsidiaries, such
as Viacom’s Paramount Vantage and Sony
Pictures Classics. These divisions of the
majors often make films that are as quirky
as genuinely independent films, but cannot

low budget does not necessarily
mean low production values, the
mass audience, brought up on
the saccharine of Hollywood, and
who often prefer movies to be like
a fairground ride, tend to resist
difference and so, no matter what
their quality, indie films often struggle
to find an audience.
be considered to be wholly independent
due to their ownership.
Truly independent films are made by
non-Hollywood production companies,
with a small budget so they can’t afford any
star ‘marquee’ names to help market the
film. They are also often ‘labours of love’;
for example it took five years for Winter’s
Bone (US 2010) to be made (see http://
www.filmindependent.org/resources/
case-studies/winters-bone-case-study/ for
a fascinating description of producing an
‘indie’ film). Although low budget does

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not necessarily mean low production
values, the mass audience, brought up
on the saccharine of Hollywood, and who
want films as pure entertainment, tend
to resist difference. No matter what their
quality, indie films often struggle to find
an audience. Occasionally, ‘indie’ films will
‘cross over’ into the mainstream such as
My Big Fat Greek Wedding (US-Canada,
2002) which took over $367m worldwide
having cost $5m to make. Such immensely
profitable examples obscure the fact that
most independently produced films never
even receive a cinema release.

It’s highly likely that 2012’s third topgrossing movie in North America will
be The Hunger Games, the first in a
franchise. Although it has no A list stars,
the appearance of recognisable actors
(Stanley Tucci and Donald Sutherland),
and its action-packed special effectsdriven spectacle, made the film look
typically Hollywood. However, it was
made by an independent producer,
Lionsgate Entertainment. Lionsgate
is also responsible for the extremely
successful Twilight series (2008-12),
though that originated with the indie
Summit Entertainment, which Lionsgate
Not All About the Money
bought. IMDB estimates that The Hunger
Games cost $78m to make and the typical
Can we conclude, then, that genuinely
‘indie films’ are those that are made outside marketing budget of a mainstream movie
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of the mainstream and are low budget,
spending $117m, or so, on a film means
have no stars, target niche audiences and
are made for artistic rather than commercial that Lionsgate is acting like a Hollywood
studio, and not like a typical indie.
purposes? Not quite. A number of film
However, big budget productions by
stars, such as Brad Pitt in Killing Them
independent producers aren’t new. Carolco
Softly (US 2012), are happy to appear in
independently-produced films because they Pictures produced what was, at the time,
billed as the most expensive movie ever
have interesting roles and are prepared to
made ($78m): Terminator 2: Judgment Day
forego their ‘going rate’.
(US 1991). They were also responsible for
Okay, so indies are low budget and
the successful Rambo franchise (US 1982quirky…? Er no. While this is true of many
88) but went bankrupt when the expensive
independent films, it is certainly not the
productions Cutthroat Island and
case for all.

Just make sure that you watch the
opening credits of the next film
you see to check out whether
you’re watching a Hollywood or an
independent film, as that is the only
way you can really know if you’re
watching a major studio film or not.

Showgirls (both 1995) flopped. Carolco had
benefited from the deregulation of financial
markets that brought foreign money into
the American film industry. They didn’t,
however, have the capital base to survive
expensive box office failures. If, for example,
20th Century Fox has a bad run at the
box office it’s unlikely to go bankrupt as
it has the fortunes of its parent company,
News Corporation, to fall back on. It’s
possible that Lionsgate might go the way of
Carolco but there are reasons for thinking
otherwise. Although Lionsgate is a large
company, owning a number of subsidiaries,
its success is arguably a symptom of the
major studios losing their way in the 21st
century.

Hollywood in Transition
Hollywood is in transition and it seems
that the ‘rules of the game’, which have been
in place since the rise of the High Concept
movie in the mid-1970s, are changing. In a
nutshell the High Concept is:
a movie that any producer could pitch in
thirty seconds and any audience could
understand without even thinking.
Fleming 1998: 14
The simplicity (definitely not an ‘indie’
characteristic) of High Concept films
makes them relatively easy to market. This
became crucial when Hollywood decided
that ‘blanket’ releases of films, rather then
the ‘rolling out’ across the nation, was the
way to profitability. Stars who had been
important since Florence Lawrence in 1910
continued to be integral to the promotion
of Hollywood films in the latter years of the
20th century. However their importance in
the 21st century appears to be diminishing.
Hollywood seems happy to jettison

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stars as they are very expensive, up to
$25m per picture plus a percentage of
the gross box office. In each of the last
three years the only star-driven films in
the North American top ten were Men in
Black 3 (2012), Pirates of the Caribbean:
On Stranger Tides (2011), Iron Man 2 and
Inception (both 2010); and of these, only
the last isn’t part of a franchise. It is even
arguable that the director of Inception,
Christopher Nolan, was as big a selling point
as Leonardo di Caprio.

Independent Franchise
Another change has been the increase in
the importance of franchises. Hollywood
has always like serials, as they are much
easier to market than ‘one off’ films.
However it is clear that they are now more
important than ever before. The recent The
Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (US-New
Zealand 2012), based on a standard length
novel, has been stretched into a trilogy
as Warner Bros desperately tries to find a
replacement for the Harry Potter films (The
Hobbit’s producer, New Line, is owned by
Warners). The three Hunger Games novels
are to be made into four films.
The relative decline of the US economy
is also a current trend that’s affecting
Hollywood as the rise of the BRIC
economies (Brazil, Russia, India and China)

inevitably impacts on film finance. Indian
film companies have invested in Hollywood
movies for a number of years; for example
The Happening (2008) was co-produced
by UTV Motion Pictures. The Chinese
company DMG Entertainment funded
Looper (US-China 2012); one result of
which was that the script shifted the film’s
futuristic setting from Paris to Shanghai. Xu
Qing, who is well known in China, played
Bruce Willis’ wife thus enhancing the film’s
appeal in the East. The version of the film
that played in China featured more scenes
in Shanghai than the one released in the
West.
For most independent producers the
changes in Hollywood mean little as they
continue to struggle on the margins. But
as the old certainties disappear Hollywood
seems unable to adapt; this summer’s
box office was the lowest for 20 years
(Germain, 2012), leaving gaps in the market
for innovative, and foreign, independent
producers. However, for audiences of
quirky independent cinema the success of
Lionsgate will mean very little if their focus
is to be on Hollywood clones, such as The
Hunger Games.
By now you’re probably more confused
about what an independent film is than
you were at the beginning of the article.
The only reliable way of knowing whether

you’re watching a Hollywood studio or
independent film is by watching the
opening credits.
Nick Lacey is Head of Media Studies at Benton Park School
Technology College, Leeds.

Further Reading
Fleming, C. High Concept: Don Simpson
and the Hollywood Culture of Excess.
1988. Bloomsbury.
Germain, D. ‘Summer Box Office 2012:
Hollywood Studios Underwhelmed As
Attendance Drops’. Huffington Post. 2012.
Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.
com/2012/09/02/summer-box-office2012_n_1850332.html, accessed
November 2012
*Though American Pie appears to be a Universal
film, it was in fact produced by the ‘indie’ Zide/Perry
productions and is an example of how Hollywood
‘picks up’ independent films for distribution. Films
like American Pie might better to be considered as
institutional ‘hybrids’ as, although the producers are
they benefit from the financial muscle of a studio
enabling strong p + a (‘prints and advertising’).

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Jonathan Nunns evaluates the

A man walks down the street, he says why
am I soft in the middle now, why am I soft
in the middle, the rest of my life is so hard.
I need a photo opportunity, I need a shot at
redemption. Don’t want end up a cartoon in a
cartoon graveyard.
So start the lyrics of Paul Simon’s
seminal 80’s track ‘You Can Call Me Al’
(Simon 1986). The themes of aging,
sadness, disappointment and a thickening
waistline were hardly fashionable then or
now. However, they provide as good an
encapsulation as any of the recent films
of the American writer/director Alexander
Payne.
Part of the joy of independent film is in
its willingness to deal with themes outside
of the orbit of mainstream cinema. Big
budget tent pole films can be excellent, of
course, and often have been when directed
by the likes of Stephen Spielberg, Ridley
Scott, or Peter Jackson. These filmmakers,
comfortable with budget and spectacle,
have produced some of the most immersive
and memorable images ever put to film.
However, for every Saving Private Ryan
(Spielberg USA 1998) Gladiator (Scott USA
2000) or Lord of the Rings (Jackson USA/
New Zealand 2001), there have been many
far weaker films as illustrated by the decline
18 MediaMagazine | February 2013 | english and media centre

Images courtesy of image.net

career of independent auteur
Alexander Payne.

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of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
After a strong original, (Verbinski USA 2003)
the most recent sequel, Pirates of The
Caribbean 4 – On Stranger Tides (Marshall
USA 2010), demonstrates the problems of
films that are financially flush but creatively
bankrupt. The film was successful but
critically panned. Studio-driven franchises
can become empty CGI extravaganzas,
devoid of plot or character and it is here, in
story, depth of character and performance,
that independent cinema often shines.
Payne’s career has included five films
and numerous awards. His most recent,
The Descendents (Payne USA 2011), was
Oscar tipped but lost out to The Artist
(Hazanavicius France 2011) a black and
white silent film which went on to sweep
the board. Payne’s four most recent films
are his most characteristic, starting with
Election (Payne USA 1999), About Schmidt
(Payne USA 2002), Sideways (Payne USA
2004) and ending with his most recent, The
Descendents.

Ambition is Integrity
Payne’s world-view gets an effective
airing in Election. This smartly written
film tells the story of Omaha High School
teacher Jim McAllister, played by Matthew
Broderick. Successful in his school, Jim’s
small town life comes unstuck when he
meets Tracy Flick, a student of ferociously
burning, unstoppable ambition. Jim
takes against her and her single-minded
self-promotion as Tracy, played by Reese
Witherspoon in a break-through role, sets
her mind on becoming president of the
student council. When Jim tries to stop her,
we know it won’t end well.
Jim is in many ways a typical Payne
hero. Essentially decent, his middle-

class life aches with unfulfilled promise.
His voiceover explains his love of his
teaching life, but a later voiceover by Tracy
witheringly demolishes the life in which
he has set such store. Unfulfilled in his
marriage, Jim’s roving eye propels him into
disastrous adultery that sees his home life
implode while Tracy destroys him at work.
With her hair drawn tightly back, frumpy
clothes, fixed smile and scary eyes, Tracy
is fanatical and unstoppable and Jim
is crushed beneath the wheels of her
ambition. In the film’s coda, Jim, divorced
and bounced from his job, is rebuilding his
life when he spots Tracy in Washington DC,
now the aide to a right wing Republican
Congressman. Tracy’s ambition has found a
chillingly natural home in the ruthless world
of professional politics. Next stop the White
House!

Grumpy Old Men
In About Schmidt (Payne USA 2002)
Payne looks at a different aspect of middleclass male frustration. Omaha actuary
Warren Schmidt, played by Jack Nicholson,
is a very unhappy man. Newly retired, he

realises his working life has been empty and
pointless. Days after his retirement party, he
sees the packing cases containing his life’s
work tossed into the street by the doofus
that replaced him. In a signature Payne
voiceover, Schmidt unloads his irritations.
His forty-two-year marriage has left him
feeling emasculated by a controlling wife
who makes him pee sitting down lest he
wet the seat. However, in a twist of genuine
pathos, she then dies, and only then does
he appreciate what he has lost. Bereft and
adrift, Schmidt discovers her infidelity with
his best friend and as his life spirals out of
control, goes on a road trip to the wedding
of his only daughter in the next state.
Schmidt makes his trip in what appears
to be the world’s biggest camper van.
Bought at the insistence of his now dead
wife, Schmidt looks pathetically tiny and
alone driving a Winnebago the size of a
petrol tanker. A similar theme is played in
reverse in Election with Jim’s powerlessness
and impotence reflected in the tiny car he
drives. Schmidt’s trip ends at the family
home of his would-be son-in-law. His
daughter’s intended is an Olympic-class
dolt with mutton chop whiskers. Meeting
his family only makes things worse. They
are almost the definition of dysfunctional
behaviour. A wonderful scene ensues
with Schmidt, a hot tub and the family
matriarch played by Cathy Bates. Sitting in
the bubbles, Schmidt finds himself joined
by a middle-aged, plump and stark naked
Bates. His eyes swivelling in fear, Nicholson’s
performance plays directly against his
public reputation as one of the most
libidinous men in Hollywood. Another key
scene follows where Nicholson again plays

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against the expectations of his persona.
Giving the father of the bride’s speech at
the wedding, Schmidt knows his every
attempt to stop the catastrophic match has
failed. Watching, you wait for the fireworks.
Schmidt can hardly contain himself and
you expect a devastating Nicholson rant of
the type that made him so memorable in
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (Foreman
USA 1975). This is, after all, the actor who
cried out ‘Here’s Johnny!!!’ so terrifyingly
in The Shining (Kubrick USA 1980) as he
tried to murder his family with an axe. But
it doesn’t come and Schmidt salutes the
train wreck unfolding in front of his eyes, his
helplessness and defeat complete.

connect with Mia, the woman with whom
he has been set up. It leads to a magical
sequence. Paunchy and depressed, Miles
is a failed novelist; he is like Election’s
Jim, a high school teacher. Played by Paul
Giamatti, his face is constantly hangdog and
etched with defeat. Divorced, very much
against his wishes, Jack loves his wine and
is an enthusiast with massive knowledge.
Closeted up with Mia, Miles’ awkwardness
dissolves as he describes the wonder of
wine and the beauty of the grape. His
passion and enthusiasm lifts his dialogue
into poetry, momentarily transforming
him into the confident and articulate man
he could have been. The effect on Mia is
electric; clearly she is totally seduced as she
Mid-life Crisis
places her hand on his. Miles, of course, true
to character, totally blows the moment and
In Sideways Payne, repeating the road
goes home alone.
trip theme, introduces Miles and Jack, two
The film, like Payne’s earlier examples,
middle-aged men on a wine tasting tour of
etches the moment in many lives when
Northern California. Jack is about to marry.
realisation dawns that dreams of success
Miles wants to give him a good send off.
and status will not be fulfilled. Miles will
Sadly the two men have different agendas.
probably be a teacher his whole life, rather
Jack is a fading TV actor trading on looks
and past glory to sow some wild oats before than the acclaimed novelist he had hoped
to be. Jack will never be the A-list lead and
settling into marriage. Self-obsessed, like
is doomed to a dwindling career of bit parts
many Payne characters, Jack is Miles’ best
friend but might as well be his worst enemy. and voiceovers for TV ads. Desperate to
hang on to the last vestiges of his youth,
On a disastrous double date, Miles winds
Jack lies to get his conquest into bed,
up listening to Jack having noisy sex in the
next room. His awkwardness and insecurity promising her the world. He spectacularly
pays the price when his deception is
are highlighted by his initial inability to

20 MediaMagazine | February 2013 | english and media centre

revealed and she busts his nose and beats
him senseless with a crash helmet. The
revelation also sabotages Miles’ chances
with Mia.
Jack proves shallow and weak. Having
lost his and his wife-to-be’s wedding rings
during another sexual adventure, it is left
to his abused friend to get his fat out of
the fire. The film ends with a moment
of redemption for Miles. With his friend
wedded off, it is implied that Miles, his
novels unpublished, might yet rekindle
things with Mia and find happiness.

All in the Family
Payne’s most recent film, The
Descendents, tells the story of Matt King,
a Hawaiian lawyer played by George
Clooney. An unassuming success at work,
he is a hapless father to his two daughters
and is at a loss when his wife is thrown
into a coma by a boating accident. This is
Clooney without the sheen of his regular

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His films are almost the definition of
the term bittersweet.

star persona. His hair is a little too long, his
clothes ill fitting and in a genuinely funny
scene, he is shown to be the possessor
of the most flat-footed running style this
side of Donald Duck. He’s in toned-down,
smart but slightly goofy, insecure and inept
mode, dialled back from the full-on doofus
characters he played for the Coen Brothers
in O Brother Where Art Thou (Coen and
Coen USA 2000) and Burn After Reading
(Coen and Coen USA 2008). As with
Nicholson in About Schmidt, the Clooney
seen here is miles from his regular screen
persona, the smooth sophisticated and
attractive ‘Gorgeous George’ of tabloid fame
and the Ocean’s Eleven (Soderberg USA
2001) franchise.
Clooney’s character Matt, is at a loss to
know how to build a relationship with his
daughters, the ill-behaved 11-year-old
Scotty and the spiky and wilful 17-year-old

Alex, played by Shailene Woodley. As he
says himself – ‘I’m the backup parent, the
understudy.’ Without his wife he doesn’t
know how to cope. The plot hinges on a
regular Payne theme. Matt discovers that
his comatose wife had been having an affair
and at one point, in his pain and hurt, he
rails and rants at her in her hospital bed.
Slowly, through dealing with his wife’s
infidelity and eventual death, Matt forges
a bond with his daughters, leaving us in a
key Payne signature, with some optimism
about their future. The moment he and his
daughters say goodbye to his wife and their
mother is genuinely wrenching. However
the film has a simple but lovely coda. With
everything done, Matt and his daughters
settle on the sofa at home in front of the TV,
cover themselves with a duvet and share
a tub of ice cream. Through this moment
of simple sharing, we know they will be all
right.
Payne, a genuine writer/director auteur,
has created a slate of films to represent
the sadness and pain of his characters and
perhaps, his audience too. That he has done
so with humour, pathos and insight and
without a hint of self-pity is testimony to
his skills as a filmmaker. His films are almost
the definition of the term bittersweet.
Stars like Clooney and Nicholson line up to
appear in his low-budget work for relative
peanuts, because it offers them something
blockbusters cannot: recognition as an
artist.
Jonathan Nunns is Head of Media Studies at Collyer’s
College and moderates for the WJEC.

Filmography
Election (Payne USA 1999) DVD
About Schmidt (Payne USA 2002) DVD
Sideways (Payne USA 2004) DVD
The Descendents (Payne USA 2011) DVD
‘You Can Call Me Al’ (Simon USA 1986) CD

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million), at the time, Reitman was a risky
director to trust with big budget films. As
Reitman himself puts it:
I was in the midst of finishing Thank You
for Smoking, but I didn’t have any street
cred(ibility) yet.
The MovieWeb Team, 2007

The definition of modern
independent films is changing. The
Hollywood studios have realised
there is money to be made from
these seemingly quirky films made
for a supposedly niche audience.
Pete Turner analyses an example
of a modern ‘independent’ film that
had crossover appeal and made a
fortune for 20th Century Fox.
Spanning the four seasons of one year,
Juno (US 2007) tells the tale of a fairly
typical high school girl in Minnesota. When
Juno (Ellen Page) discovers she’s pregnant
after having sex with her best friend Bleeker
(Michael Cera), the story takes a turn for
the edgy. Faced with the choice of abortion
or having the baby and placing it with an
adoptive couple, the smart, cynical teen
opts for the latter. The couple Juno chooses
are upscale yuppie types, the man (Jason
Bateman) laid-back and cool, the woman
(Jennifer Garner) uptight and a little scary
in her desire for a child. The film makes
an interesting case study of a modern
independent film and how the Hollywood
majors have muscled in on formerly niche
and edgy fare, packaging and promoting it

26 MediaMagazine | February 2013 | english and media centre

to a much wider audience than it may have
been originally intended for.

Director and Writer
Juno is director Jason Reitman’s second
feature after the critically-acclaimed and
financially-successful Thank You For
Smoking. However, when Juno’s producers
were seeking a director, Reitman’s first film
had not been released. Thus, although
Thank You For Smoking ultimately became
a big earner at the international box office,
despite its weedy budget of only $6.6

Reitman has since gone on to work on
bigger budget films with the likes of George
Clooney in Up in the Air and Charlize
Theron in Young Adult. These are still edgy
films that deal with serious concerns and
do not attract the biggest blockbuster
audiences.
The writer of the film is Diablo Cody;
Juno was her first screenplay. Again,
producing a script from a novice can be
risky but this film was financed not on the
strength of the names of the writer and
director but on the strength of the script
itself.
Before… Juno received a rapturous standing
ovation at this year’s Toronto Film Festival,
before Steven Spielberg called... Diablo Cody
was giving half-hearted lap dances to greasy
men at a Minneapolis strip club
Valby, 2007
Cody has since worked again with
Reitman on Young Adult and has co-written
the Evil Dead remake.
Reitman pursued the job of directing
Cody’s first script because he considers
the response to Juno as equivalent to the

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reception of Tarantino’s first films, ‘that kind
of overwhelming excitement about a fresh
new voice’ (Valby, 2007). Only after the
success of Reitman’s first film, did he get the
job of directing Juno. And even then, there
were still problems with funding.

Finance
The production budget for Juno was $7.5
million, slightly higher than the budget for
Reitman’s previous film and much higher
than for many other independent films.
There are many stories of the different
methods used to finance independent
films, from Kevin Smith funding Clerks
by credit cards to Robert Rodriguez
taking part in medical experiments so
that he could afford to make El Mariachi.
Increasingly there is bigger budget backing
from major studios and their independent
film-producing subsidiaries.
During promotion for the film, actress
Ellen Page alluded to the trouble with
financing an indie film like Juno. She said
that after reading the script a couple of
years previously:
it was one of those things that takes time
[to get off the ground] … it kind of just
dwindled away, didn’t have money
Yamato, 2007
Independent films can often deal with
controversial themes because they are low

Independent films can often deal with
controversial themes because they are
low budget and do not require huge
box office figures to make a profit.
Therefore, they can afford to take
risks with potentially edgy or even
offensive material.

budget and do not require huge box office
figures to make a profit. Therefore, they
can afford to take risks with potentially
edgy or even offensive material. One of
the producers of the film, said of an early
incarnation:
a lot of people were worried that we would
be protested by right-to-lifers or pro-choice
people
and that ‘expectations were modest’
(Spines 2008). Similarly Nancy Utley at Fox
Searchlight said:
We thought it was going to be a smaller
movie because of the subject matter.
Spines, 2008
This demonstrates investors’ caution
over controversial themes such as teen
pregnancy and abortion, often the reason
for the difficulties independent producers
have in raising funds.

Production Companies
Juno was co-financed by Fox Searchlight
Pictures, Mandate Pictures and Mr Mudd,
all contributing to the total production
budget. Fox Searchlight Pictures is a
division of Fox Filmed Entertainment,
a global leader in movie production and
distribution… responsible for some of the
top grossing movies of all time, including
history’s most successful movies, Avatar and
Titanic
http://www.newscorp.com/operations/index.html

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27

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With the backing of a subsidiary
of global conglomerate News
International, is Juno really even an
independent film?

This doesn’t sound very independent!
When the Hollywood majors realised that
there was potentially a great deal of profit
to be made from certain low budget and
therefore low risk films, they began actively
hunting down the important directors to
work with.
Sony Classics, Paramount Classics and Fox
Searchlight were thus created by their
respective, internationally co-owned, parent
companies to deal with requests for funds.
Shaw, 2002
Mandate Pictures and Mr Mudd, on
the other hand, are both more traditional
independent producers, though it is
interesting to note that Hollywood star
John Malkovich is a co-founder of Mr Mudd.
Increasingly the Hollywood elite, such as
Brad Pitt and George Clooney, is founding
their own production companies to
produce passion projects and often edgier
fare.
The involvement of Fox Searchlight
illustrates the modern trend by which
independent films are made by subsidiaries

28 MediaMagazine | February 2013 | english and media centre

of the major Hollywood studios. They take
on more challenging, controversial or
complex material, but still want to make
profitable films that may have crossover
appeal and some mainstream success. Juno,
like so many other modern ‘independent’
films, is not actually independent from the
major studios. Its independence comes
more from its script, characters and story.
The budget is kept low due to modest box
office expectations, and therefore there is a
maximum chance of making a profit.
The films produced by the subsidiaries
of major studios have limited promotion at
first so they will
start off as word-of-mouth favourites among
devoted moviegoers. As a result, they can
wind up as Academy Award nominees with
relatively few people having seen them.
Breznican, 2008

This also occurred with Quentin Tarantino’s
second feature, Pulp Fiction, when stars
such as John Travolta and Bruce Willis
took massive pay cuts to appear in a
low-budget film that they could see from
the past track record of screenwriter and
director had the potential to be a hit.
As Juno went into production, Reitman
was nominated for a Golden Globe and
therefore stars were attracted to a role in
his follow-up film, despite having to lower
their fees.
Independent films are also often shot on
locations rather than in expensive studios
with built sets. Juno was shot in Vancouver
and took only 30 days to film, an extremely
fast production. This keeps costs low and
also increases realism compared to big
budget blockbusters filmed on expensive
sets.

Stars

This is typical of Independent films
rarely have the budget to afford the
biggest Hollywood stars, so draw on actors
famous from television in order to attract
a mainstream audience. This is certainly
the case in Juno. Ellen Page had starred in
Hard Candy, an extremely controversial
independent film about a girl and a
potential paedophile, but had also taken
a supporting role in blockbuster sequel
X-Men: The Last Stand. Juno would be
another starring role for her, and would give
her a much bigger chance to demonstrate
her talent than the X-Men film. Jason
If the films generate positive word of
Bateman and Michael Cera had appeared
mouth and awards-buzz, then more money together in critically-adored but criminallywill be spent on increased promotion. This
canned TV comedy Arrested Development,
means that in recent years the studios have meaning some people might be drawn to
dominated the independent sector by using Juno to see their reunion. Jennifer Garner
their subsidiaries (such as Fox Searchlight)
is perhaps the biggest star, having been in
to make smaller films that can make big
TV’s Alias and a number of films including
money thanks to festivals, competitions and comic book movies Daredevil and Elektra.
awards.
Michael Cera was popular at the time due
to the big success of high-school comedy
Production
Superbad and would therefore also add
Independent films such as Juno typically
to the teen appeal. They may not be the
have short shooting schedules and do
biggest stars in Hollywood but together
not use the latest and most expensive
they ensure that people are likely to
technology such as CGI, IMAX and 3D. They recognise at least a few of the faces in the
are not generally produced to capitalise
cast.
on any trends, and their creators have not
Distribution
been analysing the market to see what is
making the most money at a given time.
Distribution for an independent film like
Increasingly they feature stars, but these
Juno is very different to most Hollywood
stars often take pay cuts to appear in what
blockbusters. The film starts out at festivals
they think will be critically adored and
and on a limited number of screens. As buzz
popular films. Braver (2008) reported that
builds and word of mouth spreads, the film
‘to keep to the budget, high profile stars like gets a wider release. Troy Hart (2008) states:
Jennifer Garner took cuts in their usual pay’.
a slow release… is to release on a limited

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number of screens in a few key markets and
hope word of mouth drives up ticket sales.
Then they will expand it (increase screen
count) as ticket sales increase. The advantage
is that it keeps P&A (prints and advertising)
costs to a minimum.
Juno was actually released in cinemas
nine days earlier than originally scheduled
in order to ‘take advantage of all the
incredible advance buzz’ (Sciretta, 2007).
The release strategy of Juno is typical of
independent film. Variety reported:
Juno will open in an additional 13 cities on
Friday, upping the total theatre count to
about 40. Another 17 cities will be added on
Dec. 21, and the film will further expand on
Christmas Day before going nationwide Jan 4.
McClintock, 2007
These release dates and scheduling will
also help the film to get attention in the
awards season, and will ensure that the film
has huge buzz before money is spent on
more prints.

Marketing
The marketing is also quirkier and less
traditional than Hollywood blockbusters.
A hamburger phone that Juno uses in the
film became a curious marketing tool; the
producers apparently sent one to journalists
to entice them to review the film. The

manager of Fox Searchlight in Australia said
the studio
brought 100 Juno-branded phones to
Australia for use in promotional giveaways
Moses, 2008

Pete Turner is a lecturer at Bracknell and Wokingham
College, is undertaking a PhD at Oxford Brookes University
and writes a film blog at http://ilovethatfilm.blogspot.
com/

Like many other independent films, the
posters and trailers emphasise the critical
response to the film and the awards it has
won.

References

Exhibition and Performance

Braver. 2008 http://www.cbsnews.com/
stories/2008/02/09/sunday/main3812797.
shtml

Juno has been incredibly successful for
an independent film. This is due to a clever
script and great characters but also due
to a clever distribution plan that has seen
it embraced by a mainstream audience. It
became a massive crossover hit, making
over $200 million at the international box
office. It received Oscar nominations for
Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Director, and
Best Original Screenplay and exceeded all
expectations for the film. But the question
remains: with the backing of a subsidiary
of global conglomerate News International,
is Juno really even an independent film?
It’s a question that you could likely spend a
whole lesson debating; Juno is a revealing
case study that you could refer to in your AS
Film Studies exam.

http://www.newscorp.com/operations/
index.html

Breznican, 2008. http://www.usatoday.
com/life/movies/movieawards/
oscars/2008-02-21-oscar-box-office_N.
htm
Hart, T. http://voices.yahoo.com/analysis2007-independent-film-box-officenumbers-1848390.html
McClintock. 2007. http://www.variety.
com/article/VR1117977409?refCatId=13
Moses. 2008. http://www.theage.
com.au/news/technology/junoshamburger-phone-sparks-onlinesales/2008/02/06/1202233932553.html
Sciretta. 2007. http://www.slashfilm.com/
junos-due-date-sooner-than-expected/
Shaw. 2002. http://www.thefilmjournal.
com/issue6/americancinema.html
Spines. 2008. http://www.ew.com/ew/
article/0,,20175163_3,00.html
The MovieWeb Team. 2007. http://www.
movieweb.com/news/exclusive-directorjason-reitman-talks-juno
Valby. 2007. http://www.ew.com/ew/
article/0,,20157948,00.html
Yamato. 2007 http://www.rottentomatoes.
com/m/juno/news/1694026/ellen_page_
on_juno_the_rt_interview/

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29

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How Three
independents are
Making Movies for the
21st Century
Brenda Hamlet explores how new
technologies and new audiences are
changing the ways in which people
make movies and think about them.
Everything is changing from financing
to production, distribution and
exhibition. And when you consider
that movie fans now have better
access to so many different types
of films from popular genres to big
screen classics and world cinema
titles, plus more choices for viewing
them – on gadgets, movie channels,
DVD player, multiplex or single
screen cinema – it makes sense that
our experience of movies and moviegoing is also changing.
The Big Screen: The Story of the Movies
and What They Did to Us (2012) by David
Thompson says that people’s understanding
of the movies in the 20th century was
shaped by the big screen. It is the big
screen, he argues, that defined concepts
of spectatorship and movie-going. Sitting
in a darkened cinema and identifying with
the huge faces shining on the big screen
was a wholly immersive experience which
Thompson believes does not exist in today’s
modern era of the small screen and multiplex
feature.
The Good, the Bad and The Multiplex –
What’s Wrong with Modern Movies? (2012)
by Mark Kermode argues that the modern
movie is more about the technology that
makes and distributes movies, than it is
about watching them. Computers, he says
are even used to determine financing for
film, using programmes for generating
spreadsheets and box office forecasts.
As importantly, Kermode argues, our
experience of the movies is also dominated
by technology; from online booking systems
to the ticket machine in the foyer. Even the
projectionist, he adds, is a computer.
Whether you agree with these two film
critics or not, each raises important questions
concerning the nature of a changing movie
culture. Equally interesting is the way in
which these issues are contributing to the
work of three independent filmmakers.
Holy Motors, written and directed by Leos
36 MediaMagazine | February 2013 | english and media centre

Carax, suggests we are waking from a dream
of cinema – in which the 20th-century film is
a dying art form – while the new digital ones
are still emerging. Fabien Riggall, founder
of Secret Cinema, believes that moviegoers in the 21st century want to feel more
connected to something: ‘there is a cultural
shift happening. Live cinema is the future.’
And Guy Browning’s low-budget comedy,
Tortoise in Love not only stars the residents
of the writer/director’s Oxfordshire village
(Kingston Bagpuize), but is part funded by
them too.

Secret Cinema: Don’t Tell
Anyone ...
Secret Cinema pushes the boundaries of
movie-going far beyond the spectatorship
experience described by Thompson. Part
screening, part installation, this interactive
movie event takes movie-goers out of their
seats and into the movie by fusing live
performance with big screen entertainment.
To create the events, Riggall rents out
spaces from warehouses to vintage picture
palaces and transforms them into iconic
settings from movie favourites such as Bugsy
Malone, The Red Shoes and The Third
Man. Actors cast as characters from the film
improvise favourite scenes and encourage
the audience to take part.
Julian Spooner – the actor cast as Lucky
Louie in Bugsy Malone says:
Secret Cinema takes the movie goer inside
the cinematic narrative so they become part
of the onscreen action. The events rely on
the interaction between the cast and the
audience. By the end of the evening moviegoers are so caught up in the nostalgia and
fantasy of the action, setting and big screen
film – that’s hard to distinguish between
who is acting and who is not. People love
re-experiencing their favourite films. Bugsy
is an iconic film and creates nostalgia for

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childhood memories of the movies. Many
people came with their friends and kids.
To gain access to the event, movie goers
buy tickets from www.secretcinema.
org, billed as ‘a growing community of
movie-fans who enjoy experiencing the
unknown’. Directions to a secret venue or
meeting place are given – but not the movie
to be screened. The ticket/invite however
does provide some clues. For this spring’s
Bugsy Malone event, movie-goers were
given these instructions:
The boss wants you to meet under the bridge,
Caroline Street, E1, on the east side. Look out
for Joey the violinist. Now you got to act real
normal and pretend like nothing happened.
We don’t want the fuzz knowing nothing
about this shindig otherwise we may get
rumbled. Dress: Late twenties. Ritzy and real
swanky. Bring a book; give it to the librarian to
get in to the club. Oh and one more thing... You
got to bring a flower to give to the boss. Now
this is real important. We gotta keep the boss
happy. You may decide to talk. We got Bernie
the weasel and his boys keeping an eye on you
so don’t be saying nuthin to no-one. See you at
Fat Sam’s!
On arrival to the secret location, movie
fans were chauffeured to East London’s Troxy
Picture Palace by cycle powered rickshaws,
made over as gangster-style get-away cars.
Outside, moviegoers in feather boas and
zootsuits with spats, mingled with the live
cast of gangsters and show girls. Newssheets
designed as era-style tabloids announced
the film to be screened – Alan Parker’s Bugsy
Malone. Inside moviegoers passed their
books to the ‘librarian’ before being allowed
entry into Fat Sam’s – a 1920s Chicagostyle speakeasy. A milkshake bar, Italian
restaurant, gambling room and boxing ring
provided pre-show entertainment. Onstage,
an authentic Twenties-style nightclub
performance including a barbershop quartet,
Busby Berkeley-style dancers and stand-

Film can be used as a vehicle to
expose the truth, activism via film.
All cultures have a unique narrative.
We all have our stories to tell. We all
have histories to share.

up comedy was followed by a big screen
viewing of the film.
This summer, Secret’s Cinema’s live
cinema journey for Prometheus netted £1.1
million and attracted 25,000 movie fans – all
wearing boiler suits – to secret screening
venues including the BFI-IMAX. A Radiohead
soundscape accompanied fans as they
boarded the Secret Cinema spaceship. Even
Ridley Scott got involved, enabling Secret
Cinema events to coincide with the first run
screenings of Prometheus in the UK.
Riggall says the idea grew out of his popup festival venture – Future Shorts.
It started as a one-off screening and it just
grew and grew. I was a short filmmaker at the
time working for a production company and I
just felt that there wasn’t a platform for short
films…And from the first screening it has had
the feel of a social event. It is like what cinema
used to be. Cinema as the community as a
communal experience – a place where people
can be inspired.

actor who performs in a strange avatar lovemaking sequence. M. Oscar’s final role in the
film – a tired suburban husband living with
his ape wife and baby – brings the narrative
full circle back to the beginning of cinema
and the start of the film. The scene, though
absurd in its style, provides an optimistic
ending for M. Oscar. Though exhausted
from his journey through the history of
cinema and technology, M. Oscar pauses
for a moment of reflection before the scene
closes: ‘I see the future and it is bright’.
Throughout M. Oscar’s travels, Carax
employs the theme music from Jean Luc
Godard’s, A Bout de Souffle (1960). At one
point Celine invites M. Oscar to enjoy the
Parisian scenery – which is straight out of
the car chase scene from the same movie.
But instead of looking out the window, M.
Oscar pulls down a video screen in the back
of the limo. And the commentary is about
technology, rather than the countryside; the
cine camera used to be bigger than a man –
now it is so small you can barely see it.
Holy Motors: Hidden
The relationship between people and
Identities and the 21sttechnology
is one of the many themes taken
Century Movie
on by Holy Motors. According to Carax, the
Holy Motors opens with a surreal
limousines represent computers – with tiny
sequence in which Carax – in a signature
cameras – used by people to drive around
appearance – gets out of his bed and
the world on the internet. But they could
wanders through a hidden passage into
easily stand in for movie cameras as well.
an old cinema. On screen is a film of an
The idea is that of the internet as one big
ape in motion – similar to the studies of
performance space in which people take on
horses made by Eadweard Muybridge.
a range of disguises and hidden identities
The evolution of filmmaking is then charted
from usernames to avatars.
through references to Chaplin (silent film),
This theme is developed further when M.
surrealism (Buñuel and Cocteau), Nouvelle
Oscar’s limousine crashes into another.
Vague (Melville and Godard) through to the
Rushing to the passenger side of the other
digital age of motion capture CGI animation.
limousine, he finds Kylie Minogue dressed
The story that follows is about the
as Jean Seberg’s Patricia from A Bout de
mysterious Monsieur Oscar (Denis Lavant)
Souffle. This scenario culminates in a rooftop
and his travels around Paris in a white stretch
performance by Kylie who sings:
limousine. During the course of the film, M.
Who were we? Who were we when we were
Oscar’s chauffeur Celine provides him with
who we were back then? Who would we have
assignment files that require him to take on
become if we had done it differently back
the role of nine different movie characters.
then?
As Celine drives to the live location
In this sequence, Kylie might be singing
settings for each character, M. Oscar
about the character (Patricia), the actress
transforms into business executive, old
Jean Seberg or the movies themselves.
crone begging near the Seine, Merdre the
The last scene – a dialogue between
Troll – a subway phantom – who kidnaps
talking limousines – is a reference to Cars,
Eva Mendes during a photo shoot in Pere
the Pixar CGI-animated movie. It is here that
Lachaise cemetery, a hit man hired to kill
the title of the film, Holy Motors, becomes
his own stunt double and a motion capture
clearer as the cars discuss what will happen
to them when they are no longer being
used. One worries they will be sent to the
scrapyard – a metaphor for old films in a
movie archive perhaps.

Tortoise in Love:
The Village Movie
The story told in Tortoise in Love is
about a young man named Tom who falls
hopelessly in love with a beautiful Polish au
pair named Anya. The film begins with a train
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38 MediaMagazine | February 2013 | english and media centre

stages to wardrobe and catering trailers.
The local hair salon provided make-up and
styling, whilst the Women’s Institute made
meals for cast and crew. The film’s musical
score was composed by a neighbour Geoff
Cottrell and performed with the village choir.
Tortoise in Love also received a £30,000
grant from the BFI for distribution and
exhibition at non-traditional venues such
as village halls and film clubs. The money
provided posters, press packs and prints
to these rural venues – which in other
circumstances would not have the finances
to fund a first-run screening. Film events such
as Q&A with the Director and post-screening
discussions with cast members helped to
create a word-of-mouth buzz before a
general release to local cinemas.
The concept of community filmmaking
may not be new – film co-operatives provide
similar schemes – though most relied on
grants and funding which is no longer
as widely available as before. Travelling
Light, a new play by Nicholas Wright also

describes the village movies made by Eastern
Europeans – some of whom became major
players in Hollywood – forming the basis of
what would become the 20th-century big
screen classic. As M. Oscar predicts – the
future is bright.
Brenda Hamlet is a freelance journalist and teacher living
in Oxford.

References
Thompson, D. The Big Screen: The Story
of the Movies and What They Did To Us.
2012.
Kermode, M. The Good, The Bad and The
Multiplex: What’s Wrong with Modern
Movies. 2012 (reprint edition).
www.secretcinema.org
http://hub.honda.co.uk/dreamfactory/
cultural_engineers/fabien-riggall/
www.tortoiseinlove.co.uk/
The DVD of Tortoise in Love is available
from Amazon: http://amzn.to/V0TZkG
holymotorsfilm.com/

Images from Tortoise in Love, courtesy of Liz May and others.

journey accompanied by a voiceover –
This is the story of a tortoise in love, and
this is the kissing scene in the little village
of Kingston Bagpuize in Oxfordshire where
they’re famous for doing things slowly.
The narration goes on to explain that
twenty-something Tom has chucked in his
high-flying job in London to return home.
No reason is given for Tom’s decision – but
his soulful expression implies that he is at a
crossroads.
The first point of call is the village pub,
where a well-meaning local points Tom in the
direction of the groundskeeper for the Manor
House. Tom, who has a degree in botany,
is thrilled to land a job within minutes of
arriving home – that is until he finds his job
is making tea. But the groundskeeper likes to
keep real. As he explains to Tom – ‘it’s custard
creams in the morning and jammy dodgers
in the afternoon.’
Anya is au pair to Harry, who lives in the
manor house. The story gains momentum as
the three begin to connect and Tom works
up the courage to express his feelings for
Anya. But as suggested by the movie tagline
– ‘He likes you. He’s just slow‘– Tom takes
most of the film to pluck up his courage and
kiss Anya.
In the meantime, Harry’s stuffy stockbroker
father sabotages plans for the village fete.
But the show must go on, and the everresourceful villagers find ingenious ways to
put on the best-ever fete and help Tom to
overcome his shyness.
Most importantly, they have a great time
doing it. Actor Ivan Kaye who appears as
Sean in the film says:
I have made many movies, including
blockbusters with Jonny Depp, but I have never
had so much fun as I did on this film.
Most of the cast had never been in a
movie, though there are a few familiar faces
such as Ed Vaizey (local MP and Minister for
Culture and Communications), Lesley Staple
(Calendar Girls), Steven Elder (Holby City)
and Ivan Kaye (The Green Green Grass).
And without giving away too much, the Red
Arrows also make an appearance.
Browning, a comedy writer who lives
in Kingston Bagpuize, wanted to make a
film about the village. To raise the £250,000
needed to make the film, Browning pitched
the idea for Tortoise in Love at the local
village hall. And he offered the villagers
a stake in the film for as little as £20, to
buy a mini-mogul share, or a maxi-mogul
investment for £500 and up. This unique
crowd-funding scheme enabled the
participants to share in the profits and
appear in the film.
Many, including the owner of Kingston
Bagpuize Manor House – the film’s central
setting – also offered their homes, businesses
and gardens for everything from production

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Independent distribution
The great British summertime has
a new tradition – pop-up cinema.
All over the country independent
exhibitors are screening movies
both new and old, sometimes in
the unlikeliest of settings, and film
fans are finding an alternative to
the ordinary multiplex viewing
experience. And if your idea of
audience participation is limited to
singing along to The Sound of Music,
then think again, says Christopher
Budd.
Many pop-up cinemas take place in
unusual settings; often locations that would
otherwise be disused, and that wouldn’t
on the face of it lend themselves obviously
to becoming a cinema. Cineroleum, for
example, takes place at a disused petrol
station in East London. They proudly hark
back to the days of old-fashioned cinema,
with ‘decadent interiors… popcorn, paper
tickets, elaborate signage and flip-down
seats’, all designed to evoke the feeling of
traditional cinema-going rather than the
modern multiplex. Their programming
reflects this independent spirit, including a
mixture of classics, cult movies, shorts and
b-movies; clearly their audience is going
to be cinema-goers of a certain age, with a
certain depth of fanaticism about film.
Taking something disused and making
it useful, a kind of urban recycling, is
very important to a lot of pop-up cinema
organisations. Hackney’s Folly for a
Flyover took place over summer 2011,
transforming a gap under the A12 into
a temporary arts space, holding cinema
screenings in the evening. Their intention
was always to productively re-use the

components of the folly after the summer,
so I asked Assemble, the organisation
that built the Folly, what happened to the
materials after it was dismantled…
…all the wooden bricks have been remade
into planters to be used by Gainsborough
Primary School, located just down the canal
from the Folly. Each class will tend a planter
in the playground for a year and will take
part in gardening workshops. All of the
terrazzo tiles have been used to re-tile the
floor of Essex Flour and Grain, a wholesale
food supplier located opposite the Folly on
the canal.
There’s glamour too. The Lost Picture
Show, a pop-up cinema which can be hired
for all manner of events and festivals has a
manifesto which states their own dedication
to a more old-fashioned, higher quality style
of film presentation:
Step inside and encounter the past in vivid
detail – a vintage cinema in intricately sewn
and draped fabric [...] the audience recline in
luxurious velvet seating while low tables and
flickering chandeliers complete the effect of
a ghostly apparition of a time and place long
forgotten.
The Lost Picture Show brings this forgotten
world back to life, using a combination of
spectacular décor, immersive atmosphere,
performance, film and music...
However the golden age of cinema wasn’t
just about cult movies. The Museum of

Science and Industry in Manchester has a
pop-up cinema that runs a Family Friendly
Saturday Film Club. The great tradition of
Saturday morning kid’s cinema has been
reborn using the pop-up model, although
now primarily aimed at nostalgic dads
(Back to the Future trilogy, anyone?).
Another conspicuously glamorous
element of the golden age of film was
film awards, and these haven’t been
forgotten either. Cannes in a Van, the
‘four-wheel film festival’ holds it’s own Van
d’Or Independent Film awards, this year
presented by Barry Norman. With an aim to
give exposure to independent films, Cannes
in a Van makes the drive to the south of
France every year!
A popular way of pop-ups ‘adding
value’ to the cinema-going experience is
to provide something beyond standard
multiplex popcorn, and this allows them
to partner with other local like-minded
organisations. For example, Film Fugitive,
a pop-up cinema which roams the country,
offers homemade food and has a pop-up
bar serving up exotic treats. Similarly, Lexi
Cinema’s pop-up, The Nomad, partners
with a variety of organisations on their
travels, including caterers, chocolatiers
and gourmet popcorn makers! Some of
the caterers they use are co-operatives,

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39

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With this emphasis on social
consciousness the whole experience
adds up to something more
alternative and rewarding than your
usual trip to the mainstream cinema.

There’s a sliding scale of fees for different
community organisations, with the aim of
making ‘community cinema’ affordable to
put on.
I asked Dogwoof what the impetus was
behind them coming up with their pop-up
cinema.
Dogwoof’s Pop-up Cinema was established
to empower individuals and organisations
to become exhibitors of the excellent
in Penrith, which screens ‘locally produced
and important films that we select for
films, documentaries and animations’, and
distribution. It’s another way for these films
which has an open call for submissions for
to connect with audiences. Our philosophy is
any local groups which have made their
that while film is great in the cinema and at
own documentaries. For these groups this
home, it can be enjoyed in countless other
is great exposure for their work or for the
scenarios and venues. We set up Pop-up
Cinema to facilitate creative, non-traditional
subject of their documentaries.
modes of exhibition. Through Pop-up,
Larger arts organisations are also
our films have screened in car parks, polygetting in on the act. The Institute of
tunnels, gardens, boardrooms, classrooms,
Contemporary Arts in London has just
living rooms, community centres, [and]
many have a commitment to organic and
held their own pop-up cinema event ‘Art
pubs. Through the special screening licenses
Fairtrade ingredients, and several make
Drive!’ in the Great Eastern Street car park,
scheme that Pop-up provides, anybody can
contributions to charities from their profits. again in East London. The screenings were
play our films in whatever way they wish.
With this emphasis on social consciousness part of a larger exhibition by the ICA of
And as for whether there are any bars
the whole experience adds up to something cars transformed into artworks, and all
to potential younger pop-up cinema
more alternative and rewarding than your
the films screened as part of the event,
managers…
usual trip to the mainstream cinema.
although mainstream, involved driving in
Being in school or college is in fact ideal
One of the largest pop-ups is Secret
some capacity. It’s not hard to see how the
because you’ve got access to great venues,
Cinema (see also page 36) which aims
pop-up cinema concept can be employed
and a big audience in your classmates and
to ‘change how we watch films’ and
in an arts capacity or as part of a temporary
teachers.
keeps its locations (and indeed the films
exhibition alongside a traditional exhibition.
For many organisations there are funding
themselves) secret until the day of the
True to the town’s reputation, Brighton’s opportunities too. For example The
event. The experience involves immersing
CINECITY hosts a more maverick pop-up
Floating Cinema, a tiny canal boat that
the audience totally into the world of the
cinema:
plied London’s waterways this summer
film, with cinema-goers being invited
…a grass roots movement of clandestine
screening documentaries and hosting talks
to dress up and participate in tasks. The
cinema has been wrestling the movie-going
specifically about the local area, received
experience back from the multiplex. With
organisers go to extraordinary lengths to
money from the Arts Council. CINECITY is
Brighton Festival, CINECITY and the Duke of
create appropriate surroundings for the
partially funded by The National Lottery and
York’s have created an underground cinema
screenings, transforming large spaces into
by the BFI. As ever, for those organisations
– literally – in The Basement, a pop-up
spaceships, or deserts (complete with real
prepared to meet funding criteria, even in
picturehouse with a festival programme of
camels – this for a screening of Lawrence of
these straitened times, there may well be
previews and special events.
Arabia). Secret Cinema only screens classic
the potential to thrive and expand.
Their pop-up cinema days showcase
movies, and the tickets are expensive. It is,
Christopher Budd is a freelance lecturer, writer, composer
an exciting selection of underground and
however, immensely popular, proving that
and musician.
world cinema, and in partnering with the
providing an alternative to multiplexes need
Brighton Picture House they have an
not mean undercutting them.
Follow it up
established venue to make use of.
Some pop-up cinemas specialise in
Pop-up cinemas are a natural fit for
Cineroleum www.cineroleum.co.uk
culturally-themed programming that might
festival season in the UK. The weather is
find a particular local audience. Watermans
The Lost Picture Show www.
(hopefully) favourable, and the crowd is
Arts Centre in Brentford recently held a
lostpictureshow.org
already there. The Nomad pop-up cinema
pop-up Bollywood cinema event in nearby
actively seeks out ‘downright strange
Cannes in a Van www.cannesinavan.com
Gunnersbury Park. This part of west London
screening locations’, and as a result they
Film Fugitive www.filmfugitive.com
has a large Asian community and so is
set up at Bestival this year, in the Ambient
the perfect match of audience and event;
The Nomad www.whereisthenomad.com
Forest, and screened an appropriate
while a Bollywood season might not work
programme of cult classics.
Secret Cinema www.secretcinema.org
everywhere in the country, Watermans was
What if you want to set up your own popable to stage it as a one-off and sell it out,
Cine-City www.cine-city.co.uk
up cinema? It’s easier than you think, and
showing the flexibility and adaptability of
Pop-up Cinema (Dogwoof ) www.
organisations like Dogwoof can help. They
the pop-up model.
popupcinema.net
provide a full service where you can rent
Pop-up cinema can be used as an
a film from them (including new releases
opportunity to screen films that might
and classics), and they provide a special
otherwise find it hard to get distribution,
screening DVD and all the licensing rights to
because they’re too specialist or low
show it. All you need to do is find a venue
budget. The Cumbrian arts development
and a projector, and a willing audience.
agency Eden Arts runs a pop-up cinema
40 MediaMagazine | February 2013 | english and media centre

MM

Thanks to the following pop-up cinemas for generously supplying images:
Floating Cinema, Cannes in a Van, The Nomad.

Our philosophy is that while film is great in the cinema
and at home, it can be enjoyed in countless other
scenarios and venues. We set up Pop-up Cinema to
facilitate creative, non-traditional modes of exhibition.
Through Pop-up, our films have screened in car parks, polytunnels, gardens, boardrooms, classrooms, living rooms,
community centres, [and] pubs.

english and media centre | February 2013 | MediaMagazine

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