The filmmakers at Sundance may think of themselves as true independents, but Mike Grundmann, a Los Angeles Times copy editor and part-time filmmaker, begs to disagree. Grundmann has made several documentaries, including "Face First" about people growing up with facial birth defects. His films have been shown on public television and at a number of film festivals.
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"Independent film." Ha! Lately that label has been put on the rack and stretched till it applies to $20-million movies. Those nasty snowball fights over distribution at January's Sundance Film Festival make a once-modest "indie" event high-altitude indeed.
I'll show you "independent." I make films in the low five figures--with no decimal points, I swear. But films on that level have won Oscars, such as best short or best documentary (whoops, there goes the separate short-doc Oscar, yanked in January by the academy for the 2000 ceremonies).
So allow me to draw some distinctions between those well-heeled major-league "indies" and us bottom-feeding real indies, for whom every cut is a director's cut because we don't have the money to pay anyone else.
Before we continue, a little background. I work full time as an editor for this newspaper. It's not hard to make a living as a true independent--it's impossible. Most adults have families to support. I raise films.
From my vantage point then, here's how you tell the difference between pseudo and real indie filmmakers:
FINANCING: Pseudo indies have to rely on the studios. Real indies use MasterCard.
CLOUT: Pseudo indies acquire negotiating strength after three or four pictures. Real indies are treated the same whether it's their first film or their 10th: "And you're with . . . ?"
CONTACTS: Pseudos, like the big shots, keep fattening their Rolodexes at the office. Real indies keep costs down by using their address books at home and recording office sounds on their answering machines.
LOCATION SHOOTING: Pseudo indies have scouts who take Polaroids, pay property owners and pull out permission contracts. Real indies save time by scouting and shooting simultaneously.
BUZZ: For pseudos, that's the rapidly spreading word on the street about their new releases. For us real indies, it's that annoying soundtrack problem we still haven't figured out.
TRACKING SHOT: Pseudos actually lay down track so the camera, mounted on a platform that holds four people, can follow the subject on wheels. Real indies follow their subjects on foot as they cross the street, confident that drivers will yield to the spectacle.
