As Variety's Pamela McClintock explains in her article about the spirt event:
[This year, the] Indie Spirits, administered by Film Independent [were] held at a beachside tent.. came just one day before the Academy Awards, where the same pics were set to compete in an awards year dominated by smaller indie titles.
And that got me to thinking...
Since smaller films always take the spotlight at the Spirit Awards, and now so many of the winners from last night, are also up for OSCARS, many folks have said that 2005 was "The Year Of The Independent Film" And while that label may seem appropriate on the surface, I think it's misplaced somehow.
When you stop and think about how many of these "smaller films" have bigger studios behind them pulling the strings anyway--that in turn, makes them studio films. For example, OSCAR front runner Brokeback Mountain may have Focus Features as its distributor, but guess what? That studio is really a "special unit" subsidiary of Universal Pictures and somewhere even further down the Brokeback financial totem pole is rival Paramount Pictures secretly hoping for a big win later tonight too.
Does this mean the indie film is dead? Heck no. I just think Hollywood is no longer a place you need to be to make it happen. Given how many outlets there are on the net, for instance, to showcase ones film, and how "non-filmmakers" have access to the right equipment to make a movie now, that's where the true "spirit" lies. In my opinion, once an established studio has a stake in an indie, it loses some of the right to be labeled as such.
Here's the full story and complete list of winners from last night's event.
Until the Oscar winners are announced...Think good thoughts and root for Crash.
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