Films | Still Indie

June 17, 2009

Guaranteed Distribution for Indie Films

There’s a new player in the the game for independent film funding. The New York Times is reporting that DF Indie Studios, based in New York, is open for business. The new studio plans to finance up to 12 films a year with budgets of up to $10 million. Mary E. Dickinson, chief executive, and Charlene Fisher, president, believe that the market is ripe for a revival of independent films with this kind of budget and the new studio guarantees US distribution for films that make it through the rigorous greenlighting process.

DF Indie Studios Logo

This sounds like good news for indie filmmakers but my enthusiasm is tempered by this statement from the NYTimes article: “The two would not discuss the company’s financing and had no film projects to announce. They are still seeking investors.” The venture is clearly still in the early stages, and, I’m cautiously optimistic. Naturally, only time will tell whether this venture can be successful in bringing more independent fare to the market, but I for one, wish them the best of luck.

June 16, 2009

Anna and Teague at SILVERDOCS!

AFI Silver Theater, Photo Credit: Agnes Varnum on Flickr

Anna and Teague, your faithful Still Indie bloggers, will be attending SILVERDOCS this week in Silver Spring, MD. For those of you who don’t know, SILVERDOCS is an 8-day documentary film festival and conference sponsored by the AFI that includes over 100 films and 25,000 attendees. We’re pretty excited.

Say hello if you see us! If the weather report for DC is correct, I’ll be the one in the bright purple umbrella.

March 17, 2009

Is “Race to Witch Mountain” Too Violent?

In slightly less indie news, Race to Witch Mountain (Disney’s remake of the old Escape to Witch Mountain) appears to be last weekend’s number 1 movie. Huh. I found this review of Race to Witch Mountain to be particularly interesting. Wesley Morris, Boston Globe film critic, reacted poorly to the movie not only because it was bad, but because he felt it was a very violent movie, given its young target audience.

Dwayne Johnson interview at HK Disneyland as a part of movie Race to Witch Mountain asian junket. — Dwayne Johnson interview at HK Disneyland as a part of movie 'Race to Witch Mountain' asian junket.

Morris asks two very important questions at the end of his review: Will kids freak out [at this movie]? Could they already be desensitized to that sort of thing?

What kind of violence is okay in kids’ films? What even makes a movie a “kids’ film” and not a “family film?” I remember watching “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” as a kid, a movie that depicts sex, violence and one incredibly scary Christopher Lloyd. And yet, there’s something about the cartoon nature of the violence that made it seem like a family film way back in the day. Then again, what are we trying to protect children from? Are we preventing nightmares, or are we more worried that they’ll mimic what’s on screen?