Struggles of the Indie Filmaker: Film Distribution

Every filmmaker’s dream is to share his/her movie with a wide range of audiences around the world.  In most cases this exposure comes with good distribution. In fact, an effective distribution determines whether a movie will succeed monetarily or essentially flop in that sense.
The number one method in which a movie recoups its funds is by the number of audiences who buy tickets to go watch it in theatres. However, nowadays this process is becoming a luxury in the film industry, especially for those indie filmmakers who have had to empty their life savings, in order to bring their dream projects to life. This post takes a look at Slumdog Millionaire in reference to some of the challenges the movie faced before finally hitting the silver screen, and essentially marching on to become one of the most successful independent films of all time.

Slumdog Millionaire is a drama film set in India, and is directed by British film director Danny Boyle. The movie was produced with a budget of $15 million, and ended up grossing a whopping  $377 million at the world wide box-office. Only a few months prior the movie was facing a direct to TV release with its initial distribution company, Warner Independent Pictures running out of business, due to the recession at the time. The company’s parent company Warner Brothers dropped all the movies on its roster except for Christopher Nolan’s, The Dark Knight, which went on to gross $1 billion at the worldwide box office. After sitting in limbo for a short period of time, Fox Searchlight picked up the movie for distribution, and their faith was repaid as Slumdog went on to become the movie of the year, winning eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

If Fox Searchlight had not intervened, Slumdog wouldn't have been able to reach a quarter of the audiences that it reached. It potentially would have gone on to become another great movie with an “only if” end result. The bitter truth is that many other movies have failed in areas where Slumdog has succeeded. Independent filmmakers constantly find themselves climbing a never-ending mountain, with most distributors adhering to the "business" aspect of the movie business.

Veteran filmmakers such as Steven Spielberg and George Lucas are also finding it hard to get their “independent” films into movie theatres; therefore, you can imagine what the indie filmmakers have to undergo. In a recent interview at University of Southern California, Spielberg was quoted as saying his Academy Award nominated film, Lincoln, almost went direct to TV. This is the cruel reality of the movie business today. Indie filmmakers are facing major challenges in order to distribute their films. Although all hope isn’t lost. Thanks to the growing popularity of film festivals and social media, indie filmmakers have other options to gain exposure for their various projects. With these resources and a little bit of luck, maybe a little more luck, indie filmmakers can continue to share their aesthetics with the rest of the world.