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Cover
Title Page
Contributors
Acknowledgements
Introduction: What Indie Isn’t… Mapping the Indie Field
1. References
Part One: Indie Culture
1. 1 Indie Film as Indie Culture
  1. Autonomy and Authenticity
  2. Slanted and Enchanted and Indie Game
  3. Conclusion
  4. References
2. 2 The Making of the Indie Scene: The Cultural Production of a Field of Cultural Production
  1. Fields, Scenes, and Movements
  2. The Work of Culture in Fields/Scenes/Movements
  3. The Cultural Production of the Field of Cultural Production
  4. The Artist, the Community, and the Movement
  5. References
3. 3 Indie as Organic: Tracing Discursive Roots
  1. Roots
  2. Substance
  3. Handling
  4. Effects
  5. Discursive Roots and Rhetorical Oppositions
  6. References
Part Two: Indie and Other Media
1. 4 Quirky Culture: Tone, Sensibility, and Structure of Feeling
  1. Quirky and Indie
  2. Quirky, Tone, and Structure of Feeling
  3. The Quirky Sensibility and “Innocence”
  4. Quirky Culture: Music, Comedy, and Radio
  5. Conclusion
  6. References
2. 5 Independent Intersections: Indie Music Cultures and American Indie Cinema
  1. Punk and the Beginnings of a New Independent Cinema
  2. The Historical Emergence of Indie
  3. The Growth of Indie
  4. Into the New Millennium
  5. Conclusion
  6. References
3. 6 Post‐Cinema Soderbergh
  1. To Recap: Post‐Cinema Soderbergh
  2. The Twittering Soderbergh
  3. Unglued? Glue and Short Fiction Online and Offline
  4. The Soderbergh Web
  5. Soderbergh TV, Round 2
  6. Social Media and the Less‐Small Screen
  7. References
Part Three: Criticism, Marketing, and Positioning Indie
1. 7 Structuring Indie and Beasts of the Southern Wild: The Role of Review Journalism
  1. Evaluating Authenticity and Originality
  2. Shaping a Preferred Indie Aesthetic
  3. The Stakes for Writers
  4. The Politics of Awarding Distinction
  5. Conclusion: A Permanent Conflict
  6. References
2. 8 Marketing American Indie in the Shadow of Hollywood
  1. Introduction
  2. Understanding the Indie in Independent
  3. Film Selection
  4. Ain’t Them Bodies Saints (2013)
  5. Blue Jasmine (2013)
  6. Frances Ha (2013)
  7. 12 Years a Slave (2013)
  8. Marketing Indie
  9. References
Part Four: Movements/Moments
1. 9 Proto‐Indie: 1960s “Half‐Way” Cinema
  1. The Second and Third Waves of Indie Cinema
  2. The Historical Establishment of the First Wave of Indie Cinema
  3. Conventions and Viewing of First‐Wave Indie Cinema
  4. Conclusion
  5. Selected Filmography of First‐Wave Indie Cinema
  6. References
2. 10 From Independent to Indie: The Independent Feature Project and the Complex Relationship between American Independent Cinema and Hollywood in the 1980s
  1. Introduction. Contemporary American Independent Cinema and Institutional Infrastructure
  2. The Beginnings of the IFP: Marshaling Resources
  3. Layers of Independence: Navigating between Art and Commerce
  4. Taking American Independent Cinema to the Next “Level”
  5. Conclusion – IFP: An (Ultra‐) Successful Failure?
  6. Note
  7. References
3. 11 Going Mainstream: The Indie Film Movement in 1999
  1. Introduction
  2. The Talented Mr. Ripley
  3. The Sixth Sense and Fight Club
  4. American Beauty
  5. The Blair Witch Project
  6. Aftermath: The Rise of Indiewood
  7. References
4. 12 Looking through a Rearview Mirror: Mumblecore as Past Tense
  1. Four Eyed Monsters
  2. The Actor‐Based Films of Andrew Bujalski
  3. Word and Image: Aaron Katz’s Quiet City
  4. Improvisation, Cassavetes, and Norman Mailer
  5. Greta Gerwig and Joe Swanberg
  6. Writing with Somebody’s Brain: Ronald Bronstein’s Frownland
  7. Anecdotal Narrative: The Films of Frank V. Ross
  8. The Ascendance of Mumblecore
  9. The Decline and Death of Mumblecore
  10. Conclusion
  11. References
Part Five: Indie as Regional
1. 13 The Pull of Place: Regional Indie Film Production
  1. “Regional” Filmmaking: Historical Place in the Literature
  2. What is Regional Filmmaking?
  3. Increased Visibility of Regional Filmmaking
  4. Rise of Regional: Tax Incentives
  5. Rise of Regional: Locating Personal and Professional Networks
  6. Rise of Regional: Thematic/Aesthetic Concerns
  7. Conclusion
  8. References
2. 14 Rural Crimewave: Reconfiguring Regional Spaces through Genre in US Indie Cinema
  1. Defining the Rural Crime Film
  2. Frozen River
  3. Winter’s Bone
  4. A Single Shot
  5. Casting the Rural Crime Film
  6. Marketing and Distributing the Rural Crime Film
  7. Conclusion
  8. References
Part Six: Aesthetics and Politics
1. 15 Life During Wartime: Emotionalism, Capitalist Realism, and Middle‐Class Indie Identity
  1. Class and Indie Cinema
  2. Indie Emotionalism
  3. Spectacular Dysfunction: Young Adult
  4. Fearful Energy: Touchy Feely
  5. Conclusion: Indie Class Consciousness
  6. References
2. 16 Indie Cinema and the Neoliberal Commodification of Creative Labor: Rethinking the Indie Sensibility of Christopher Nolan
  1. Neoliberalism and Independent Cinema
  2. Indie Filmmakers and the Studio Sector
  3. Christopher Nolan
  4. Conclusion
  5. References
3. 17 “They Believe Every Fuckin’ Word Because You’re Super Cool”: Masculine Cool ’90s Style in Reservoir Dogs
  1. “Stealing” and Those Suits
  2. “Men’s Cinema”
  3. Reservoir Dogs’ Two Beginnings
  4. The Severed Ear
  5. Mr Orange and the Performance(s) of Masculinity
  6. The End
  7. References
4. 18 The Craft of Independent Filmmaking: Editing in John Sayles’ Return of the Secaucus Seven and Baby It’s You
  1. Knowing That and Knowing How
  2. Evaluating John Sayles’ Editing
  3. Conclusion: Jack Ryan’s Epithets
  4. References
Part Seven: Kickstarting Indie
1. 19 Crowdfunding, Independence, Authorship
  1. Money
  2. Authorship
  3. Moral Economy
  4. Conclusion
  5. References
2. 20 Go Digital or Go Dark: Crowdfunding, Independent Financing, and Arthouse Exhibition on Kickstarter
  1. Independent Cinema and Arthouse Exhibition
  2. Transitioning to Digital Projection
  3. Crowdfunding and Kickstarter
  4. The Arthouse Experience: Building Community on Kickstarter
  5. Kickstarter: Dilemmas and Possibilities
  6. References
Part Eight: Indie Acting and Stardom
1. 21 Casing Indie Acting
  1. “Quality” Acting
  2. John Cusack’s Lovers and Losers
  3. Giancarlo Esposito’s Riffs on Race
  4. Michelle Williams’ Working‐Class Women
  5. Lupe Ontiveros’s Servants, Solidarity, and Sabotage
  6. Tapping Talent
  7. References
2. 22 Flexible Stardom: Contemporary American Film and the Independent Mobility of Star Brands
  1. Star Brands
  2. Stars, Independence, Flexibility
  3. Sindiependence and the Hyphenates
  4. Philip Seymour Hoffman – Flexible Star
  5. Flexible Stardom and the Space of Independence
  6. References
Index
End User License Agreement

List of Tables

Chapter 08
1. Table 8.1 List of films
Chapter 10
1. Table 10.1 Key resources for independent filmmakers, presented at the IFP Conference, 1979
Chapter 13
1. Table 13.1 MovieMaker Magazine’s “Best places to live and work as a moviemaker,” 2014
Chapter 22
1. Table 22.1 Six modes of sindiependence: Gibson, Icon, and the Studios (1990–2006)¹.
2. Table 22.2 Hoffman’s Honors: Accumulated Nominations and Awards¹ by Award Category.²

List of Illustrations

Chapter 01
1. Figure 1.1 Edmund McMillan, creator of Super Meat Boy, in Indie Game: The Movie.
2. Figure 1.2 Phil Fish, creator of Fez, in Indie Game: The Movie.
Chapter 03
1. Figure 3.1 The two principals on the porch of the house being reclaimed by nature in Jess + Moss.
2. Figure 3.2 Figures in a landscape in The Loneliest Planet.
Chapter 04
1. Figure 4.1 Album artwork for The Moldy Peaches’ self‐titled debut.
2. Figure 4.2 Important Things With Demetri Martin.
3. Figure 4.3 Publicity image for This American Life’s TV spinoff.
Chapter 05
1. Figure 5.1 Quirky dancing in Simple Men.
2. Figure 5.2 Lingering close‐ups of Buddy’s mixtape in the credits of Young Adult.
Chapter 06
1. Figure 6.1 A line and image from Glue, from Soderbergh’s Twitter feed in April 2013.
2. Figure 6.2 Glue book copies, as shown on the Extension 765 Twitter account in 2014.
3. Figure 6.3 The “Salon des Refusés” section of Soderbergh’s Extension 765 website, February 2014.
Chapter 07
1. Figure 7.1 Beasts of the Southern Wild is highly polished and stylized, even while capturing the ramshackle elements of the Bathtub; here, a boat fashioned from the bed of a truck.
2. Figure 7.2 The subdued and washed‐out tones of Winter’s Bone work to depict the Ozarks as an inhospitable and at‐times desolate environment.
3. Figure 7.3 The dream‐like quality of Beasts is perhaps most evident when Hushpuppy boards a floating catfish shack.
Chapter 08
1. Figure 8.1 Ain’t Them Bodies Saints.
2. Figure 8.2 Frances Ha.
Chapter 09
1. Figure 9.1 Ben (left, Ben Carruthers) and friends walking and talking in the sculpture garden at the Museum of Modern Art in Shadows, director John Cassavetes, 1959.
2. Figure 9.2 President Sandy Studsbury (center, Taylor Mead) and his staff discussing their shooting of the Prime Minister of Luxembourg in Babo 73, director Robert Downey Sr, 1964.
Chapter 10
1. Figure 10.1 Heartland was one of the first contemporary independent features to sell foreign television rights.
2. Figure 10.2 Former teen idol James Spader was a key selling point for sex, lies, and videotape.
Chapter 11
1. Figure 11.1 Tom Cruise as self‐help guru Frank T.J. Mackey in Magnolia.
2. Figure 11.2 Bruce Willis owed Disney a second picture after Armageddon, and opted to star in Sixth Sense. Here with his clairvoyant patient (Haley Joel Osment).
3. Figure 11.3 Brad Pitt as Tyler Durden in Fight Club, which was too dark and downbeat for Rupert Murdoch.
4. Figure 11.4 Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) takes one last look in American Beauty.
Chapter 12
1. Figure 12.1 Mutual Appreciation, Andrew Bujalski.
2. Figure 12.2 Hannah Takes the Stairs, Joe Swanberg.
Chapter 13
1. Figure 13.1 The Retrieval (Chris Eska), filmed in rural Texas, was heralded for its range of picturesque locations.
2. Figure 13.2 Several scenes from Joe Swanberg’s Drinking Buddies were filmed at Revolution Brewery, one of the centers of Chicago’s craft‐brewing scene.
3. Figure 13.3 Your Sister’s Sister, directed by Lynn Shelton, featured island landscapes in the Pacific Northwest’s Puget Sound, near Seattle.
Chapter 14
1. Figure 14.1 An uneasy smuggling partnership in Frozen River.
2. Figure 14.2 Investigating the remains of an Ozarks meth lab in Winter’s Bone.
3. Figure 14.3 A convoluted plot reaches a violent conclusion in A Single Shot.
Chapter 15
1. Figure 15.1 Mavis Gary (Charlize Theron) wakes up in Young Adult.
2. Figure 15.2 Paul (Josh Pais) tries Reiki in Touchy Feely.
Chapter 16
1. Figure 16.1 Christopher Nolan is credited with bringing a darker tone, intelligence and seriousness to the Dark Knight franchise. Batman Begins,
2. Figure 16.2 Nolan’s films often depict dysfunctional heterosexual relationships and the violent deaths of women. Memento,
Chapter 17
1. Figure 17.1 Mr. Blonde torturing a cop whilst dancing to Stuck in the Middle With You.
2. Figure 17.2 “So I walk into the men’s room and who’s standing there? Four Los Angeles County sheriffs and a German Shepherd.”
3. Figure 17.3 Joe, Eddie, White, and Orange either dead or almost dead after the bathetic final shoot‐out.
Chapter 18
1. Figures 18.1–18.4 Action as an “objective correlative” of the character’s inner state of mind: Jeff chopping wood in Return of the Secaucus Seven.
2. Figures 18.5 and 18.6 Near matching compositions in adjacent shots: Irene’s departure at the end of Return of the Secaucus Seven.
3. Figures 18.7 and 18.8 Dialogue motivating a cut to the next scene in Return of the Secaucus Seven: Mike and Katie talk about the sexual activity of their guests. Mike asks “what did you put in the food?” This motivates a cut to frying bacon the following morning.
Chapter 19
1. Figure 19.1 The stars of Four Eyed Monsters display a stack of credit cards to emphasize the extent of their debt.
2. Figure 19.2 Ned Rifle’s crowdfunding appeal used direct address from the film’s lead actors: in this case, Ian Aiken.
Chapter 20
1. Figure 20.1 Kickstarter page for the Cable Car Cinema in Providence, RI.
2. Figure 20.2 Kickstarter page for arthouse theaters.
Chapter 21
1. Figure 21.1 As “Brian Future” in Love & Mercy, John Cusack wordlessly expresses Brian Wilson’s exhausted, overly medicated, and bullied misery.
2. Figure 21.2 In Fresh, Giancarlo Esposito gives a complex performance, making his heroin‐dealer character, Esteban, both seductive and threatening.
3. Figure 21.3 From stolid minimalism, Michelle Williams’ performance becomes transformative when Wendy finally, briefly, reunites with her lost dog, Lucy, in Wendy and Lucy.
4. Figure 21.4 Giving a modernist, Brechtian performance, Lupe Ontiveros highlights the endless and thankless hard work of her maid character in Storytelling.
Chapter 22
1. Figure 22.1 Greta Gerwig in Hannah Takes the Stairs.
2. Figure 22.2 Hoffman as Scotty in Boogie Nights.
3. Figure 22.3 Hoffman as Truman Capote in Capote.
4. Figure 22.4 and 22.5 Hoffman in the film market: North American grosses and scale of release (2002–2014). Figure 22.4 illustrates the overall positioning in the market of films in which Hoffman performed from his first lead film role in Love Liza to his death. Included are the 13 feature films where Hoffman was cast in lead, shared lead, major supporting, or ensemble roles. Excluded are films where Hoffman played minor supporting roles, i.e. Cold Mountain, Strangers With Candy, and The Invention of Lying, or provided voice work for animation, i.e. Mary and Max (2009). Figure 22.5 provides detail to illustrate the marginal market position occupied by the 10 films featuring Hoffman in only lead or shared lead roles. Grosses adjusted to 2013 prices.
5. Figure 22.6 Capote: North American box office and release pattern.