Independent filmmaking could be considered a rather broad category of filmmaking from shorts to feature length films to web series. In fact, in my opinion, anyone who creates a piece of “film” art and wishes for others to see it could be considered an independent filmmaker. Before you run down the hall screaming, waving your arms, and taking my name in vain… I do understand that there is more, technically speaking, to being called an independent filmmaker than what I just described.
Now that we have that out of the way, we can move on to my point of “why is independent filmmaking important”.
We here at TG Geeks have come to really appreciate independent filmmakers in the last year and quite by accident. When we started our blog and webcast we were primarily reviewing and talking about major studio productions of movies and TV shows, even when we were previously associated with Slice of SciFi we didn’t really talk about too much independent stuff. Until, that fateful day at Phoenix ComiCon, when a old friend of mine sent me a message and asked if we would go see his cousins short film at the horror film festival. That short was Case of Evil which we wrote a review of (link) and eventually interviewed the filmmakers (link). It was through Neal’s generosity that we were put in contact with a few others that were associated with independent films and began to shift our thinking.
Since that time we wrote a review (link) of and interviewed Jeff Patton with Origin: Beyond the Impact (link) as well as Marc Biagi, a cast member of BTi (link), and we were invited to the BTi Kickstarter launch party to interview the cast (link part 1) (link part 2) in San Diego.
We attended a film festival, on the spur of the moment, here in Phoenix, the Phoenix Loves Sci Fi Film Festival, where we discovered a lot of great short films by mostly local Phoenix filmmakers. We wrote and article and several reviews for those films (link PLSF). We also attended the Indie AZ Film Fest for its’ inaugural year where we saw another group of great films produced by local Phoenix Filmmakers and reported on that event (link).
Along the way we were also introduced to Miguel Rodriguez, who is the founder/coordinator/ jack-of-all-trades for Horrible Imaginings Film Festival, and interviewed him (link) which helped us take that next step and attend a multi-day film festival of mostly independent films.
Now, having just come back from the Horrible Imaginings Film Festival in San Diego, where we spent almost three days being immersed in independent films and interviewing several of those filmmakers (link episode)(link article), I would say we are definitely supporters of independent film.
In all of the above scenarios we were treated to an unbelievable amount of talent, vision, and passion for filmmaking. It is very evident when you talk to the filmmakers and then see their work that you begin to appreciate what independent film is all about. I won’t say that we have loved or even liked everything we have seen but that does not mean that the films were not good or worthy of being made, it is just our taste in subject matter.
It is our love for science fiction, horror, and genre content that lead us to some wonderful filmmakers and films. As these filmmakers are passionate about their subjects, we too are passionate about what we talk about. That is why we have a website and webcast, we enjoy talking about our chosen niche. We believe if you feel strongly about something, go do it, with a few exceptions……. 😉
We see the potential in some of these independent filmmakers to make incredible art and want to see them succeed, that is why we write reviews, attend film festivals and look at web series online. Great art does not only come out of major studios, it is in your hometown, no matter how big or small. We also believe that there is a bright future for independent filmmaking with the advent of crowd funding. Support your local filmmakers by seeing their films and contributing to Kickstarter or Idiegogo campaigns. Plunge in with an open mind and who knows what you may discover .
Two campaigns we are currently supporting are listed below:
Please consider supporting these worthy projects.
Please consider these two independent film projects, you can participate for as little as $1.00.
Thanks for visiting. Let us know what you think.