An indie movie maker said this
It’s easy to make a film (comparatively) when you have a posh office set up, Nescafe counter at every alley of it, assistants with iPhones, ‘whatever’ attitude and a man on a big roller chair telling you what to do next. It’s quite easy in my opinion because when you are part of so-called commercial cinema you have enough money to hire people to do jobs for you. But in independent cinema, you have to take in your own hands the responsibility to do each and everything. You have to be a multi-tasker, you must be ready to become a spot boy as well as an actor if need arises yet all the risk and blame for the failure of film will be duly credited to you. It all starts with a desire to make a movie that even you are not sure will garner any profitable returns probably because you are not even thinking about it when you are making it; but then that’s the beauty of Independent cinema, everything is independent of everything. (link)
A few points here. No one forces you to become a film maker. You pick it, for it has gnawed at your brains for a while. It has whispered in your ear when you slept; coaxed, cajoled you into taking the plunge. It’s called passion. Now, I am not one for categorization of cinema based on who’s making it. To me the ‘what’ matters. But some indie movie makers seem to think that just tagging themselves as ‘indie’ is enough to spout grand theories and postulates. Dear indie guy, let your films do the talking.
The average movie-goer doesn’t even read all credits. She is impatient as they roll. She wants to jump right into your story. She hopes, longs that you have a funny, intriguing, engaging, scary, or mushy tale to spin. She doesn’t award merit based on who you are. Or where you came from. I know you are aware, indie man. But your words belie that knowledge.
And remember this, the world doesn’t owe you one. So stop making a fool of yourself by making a virtue out of being an ‘indie’ movie maker. It never was a virtue. Never will be one. You cannot guilt-trip me into buying that ticket. So accept the hard facts and do what you do best. Make movies.