First published July 12, 2012.
Actually, it opened on nearly 4,400 screens. Since there are roughly 40,000 screens in the US, this sucker took up space in about 11 per cent of the available spots. http://cinematreasures.org/blog/2008/11/7/how-many-movie-theaters-are-there-in-the-us-today The remaining screens are primarily occupied by every other Hollywood blockbuster currently in play.
This is why the few indie movies that even make it to a commercial release often end up on the smallest screen at the multiplex. You know, the one that seats about fifty people and have an entrance that even the staff mistakes for the door to the broom closet. (When I was a critic, I actually had this problem on a few occasions with the staff – first they had the screening room confused with the broom closet, and then with the restroom!)
Granted, when any business has to choose between fairness and profit, they will go for profit. They would be fools to do otherwise. This means that it is basically impossible for the indie film industry to currently challenge the mainstream Hollywood control of theatrical distribution. Even the few indie films that can provide a strong box office look thin compared to the average tent pole production. In many ways, the comparison between indie and mainstream is an apples and oranges issue. But most theater owners are lousy at the fruit business and can only focus on raw (if sometimes misleading) figures.
This is one of the reasons why indie filmmakers are always looking for alternative distribution methods. Increasingly, video on demand (VoD) has become a major focus for many indie films http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?t=37825, though the results have so far been mixed and the attitude of those involved is extremely varied. Besides, many indie filmmakers would really love to see their work on the big screen. OK, maybe not even a really big screen, but at least something that is bigger than a TV set.
Special presentations in unusual locations have been one stunt that sometimes works.
Years ago I knew a guy who had some success presenting classic experimental movies at a local drive-in http://cinemoireviews.blogspot.com/2009/04/art-night-at-drive-in.html. It actually played to an audience and only stopped when the drive-in owner got too carried away with his demands for a cut. In principal, this is simply a variation on four-walling http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/features/kevin-smith-red-state-self-distributing-four-walling.php but the drive-in shift added just enough of a new element to make it distinctive. It also allowed the audience to honk away as a form of applause.
Likewise, there are locations that totally veers outside of the confines of traditional film presentation. Rooftop Films in New York http://rooftopfilms.com/2012/schedule/rural-route-800pm-1 is committed to, well their name is pretty straight forward. While they don’t simply limit themselves to large industrial rooftops, they have pursued an interesting program of screenings that create an interface between various movies and selected communities. At its best, it offers a form of direct audience development as well as a movie venue.
The approach can be both engaging and extremely difficult. I was once approached by a civic organization that wanted to do a film presentation in an open lot in a section of town that was undergoing major urban renewal (read: gentrification http://www.city-data.com/forum/columbus/334238-two-questions-about-columbus-regarding-growth-2.html). The idea involved setting up a projection system that would use a half dilapidated brick building as a type of screen and be open to all comers.
There were a few problems. Nobody had yet discussed this idea with whoever owned the lot. It wasn’t really clear who owned the brick building. No one had a budget (which would be necessary for all of the equipment involved in trying to do this screening). Oh, and I would need to keep in mind some “issues” they were having in the area with gang activities, racial assaults and occasional violent clashes between the largely poor residents in the area who were in the process of being displaced by the younger, richer, predominately white and much “gayer” newcomers. And by the way, was I going to charge for this work?
So obviously such screening require a certain amount of legal, monetary, and even sociological effort. You need to thoroughly check and cover all bases. For example, you do need to get people’s permission to use their property. Also, you may find yourself dealing with some security concerns that would normally never occur to you. And yes, I would be intending to charge for this work. Like what, I’m running a charity? The idea never took off, which was OK. I had to wonder where my name would appear in the news stories. Among the injured or the dead?
The secret cinema approach is another emerging concept. The best known example is the Secret Cinema organization http://www.secretcinema.org/ in the UK http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/hanna-flint/a-brave-new-venture-for-s_b_1545073.html. Since they do keep it all a secret, I don’t know that much about their activities though it sounds as if they have so far focused largely toward “private” presentations of mainstream films. But the concept obviously has potential for diverse applications (which they seem to be exploring).
The music and concert venue is another forum that has been successfully used. In the old days of the Punk movement http://articles.latimes.com/2010/sep/09/entertainment/la-et-punk-photoshow-20100909 clubs like CBGB http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBGB became a steady showcase for the early movies of such artists as Beth B http://cinemoireviews.blogspot.com/2009/04/two-small-bodies.html. A few indie filmmakers have combined a film screening with a rock concert. Any mix and match of live music and film requires a reliable match up of the audience. At its worse, you could end up with two different houses rubbing each other the wrong way. But at its best, you could steer toward something resembling the audience participation at The Rocky Horror Picture Show http://www.rockyhorror.com/participation/.
Finally, there is the Giulio Scalinger http://azstarnet.com/entertainment/movies/article_48ebd546-e37b-518a-998b-e82374775b85.html idea that he and I seriously explored back in the 1970s at the Athens International Film Festival http://www.ohio.edu/orgs/athensfest/. He thought it might work to have two trucks driving through town all night. On the first truck would be the speakers and the screen while the second would house the projection system. We were never able to reliably solve the technical problems and finally gave up. But I keep thinking that the idea could work.
Barring traffic tickets.
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