Cover of The Blair Witch Project

You may have enjoyed famous independent films such as “The Blair Witch Project” or “Juno” and, while you may or may not have realized these films were not produced by major film production studios, perhaps you dreamed of making a great film yourself some day.  These days, there are more opportunities to become an independent filmmaker than ever before.

In the early 1900s, the major studios dominated filmmaking, as making movies was a relatively new idea using new technology and naturally, it took a lot of money to produce films.  Studios such as 20th Century Fox, Paramount and Warner Bros. are the three major film studios with the longest history from the Golden Age of filmmaking to today’s environment full of smaller studios to compete with the big boys.  Also, independent films are popping up all the time made by studio’s nobody in the industry even knew existed.

Today, however, a lot of mainstream movies are actually indie films using well-known actors.  The Coen brothers, making movies such as “Fargo” and “No Country for Old Men” are essentially independent filmmakers, but because of their skill, previous successes and expert storytelling, they are well known producers who make movies featuring megastars such as Brad Pitt and George Clooney.  The little guys, so to speak, are now more able than ever before to achieve their dreams of making movies.

Independent films are being made all the time and many become popular.  Most, however, probably have a small market share overall, but the filmmakers can still make a nice profit.  Imagine making a profit of even just $50,000 on a film that only took you a couple of months to make.  That is a yearly income for a lot of people, and if you make that much by fulfilling your passion, well, you can not put a price on that.  So, you can make a living out of making indie films, but how much do they cost to make?

While making films certainly does not generally come cheap and production companies often have big budgets, a good indie film can be made for as little as $100 or as much as $10 million.  The advent of digital filmmaking is one welcome improvement in filmmaking technology.  A lot of productions these days shoot entire films with digital cameras that give crisp images and then edit the film with computer programs such as Final Cut Pro, Avid Media Composer, and Adobe Premiere Pro.

You may be interested in film directing or producing, or more interested in cinematography.  Most independent filmmakers will be proficient in all these areas but may hire someone else to fill some of these roles and work with them because it is an almost impossible task to do everything on your own.  You will likely want to engage in a film studies course to learn the trade and to get some experience, or find  production companies that provide internships.  Working with people who have been there before will help you to achieve your dreams.  If you are ambitious enough, you could even be accepting an Oscar someday!

Related articles on the web:

• Indie Film Shakeout: There Will Be Blood (time.com)
• Paranormal Activity tops US box office despite micro budget (telegraph.co.uk)
• Following ‘Paranormal,’ What Price Scary Glory? (nytimes.com)