American Independent Cinema: An Introduction

by Yannis Tzioumakis

From the prestige films of Cagney Productions to recent, ultra-low budget cult hits, such as Clerks and The Blair Witch Project , American independent cinema has produced some of the most distinctive films ever made. This comprehensive introduction draws on key films, filmmakers, and film companies from the early twentieth century to the present to examine the factors that shaped this vital and evolving mode of filmmaking. Specifically, it explores the complex and dynamic relations between independent and mainstream Hollywood cinema, showing how institutional, industrial, and economic changes in the latter have shaped and informed the former. Ordered chronologically, the book begins with Independent Filmmaking in the Studio Era (examining both top-rank and low-end film production), moves to the 1950s and 1960s (discussing both the adoption of independent filmmaking as the main method of production as well as exploitation filmmaking), and finishes with contemporary American independent cinema (exploring areas such as the New Hollywood, the rise of mini-major and major independent companies and the institutionalization of independent cinema in the 1990s). Each chapter includes case studies which focus on specific films, filmmakers, and production and distribution companies.

Genres: Film, Media Tie In

320 pages, Paperback

Published August 21, 2006

About the author

Yannis Tzioumakis is Reader in Film and Media Industries in the Department of Communication and Media, School of the Arts at the University of Liverpool. He teaches courses on American independent cinema and on the political economy of global entertainment with particular emphasis on Hollywood cinema.

Reviews

[Joe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tzioumakis starts his study at the dawn of the studio system (1908) and examines the evolving ways in which all types of people involved in the production of films--producers, writers, actors, etc.--have acted independent of that system, before, in many cases, becoming the system themselves. The book provides an ever-changing, though almost always economically-based, definition of the word independent and given its scope, that makes sense; the hallmarks of cinematic independence in 1909 vastly differ from the hallmarks of cinematic independence in 1999. Each chapter of the book provides a case study in a particular figure or film, but the vast majority of the work explores the economic and systemic factors leading to an Independent American Cinema. That's the main strength of this book but also its biggest flaw--it focuses far too much on the business end of independent cinema, which means the author basically ignores films that have little to no connection to the film business--neither Maya Darren nor Stan Brackage are once mentioned in over 250 pages. In essence, Tzioumakis allows the major studios to define independence, which is certainly an odd, not mention problematic, way to go. However, the book has some really fascinating info, especially on the ultra low budget exploitation films of the 50s and 60s as well as on the ethnic cinema of the 20s, 30s, and 40s.

[Grant · Rating 3 out of 5]

This historical inquiry into the nature and history of independent cinema was quite thorough, but not for everyone. Not a gossipy book by any means but a focused close examination of the business models, successes, and failures of individual producers and companies and their films.

[E_h · Rating 2 out of 5]

An extremely dry look at the independent sector of America's film industry; primarily an examination of the independents' fiscal practices.