Oscars, Documentary Film, IndiePix, and Two Revolutions Made by You and I

Last Tuesday I attended the NonFiction Film Awards (a.k.a. Cinama Eye Honors) at IFC Film center in Manhattan.

What is that? Sure, we all heard of these:

• Academy Awards - Oscars are awarded to professional filmakers held around LA, California.
  
• Sandance - various Prizes and Awards are given to independent filmmakers. Ceremony takes place in Park City, Utah.
  
• Cannes - Palme d'Or and other awards are presented to primarily professional filmmakers and held in Cannes, France.

...but, Cinema Eye Awards doesn't ring a bell. That's because nobody knows about them... yet. Nonetheless, the ceremony was truly remarkable because it presented something we all knew about, but may not have realized we did.

Two revolutions are happening in film industry right now. As many big changes, these two are gradual and take place over a period of several years. Though, decades later they will probably seem as if it all happened overnight.

The First Big Change
Camcorders became very affordable and high-quality. Nowadays, it is so darn easy to make a fiction film. It is even easier to make a documentary film -- there's no need for actors. One can simply videotape something interesting and edit out boring and unimportant parts.

The Second Big Change...
...is happening in film distribution. Traditionally, the big money are made from showing movies in theaters. $10 per ticket + $15 for popcorn and soda easily adds up to $30 million in revenue from an average movie on an opening weekend. Another traditional source of revenue from films is DVD rentals and sales (via Blockbuster, for example).

Let's say I made a good film using my Cannon camcorder and my Mac laptop and recorded it on a DVD. Because I'm an independent (indie) filmmaker, I probably won't be able to convince my local Blockbuster to put my film on a shelf and pay me a percentage from rentals.

Internet redefines all that. Free streaming video web sites, such as youtube.com, is a perfect way to let people watch my film. I just don't get paid... well, let's hold this thought until later.

Because of these two changes, a huge number of new films, especially documentaries, got created. My VeloVideo project is one of them. A lot of these films are trivial and uninteresting, but some are actually very good. People want to see them because these films deal with interesting issues. (Remember Supersize Me -- if you saw it -- a documentary about a guy who ate only at McDonalds for 30 days and nearly died from it?)

No Oscars For Youtube
The Academy doesn't know how to deal the new indie films. These documentaries are overwhelming. First, because they are filmed and edited in non-traditional "live" ways. Second, because there are hundreds of them. So, the Academy simply ignored many of these new films. The Oscars ceremony this year was as usual -- old familiar faces. The show made it look like the new documentary films simply did not exist. IndiePix's AJ Schnack points this out quite well.

The Golden Opportunity
So, there is a loophole: people want to watch good documentaries. Independent filmmakers create films and want to make money from them. But, Hollywood ignores and doesn't distribute these films. New companies, such as IndiePix, step in to provide distribution.

A Smart Move
So, what does the IndiePix do? Among other things they...

• scout for good films at many film festivals around the country (nearly every big city hosts a film festival nowadays).
• point out the loophole in the Oscars nominations.
• host their own "Oscars," called Cinema Eye Awards, for independent documentary films.
• contract with indie filmmakers for distribution (sales) of films via IndiePix web site.
• pay indie filmmakers monthly for each copy of the film that sells.
  

In Summary
When you and I filmed something cute and interesting with a camcorder and posted it on youtube, we participated in two quiet revolutions in film. When we watched some new video online and sent a link to our friend, we helped create the new demand for documentaries. The old film industry people, who give out Oscars, didn't know how to deal with many new doc films. The smart people at IndiePix stepped up to the plate and started distribution of indie films thorough the web. Indie filmmakers who distribute through IndiePix get paid if films sell.

How do I know all this? Well, my film teacher at NYU happens to be a film scout and a producer for the IndiePix.