Independent film is not financed by a major studio. It doesn't matter what people are involved, how good the movie is, or how much the studio is calling the shots. The major studio may give more creative flexibility to Quentin Tarantino than to Peter Jackson than to Michael Bay. But "Pulp Fiction", "Lord of the Rings", and "Armageddon" were all financed by major studios, studios made some decisions regarding their development, and the studios own the negatives.

Jim Jarmusch, Stan Brakhage, and thousands of lesser-known, usually horrible directors make independent films. Their films are self-financed ("welfare films" indeed!), made with complete freedom, and the filmmaker owns the negatives. Johnny Depp starred in Jarmusch's "Dead Man" but it is still an indie film because Jarmusch financed it, called the shots, and owns the negatives. The Star Wars prequels had massive budgets and big-name people involved, but they are indie films because George Lucas financed them himself and owns the movies.

I'd guess that 95% of Hollywood films suck and 99.99% of indie films suck. Depending on how you apply "indie" to foreign studios and foreign-produced pictures, I'd still guess there are more good indie films made each year than good Hollywood (read: "major studio") films. But maybe that's because I'm an artsy-fartsy film snob and I think most Hollywood films are boring, derivative, unintelligent coprolites - nearly by definition. "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" was freakin' awesome, though.

At least Hollywood is still better than Bollywood.

Do you view a film with different expectations because of the "indie" lable? why?

If I had a choice between films as enchanting as Junebug, Me and You and Everyone We Know, and Broken Flowers or Transporter 2, A Sound of Thunder, and Deuce Bigalow, I think I know what I'd go for.

I have been thinking about this a bit more since my first comment on the subject of indy flicks, and for me it comes down to feel. How the movie is shot and edited, as was as presented in the trailer makes the difference to me. If you are willing to take your time as a film maker and let the story and characters happen organically, then that to me is an indy flick. If your trailer makes the movie seen really fringy and off the beaten path, you are an indy flick to me. If by viewing your trailer I think the story is all fucked up and original or hits close to home for me, you are an indy flick. How financed it doesn't matter, what does it the feel or the flow of the movie. If your movie is assaulting me with images, fast cuts, insane actions, and innane dialogue that won't crack a smile, your movie is the complete opposite to what I would classify as an indy flick. Some of the best indies I have been were shorts, and they were sparked by a person's idiosyncratic behaviour or quirk, or by some spark of an idea someone got from a long ago made memory brought back to the foreground after smoking a blunt. (Guess you can tell that I like Kevin Smith movies from that last statement.) And other times, for me, the smaller the budget and the more brilliant the foreign actor, the more I will love the film, and therefore the chances of me calling it an indy flick are far greater.

Anyway, that's all I go by when I approach indy flicks.

"...as was as presented..." Uh, yeah. It's been a nice long unproductive weekend. I can't think clearly anymore from the apparent lack of exercise my brain got laying on the couch catching up on 30+ hours of my soap opera recordings. Sorry about that, people. Carry on without me.

Okay, Im Bad At Commenting But Here Is This.
Some Indie Movies Do Start Major Hollywood Actors.
Hence Maybe Garden State Was Completly Driven By Zack Braff Yet He Was Able To Get Soem Major Hollywood Actors/ACtresses and It Was Distributed By Miramax.

I find this boring and irrelevant. A good film is a film you like. Never mind the "label".

As for the Audio Edition this week: Too many people in the "studio". 2-3 is just right. If you want to digg deep into one topic, do an extra podcast for that topic.

/Charlie