Over the last 10 weeks, the independent film “industry” has been restructured before our eyes. Let’s take a look:

1. ThinkFilm, having paid up for films that performed weakly in the theatrical market, reorganized it’s Canadian distribution with a transaction involving Entertainment One. [See note below]

2. New Line Cinema, respected for its having pioneered “edgy” films into the mass market, is closed by Warner Bros; 450 jobs in NY and LA lost.

3. Picturehouse, run by top indie film distributor Bob Berney, is closed by Warner and titles folded into the studio.

4. Warner Independent, the so-called “independent” arm of Warner managed by a former studio exec, Polly Cohen, is closed and folded into the studio.

5. Cablevision, owner of the IFC channel, successfully bids an estimated $500 million for the Sundance Channel, now controls all cable presentation of independent film.

6. Discovery Networks, after purchasing rights to and then declining to show “Taxi to the Dark Side“, Discovery is rumoured to be closing their independent film activity and may cut back on their support of Silver Docs

Is the world of indie film burning up? Or is a new era about to emerge?

We have been convinced that the traditional models of distribution, which barely work for the major studios, do not work — at all — in some scaled down version for independent film. (We don’t think they work for the Hollywood studios either, but that’s another discussion.) The economics of distributing films in theaters — with the extraordinary costs of theater rental, newspaper advertising, and related distribution expenses — simply make theaters outmoded. Digital distribution of high quality images to theaters is literally a drop in the financial bucket and won’t make any economic difference at all.

And if theaters are not part of the distribution of independent film, the indie labels (like Think Film, Magnolia, and others) — not to mention the so-called “independent” divisions of the studios (like Fox Searchlight, Universal’s Focus Features, and Paramount Vantage) — don’t have any good ideas about what to do next. What do they think about how to match the vision and artistry of non-studio filmmakers with the audiences that demonstrably exist? It’s not that there is no demand for independent film. It’s that those who are entrusted with “distributing” don’t know how to reach it. And it’s not that they are not smart people. It’s that their corporate organizations and structures do not have the tools or the flexibility or the room to innovate.

There is a new world struggling to be born, a new era in top quality film that is about to emerge. Just look at Jordan’s post on the films and filmmakers that will be part of the Sundance “Directors and Screenwriters Lab”. It is not imaginable that this talent will not find its audience. It is entirely imaginable that existing structures don’t know how to do it.

But there will be a new era in independent filmmaking — an era in which the best films with the most amazing cinematography, seamless in their editing and storytelling, thrilling in their visions of the human experience, unlimited by geographical or cultural or language boundaries will find their audiences in every corner of the world. The changing economics of theatrical exhibition have contrived to bring down the structures intended to hold films up for view. But the economics of the new technologies will — and are — creating new opportunities for new voices to reach new audiences.

It will be an extraordinary moment. IndiePix is committed to help making it happen.

(update: 21 March 08 — Thanks to Alex Klenert at ThinkFilm for clarifying ThinkFilm’s transaction with Entertainment One in Canada. As a practical matter, this new alignment will strengthen distribution for the company’s titles in Canada and contributes to the development of a new distribution force there.)