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Many More Indie Films Are Released, but Not Very Widely, Study Finds
Tuesday April 10th 2012LOS ANGELES – Toward the back of an annual statistical download last month from the Motion Picture Association of America were some numbers that reveal the changing contours of film distribution in the United States.
The statistics point toward a seeming explosion in the number of indie films being released. Over the last 10 years, there has been a 74 percent increase in the number of movies being distributed by companies other than members of the M.P.A.A. – to 469 in 2011, from 270 in 2002. That happened even as the film count from those big member companies – Fox, Disney, Sony, Warner, Paramount, and Universal – and their units fell 31 percent, to 141 from 205 over those same years.
But a closer look shows how the nature of an independent release has changed as well, and not necessarily in a way that puts those movies in front of more theatrical ticket buyers. The figures showed a near collapse in the number of films being released by the studio specialty units, as Disney sold Miramax and Paramount diminished its small-movie presence. In all, the number of films from the subsidiaries, which had been relatively well heeled and often gave their pictures a fairly wide release, fell 55 percent, to 37 in 2011 from 82 in 2002.
What’s more startling is that about 29 percent of the growth in the number of indie releases appears to have come from just two companies, Magnolia and IFC Films; both enterprises specialize in matching what is often an extremely limited theatrical release of a movie with an overlapping video-on-demand presence. The strategy helps brand a movie by getting reviews in New York and sometimes Los Angeles, but generally relies more on video than on the box office for viewers.
According to counts compiled by Boxofficemojo.com, Magnolia and IFC together last year released 66 films in theaters (often in five or fewer of them), up from a combined total of nine films (most of those on a larger number of screens than today) in 2002. In all, the theatrical output from the two companies was up by 57 films since 2002, not quite a third of the 199-film increase in indie output for the period, as noted by the M.P.A.A.’s study.
Source: NY Times
Front Page, Industry News
Many More Indie Films Are Released, but Not Very Widely, Study Finds
Tuesday April 10th 2012LOS ANGELES – Toward the back of an annual statistical download last month from the Motion Picture Association of America were some numbers that reveal the changing contours of film distribution in the United States.
The statistics point toward a seeming explosion in the number of indie films being released. Over the last 10 years, there has been a 74 percent increase in the number of movies being distributed by companies other than members of the M.P.A.A. – to 469 in 2011, from 270 in 2002. That happened even as the film count from those big member companies – Fox, Disney, Sony, Warner, Paramount, and Universal – and their units fell 31 percent, to 141 from 205 over those same years.
But a closer look shows how the nature of an independent release has changed as well, and not necessarily in a way that puts those movies in front of more theatrical ticket buyers. The figures showed a near collapse in the number of films being released by the studio specialty units, as Disney sold Miramax and Paramount diminished its small-movie presence. In all, the number of films from the subsidiaries, which had been relatively well heeled and often gave their pictures a fairly wide release, fell 55 percent, to 37 in 2011 from 82 in 2002.
What’s more startling is that about 29 percent of the growth in the number of indie releases appears to have come from just two companies, Magnolia and IFC Films; both enterprises specialize in matching what is often an extremely limited theatrical release of a movie with an overlapping video-on-demand presence. The strategy helps brand a movie by getting reviews in New York and sometimes Los Angeles, but generally relies more on video than on the box office for viewers.
According to counts compiled by Boxofficemojo.com, Magnolia and IFC together last year released 66 films in theaters (often in five or fewer of them), up from a combined total of nine films (most of those on a larger number of screens than today) in 2002. In all, the theatrical output from the two companies was up by 57 films since 2002, not quite a third of the 199-film increase in indie output for the period, as noted by the M.P.A.A.’s study.
Source: NY Times
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Front Page, Industry News
Many More Indie Films Are Released, but Not Very Widely, Study Finds
Tuesday April 10th 2012LOS ANGELES – Toward the back of an annual statistical download last month from the Motion Picture Association of America were some numbers that reveal the changing contours of film distribution in the United States.
The statistics point toward a seeming explosion in the number of indie films being released. Over the last 10 years, there has been a 74 percent increase in the number of movies being distributed by companies other than members of the M.P.A.A. – to 469 in 2011, from 270 in 2002. That happened even as the film count from those big member companies – Fox, Disney, Sony, Warner, Paramount, and Universal – and their units fell 31 percent, to 141 from 205 over those same years.
But a closer look shows how the nature of an independent release has changed as well, and not necessarily in a way that puts those movies in front of more theatrical ticket buyers. The figures showed a near collapse in the number of films being released by the studio specialty units, as Disney sold Miramax and Paramount diminished its small-movie presence. In all, the number of films from the subsidiaries, which had been relatively well heeled and often gave their pictures a fairly wide release, fell 55 percent, to 37 in 2011 from 82 in 2002.
What’s more startling is that about 29 percent of the growth in the number of indie releases appears to have come from just two companies, Magnolia and IFC Films; both enterprises specialize in matching what is often an extremely limited theatrical release of a movie with an overlapping video-on-demand presence. The strategy helps brand a movie by getting reviews in New York and sometimes Los Angeles, but generally relies more on video than on the box office for viewers.
According to counts compiled by Boxofficemojo.com, Magnolia and IFC together last year released 66 films in theaters (often in five or fewer of them), up from a combined total of nine films (most of those on a larger number of screens than today) in 2002. In all, the theatrical output from the two companies was up by 57 films since 2002, not quite a third of the 199-film increase in indie output for the period, as noted by the M.P.A.A.’s study.
Source: NY Times
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