Independent Filmmaking and Digital Convergence

1Introduction: Independents vs. the Mainstream

The traditional definition of independent film by Roger Ebert is that it is a film made outside of the studio system, with independent financing, which remains true to the director’s vision. So, you have three areas: financing, production and artistry. There have been a lot of cycles within independent film, what it meant throughout the last couple of decades, until 2001, when the bubble collapsed.

—Anthony Kaufman, film writer, teacher and festival programmer¹

In 2012, the young filmmaker Benh Zeitlin made his first feature film, Beasts of the Southern Wild. The screenplay was adapted by Zeitlin and Lucy Alibar from Alibar’s one-act play Juicy and Delicious. Made in the style of magical realism, ...