Indie 2.0: Change and Continuity in Contemporary American Indie Film

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What is the state of American indie cinema in the second decade of the twenty-first century Some have forecast an end to the viability of an indie sector marked by the appearance of films with ambitions significantly beyond those of the commercial mainstream. But, as this book demonstrates, plenty of distinctively indie productions continue to thrive, even in the face of difficult economic circumstances. Using the term indie 2.0 to denote the particular form of independent feature production that achieved cultural prominence in this contemporary period, Geoff King explores new opportunities for indie films, including the use of low-cost digital video and the pursuit of the internet and social media as alternative means of funding, distribution, promotion and sales.
Other detailed case studies focus on the ultra-low-budget 'mumblecore' movement; the social realism of filmmakers such as Kelly Reichardt and Ramin Bahrani; the 'digital desktop' aesthetics of Susan Buice and Arin Crumley's "Four Eyed Monsters" and Jonathan Caouette's "Tarnation", and the articulation of notions of 'true' indie in opposition to what are seen by some as the quirky contrivances of cross-over hits such as "Little Miss Sunshine" and "Juno".

Reviews

'Indie 2.0 offers a valuable combination of close critical analyses of several key works, discussions of film production and distribution practices, and considerations of critical and cultural reception. Geoff King weaves these different kinds of commentary together into a convincing and timely study on the renewal of indie cinema that draws on many of the historically rooted conventions and appeals of alternative film practice in the twentieth century.' Michael Z. Newman, author of Indie: An American Film Culture

Author Bio

Geoff King is Professor of Film and TV Studies at Brunel University and author of books including American Independent Cinema; Indiewood, USA: Where Hollywood Meets Independent Cinema; New Hollywood Cinema: An Introduction, and Spectacular Naratives: Hollywood in the Age of the Blockbuster, all published by I.B.Tauris.