INDEPENDENTS' DAY

What the Internet has done for independent filmmakers is nothing short of revolutionary. The shift occurred so quickly and introduced such sweeping change that the industry simply reinvented itself overnight.

When I say “independent” film, I don't mean the latest studio-produced picture from Miramax. I'm talking about passionate individuals using home computers to create, promote and distribute short films and features. Thousands of independents with vision, cheap equipment and endless drive are creating a new category of cinema, directing their future prospects armed with a mouse instead of a bullhorn.

Information is readily available online on how to produce a film, secure investors, enter film festivals and find actors and a crew. Off-the-shelf software allows a filmmaker to edit a movie almost as easily as cutting and pasting text.

But editing software and data alone aren't enough. Promotion is the key to standing out in a crowded marketplace, and broadband makes it possible for filmmakers to get their work to fans hungry for new discoveries. Trailers, select scenes and even entire movies make their way over high-speed Internet connection to audiences willing to offer an opinion or a rating.

For beginning filmmakers, feedback is key to honing their craft, getting much-needed exposure and building a career. Some filmmakers have even used their own Web sites to test the viability of marketing materials for their movies, from posters to trailers.

“The Blair Witch Project” is a perfect example. An online audience was critical to getting feedback on what worked and what didn't. The film's connection to its target audience via its Web site proved invaluable when it came to selling the movie: This little $60,000 project grossed $140 million at the box office, becoming the most successful independent film of all time and paving the way for film marketing via the Web. The success of “The Blair Witch Project” prompted Hollywood to take the Web seriously as a promotional vehicle. Now, virtually every movie marketing campaign comes with an aggressive push on the Internet through downloadable trailers, select scenes and interviews with cast and crew.

Independent filmmakers have to make a direct connection with their audience, and broadband is the best tool available to accomplish that. Filmmakers must think of their movie like company stock, and everything they do — promotion, publicity, getting good reviews, etc. — helps increase the value of that property.

The possibilities for filmmakers today are virtually endless, limited only by the technology at their audience's disposal.

DOSSIER CHRIS GORE

Occupation: Film activist; publisher of FilmThreat.com, an independent film Web site; author of “The Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide” and “The 50 Greatest Movies Never Made”

Place of residence: Los Angeles

Current reading: “The Toy Collector” by James Gunn

Favorite Web site: TheOnion.com, TheForce.net, Nitpickers.com, Badjocks.com

Next project: The book “Shooting Nude Scenes,” which explores the filmmaker's relationship with actors. “I'll expose how a director creates an environment on the set where actors can allow themselves to be vulnerable on camera — ‘emotionally naked,’ so to speak. Catchy title, huh?”