The sky is falling. Indie bloodbath. Independent film is dead. All are phrases that have provoked passionate discussions. Instead of going there, though, a group of distribution veterans eschewed dark talk in favor of optimism earlier this week at a signature IFP panel discussion on the current state of film distribution.
The old model-making a film with investors, taking it to festivals, selling it there and releasing it months later in theaters before hitting other ancillary markets-is nearly gone, the group seemed to agree.