An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies. Independent films are sometimes distinguishable by their content and style and the way in which the filmmakers' personal artistic vision is realized. Usually, but not always, independent films are made with considerably lower budgets than major studio films.
New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros.. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio. It was acquired by Turner Broadcasting System in 1994; Turner later merged with Time Warner in 1996, and New Line was merged with Warner Bros. Pictures in 2008. The studio has been nicknamed, "The House that Freddy Built" due to the success of the Nightmare on Elm Street film series.
2929 Entertainment, LLC. is an American integrated media and entertainment company co-founded by billionaire entrepreneurs Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban. 2929 maintains companies and interests across several industries including entertainment development and packaging, film and television production and distribution, digital and broadcast syndication, theatrical exhibition, and home entertainment.
Todd R. Wagner is an American entrepreneur, co-founder of Broadcast.com and founder and CEO of a company called Charity Network which organizes regular fund raisings. He also co-owns 2929 Entertainment with Mark Cuban, along with other entertainment companies.
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, formerly known as Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc. until 2007, is an American film distribution studio within the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. It handles theatrical and occasional digital distribution, marketing and promotion for films produced and released by the Walt Disney Studios, including Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, and 20th Century Studios; the Searchlight Pictures label operates its own autonomous theatrical distribution and marketing unit.
PBS Distribution (PBSd), formerly known as PBS Ventures, PBS Home Video, and Public Media Distribution, is the home video distribution unit of American television network PBS. The company releases and sells home videos of PBS series and movies and PBS Kids series in various formats.
Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd. is an Australian distribution and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatrical and home entertainment formats in Australia and New Zealand.
A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and video. These groups consist of technical staff to produce the media, and are often incorporated as a commercial publisher. Generally the term refers to all individuals responsible for the technical aspects of creating a particular product, regardless of where in the process their expertise is required, or how long they are involved in the project. For example, in a theatrical performance, the production team has not only the running crew, but also the theatrical producer, designers and theatrical direction.
A film distributor is responsible for the marketing of a film. The distribution company may be the same with, or different from, the production company. Distribution deals are an important part of financing a film.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment LLC is the home video division of the American media company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Picturehouse is an American independent entertainment company owned by CEO Bob Berney and COO Jeanne R. Berney. Based in Los Angeles, the company specializes in film marketing and distribution, both in the U.S. and internationally. Its releases have included Metallica Through the Never, and Adam Wingard’s Sundance Film Festival selection The Guest, an Independent Spirit Award nominee starring Dan Stevens.
Film finance is an aspect of film production that occurs during the development stage prior to pre-production, and is concerned with determining the potential value of a proposed film.
A simultaneous release, also known as a day-and-date release, is the release of a film on multiple platforms—most commonly theatrical and home video—on the exact same day, or in very close proximity to each other. This is in contrast to the industry standard of having a window of exclusivity between the theatrical and home video releases.
CBS Films Inc. was an American film production and distribution company founded in 2007 as a subsidiary of CBS Corporation and was considered a mini-major studio up until 2019.
Nelson Entertainment was a Los Angeles-based film production and home video distribution company, a subsidiary of Nelson Holdings International Ltd., a Vancouver, Canada, holding company formed in 1985 by British film producer Barry Spikings and Richard Northcott, a British financier who amassed his fortune from a chain of hardware and furniture stores.
The Film Collaborative (TFC) is the first non-profit, full-service provider dedicated to the distribution of independent film, including narrative features and documentaries. Based in Los Angeles, The Film Collaborative services filmmakers worldwide by providing distribution guidance and support as well as theatrical, film festival and digital distribution of art house, independent and world cinema.
Annapurna Pictures is an independent American media company founded by Megan Ellison in 2007, that specializes in film production, live theatre production, television through its Annapurna Television division, and video game publishing through its Annapurna Interactive division.
Indie Rights, Inc. is an American distributor of independent films, based in Los Angeles, California. Indie Rights is a subsidiary of Nelson Madison Films and was incorporated in 2007 to act as distributor for other independent filmmakers. The corporation began as a private MySpace group where the makers of independent films could get information about the changing face of film distribution; founders Linda Nelson and Michael Madison created Indie Rights so that distribution contracts could be signed by a legal entity. The corporation distributes films largely through video on demand services, though more recently it has overseen such theatrical releases as We Are Kings and Fray, both in 2014.
Vista Group International Limited provides film industry technology for studios, distributors, exhibitors, and moviegoers globally.
New Nigerian Cinema is an emerging phase in Nigerian cinema, in which there became a major shift in the method of film production, from the video format, which came about during the video boom, back to the cinema method, which constituted the films produced in the Golden era of Nigerian cinema history. The films in the New Wave are specifically characterized by improved narrative complexity, aesthetic nuance, much higher budgets and advanced overall production values, when compared to video films from the second generation of filmmakers. They are mostly released theatrically, although some are still released directly on DVD.
