Geoff Gilmore Gets Grilled

Grill: Do you think young filmmakers are discouraged by the state of independent film?

Gilmore: I don’t know the answer to that. I’m not sure if they’re discouraged. I’m not sure they have as much interest in it as filmmakers of 20 years ago. They just might be interested in a lot of other things: technology, different kinds of forms, which aren’t what we looked at 30 years ago. I ultimately think festivals will change formats, presentations, we’re going to look at different ways of showcasing film.  

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 As Sundance wound down on Sunday, The Grill quizzed Festival Director Geoff Gilmore about the state of independent film.

Grill: Does Sundance still matter? With independent film in crisis, with specialty divisions like Picturehouse and Warner Independent disappearing, is Sundance still relevant? 

Gilmore: The question overloads how you look at it. Is the fact that the industry is suffering various crises of liquidity and the marketplace overcrowded for a number of years – are the chickens coming home to roost? The answer to that is, yes, to some degree. But to some degree it’s not any different [than the past]. It’s always been a difficult arena. It’s a risky business. 

Grill: But where will people go to see independent films? 

Gilmore: I’m not arguing with you that there is not a moment right now, in the 30-year arc of the independent film business, that makes us question where things are headed. The industry has reached a point where some of the safety nets, some of the structures that ruled its growth, are changing. World of DVD, pay television is a different world. That was a safety net for indep film for many many years. That’s not the case any more.  

I’m not someone who believes that the independent film crisis isn’t real. But the ways of thinking about it are complicated. Have the audiences changed? They may have.  

Grill: What do you mean by the audiences have changed?  

Gilmore: The last 30 years of growth have happened with one generation’s fascination with cinema. With the new generation you see interesting contradiction – a new generation that knows more about independent and international film than anyone did in the 1970s. And yet they’re not as interested in it. I’d go to 4 films a week in my 20s. Kids don’t do that.  

Grill: So then how does independent film survive?  

Gilmore: There’s another issue. There’s the nature of the work. Have public tastes changed. Is independent film old hat? The freshness that fuelled independent film doesn’t feel as fresh. So maybe films won’t have growth over next decade they’ve had. What is the level at which these films succeed? How does that effect smaller films? All these are questions. Nobody I know has the answers to them.  

Grill: What’s the ratio of new filmmakers to old filmmakers? I see Joe Berlinger was back. RJ Cutler. Tom DiCillo made a documentary. Any 22-year-olds in diapers this year? 

Gilmore: There are slightly fewer new filmmakers.

 

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