Utopian visions for American independent filmmaking

Abstract

Abstract Today’s American independent movie scene, like the contemporary world system, is plagued by political economic contradictions and crises. Thousands of indie filmmakers across the country find their works increasingly lost in a rapidly changing marketplace where cinematic supply, bolstered by a proliferation of digital production technologies and online distribution platforms, far exceeds audience demand. And yet, a group of besieged artists working in the shadows of Hollywood are envisioning a utopian tomorrow despite the unprecedented challenges they face today. In fact, these unsung directors, producers, and writers express enthusiasm about precisely the new business models, media shifts and social relations that are threatening their very livelihoods. They are using their filmmaking imaginations to engage in ‘dialectical dreaming’, a playful process of generating ideal possibilities out of everyday limitations. Examples from an ethnographic study of more than twenty such filmmakers living in Los Angeles include the invention of cognitive storytelling software to level the resource playing field, the development of completely collaborative film projects through crowd-sourcing, and the transformation of single-family households into creative community workspaces. These dialectical dreams of socialized means of production, collectively owned intellectual property, and public/private sphere synthesis are placed within the context of recent innovations in Marxist theorizing about utopia in the hopes of inspiring not only new forms of cinematic practice, but also radical action among creative professionals across the current socio-economic structure.