It is hard to define independent films/videos—“indies”—in late twentieth-century America. Indies can include training tapes made by a drugrehab center, orientation films for new employees, Todd Hayes’ Poison (1985) or the Oscar-winning big-budget Dances with Wolves (1990). Broadly speaking, independent films/videos are those not made by major studios which are vertically integrated with their own production and distribution arms. Film remains the primary medium for theatrical release, while videos gain audiences through broadcasting. Industrials are shown within an organization, while independent documentaries and lower-budget and shorter features seek exposure in film festivals, museums or on television. While Oscar winners like Platoon (1986) and Silence of the Lambs (1991) are considered independent films, directors like Woody Allen, Spike Lee, Oliver Stone and Quentin Tarantino blur the sense of independent as divorced from big money and big distribution. This entry concentrates on films not made by Hollywood stars and packagers.

The US offers little government subsidy for the promotion of independent works.

Limited funds come from both private and public foundations, like Ford, MacArthur and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which runs programs like ITVS (Independent Television Service), and NAATA (National Asian American Telecommunications Association). Independent film/videomakers also rely on private donors as well as personal funds, including credit cards, to make their projects.

Once the indie is made, the film-maker needs to find a distributor. Some send their works to the film-festival circuits, others will try to approach distributors directly. Public or cable-access channels and the educational market are less remunerative; some products simply are not shown much.

Many indies flaunt lower production values as badges of authenticity but some can have budgets of up to millions. However, there is also a tendency for independent works to challenge the formal styles of more mainstream works. Experimental and avant-garde works range from works by Maya Duran or the video art by Bill Viola to shorter essays and animation. Independent films have been strong showcases for minority and political issues, especially through documentaries, which always find more space in the indie’s world. Examples include Marlon Rigg’s Tongue Untied (1989) on gay issues in the African American community Finding Christa (1991) on motherhood and adoption and The Women Outside (1995) on Korean women who “serviced” American soldiers in Korea.

On the other hand, other independent works starting at a very low budget eventually acquire national distribution, acting as a stairway to Hollywood for directors like Richard Rodriguez, whose El Mariachi (1992) cost only $7,000 to make. The Blair Witch Project (1999), made with a budget of $67,000, grossed more than $40 million in its first four weeks of release. These, however, are the exceptions.

Besides film festivals, indies rely on distribution companies, like Third World Newsreel, Latino Consortium and National Black Programming Consortium, for the nontheatrical markets as well as for-profit distribution companies that cater primarily to the education market, from Facet Videos to Churchill Films. Small associations like AIVF (Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers) and New Days Film provide relevant information and support to independent film/ video-makers, as does the Sundance Institute, which began an Independents Archive in 1997.