INDIES RING OUT ‘09 WITH ROBUST BOX OFFICE

The domestic indie box office totaled $3.6B at the end of the year, besting last year’s $3.5B, a feat that many thought couldn’t be accomplished. With the overall box office estimated at $10.2 to $10.6B (the office number will be released by the MPAA in March), the indie segment will be 34-35% of the total. Not only has the film business shown itself to be recession-proof, but the indie market has shown that it is still there. Although not buying into the general doom and gloom about the box office through much of the year, I still had some trepidation about even maintaining last year’s total. Without the studio specialty units, what would happen? We didn’t have to worry. There were still independent films distributed by studios, such as The Blind Side (financed by Alcon Entertainment and distributed by Warner Bros.) and the unbelievably successful Paranormal Activity (self-financed by the filmmakers and distributed by Paramount). Then there is always the “Weinstein factor” (distributors release films they consider Oscar-worthy in the last two months of the year) which helped year-end results. Besides the studio-distributed films mentioned above, winners from the ongoing vertically-integrated companies, such as Law Abiding Citizen, The Men Who Stare at Goats and The Twilight Saga: New Moon, started their theatrical runs in October or later, as well as smaller films such as Precious and Saw VI.

Equity money continued to flow to smaller indies, much of it a result of disaffection with the stock market and funds of almost any kind. I find that corporate attorneys from different parts of the country still are coming to town and asking for personal seminars on how film financing works. Whether this trend will continue once the general economy, or at least the stock market, shows real improvement remains to be seen. Then there are always rich individuals who have a yearning to be in the movie business. On the nontheatrical side, those plastic discs, whether standard DVD or Blu-ray, still lead in getting films to the masses with digital distribution platforms growing. All of these still depend on a theatrical lead-in for significant revenues. Whether this will change in 2010 remains to be seen. We do know one thing: the movie business is healthy and is going to stay that way.

Welcome to 2010. May all your celluloid (and cyberspace) dreams come true!

Louise Levison
Editor