Declaration of Independents

Over the July 4th holiday weekend, I had a bit of a brainstorm which I featured in this post: This Independence Day Weekend… Declare Your Independents!

“Declare your independents” is not a misprint. It’s an idea I had yesterday.

I was stewing over this post — Why are the major studios NOT making more movies for the largest demo groups — and feeling grumpy about it when I read quotes like this in my Twitter feed that made me even more dispirited:

@LisaPease: Adults don’t need special effects or stars — just a good story.

KJSFAN: I’m in every highest category — I can say “Categorically they are Not making enough movies for me.”

@luacheia99: Are they blind? MT @GoIntoTheStory: Why are the studios NOT making more movies for the largest demo groups

Of course, the fact is there are plenty of wonderful movies produced each year, just not by major studios, but rather independent production companies and filmmakers. For example, here are some of the indie movies coming out this summer:

The Way, Way Back (July 5), Fruitvale Station (July 12), The Spectacular Now (August 2), I Give It A Year (August 9), Drinking Buddies and Short Term 12 (August 23), and The Lifeguard (August 30).

As I ruminated on these matters, suddenly the heavens parted and a double rainbow of inspiration slammed into the mush which is my gray matter, generating this idea:

On Independence Day weekend, why don’t we attend a screening of an independent movie currently in theaters?

Hence: Declare your independents!

Basically where this is coming from is a frustration I think many, if not most of us feel about the movies Hollywood chooses to produce, distribute and put their marketing muscle behind nowadays.

We can complain about it all day. And even if three big, expensive summer movies — After Earth, White House Down, The Lone Ranger — may turn out to be more bust than blockbuster — it’s doubtful things are going to change all that much in terms of the way the major studios approach their business.

So what can we do?

Vote with our pocketbook.

I know we’ve talked about this in the past from time to time, but maybe what we need is a marketing scheme, an angle to promote the many good-to-great little movies that bubble up onto movie screens, even if only a handful.

So then it dawned on me: Why don’t we come up with a Declaration of Independents?

What would be important to say about the state of the movie industry?

What could we plan to help stitch together like-minded souls to motivate numbers of us to support independent filmmakers?

How can we try to fan the flames from these tiny embers to generate some heat?

What kind of conversation can we have about this subject?

To be clear, I’m still a big fan of mainstream commercial movies. I want to see those films, too, and will support the ones I think have merit in terms of entertainment and promoting diversity in the movie marketplace.

I say that as both a movie lover and screenwriter. I don’t want Hollywood to fail because that impacts tens of thousands of jobs, men and women whose livelihoods depend on the health of the entertainment business.

But I would like to see Hollywood produce a wider range of movies. Perhaps the only way to do that at this point is to prove there is an audience out there for those movies.

So from my perspective — and this is only me talking — how I see this initiative playing out is not to cut back on the mainstream movies I see, but make a commitment to increase the number of independent films I pay to view.

Now I’ll be the first to admit this whole thing may just be one really useless idea. But you have to admit, it does have a clever hook. I mean, c’mon: Declaration of Independents?

We’ve got an annual holiday associated with it to anchor the movement: July 4th weekend where we would choose to counter-view indie movies in contrast to whatever big franchise film the studios release.

And I’m willing to commit to a weekly Friday post covering the independent movies coming out that weekend in theaters and on VOD.

Plus if we come up with a nifty Declaration of Independents, we could try to make it go viral.

So there you go, a tiny attempt to give us frustrated movie fans something we can actually do and commit to in order to make our voices heard, enjoy more and different movies, and maybe, just maybe create a little something that starts to gain traction, generates more buzz and revenues for indie filmmakers, broadens the audience, and…

Who knows where it can go?

So action item! If you were going to write a Declaration of Independents, what would you include?

I’m especially interested to see what any of you who have a background in marketing or copywriting might have to add to the conversation.

See you in comments!

Note: I know there is this and this, but we’re talking movies not politics or energy strategies, so maybe some wiggle room re Declaration of Independents. But if not, there’s no reason we still can’t generate a ‘manifesto’ around Declare Your Independents!

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