After the "Great Studio Pullback of ’08": Late Indiewood and American Independent Film Theatrical Distribution in the Age of Streaming (2008-2019)

This article surveys the field of American independent film theatrical distribution in the years following the so-called “great studio pullback of ’08” and until the end of the second decade of the 21st Century. Within the space of less than three years (2008–2010), three of the “Big Six” conglomerated Hollywood majors shuttered five of their specialty film divisions, which had been members of a small cadre of companies that dominated the independent film sector from the mid-1990s to that time. The dominance of these companies had relied heavily on their adoption of a filmmaking model that was identified as “indiewood” and entailed the finance, production and distribution of a fairly distinct category of films with particular characteristics. The closure of these companies made it clear that the independent film sector was changing, and the article surveys specifically the field of theatrical distribution from 2008 to 2019 with a view to understanding how this change occurred. In seeking to identify the nature of the impact of the closure of these companies on the domestic theatrical distribution landscape, the article addresses such questions as whether the closure of these studio subsidiaries signalled the end of indiewood; whether a new type of specialty film replaced indiewood as the dominant paradigm in American independent film theatrical distribution; if other companies have taken the place of the shuttered studio specialty film divisions; and how important the theatrical market still is in the age of streaming. In addressing these questions, the article provides a comprehensive account of a sector in transition. It also highlights broader changes in the structure of the American film industry, paying particular attention to a set of companies it identifies as “late indies” and the role they played in transforming an American film industry at the same time as streaming companies have been exerting enormous pressures on the theatrical film market.