Boom Time for Indies Nears Glut

John O’Brien forked out $4,000 to the Laemmle Theaters to play “Man With a Plan,” a $100,000 “anthropological comedy” based on his colorful Vermont neighbor Fred Tuttle. Later informed that eight other films were scheduled to open on Oct. 4, the director asked to push the release date back a bit.

“The Laemmles just offered me Nov. 1 . . . and if I didn’t take that nothing was available until April,” said O’Brien, 33, who ultimately agreed to the change. “Since 10 films are opening each weekend for the foreseeable future, my picture will probably be dead after that week. Still, a good quote from a critic will help the video box and build relationships for the future. Look how long John Sayles has hung in--though in today’s marketplace his ‘. . . Secaucus Seven’ and ‘Lianna’ would probably never have survived.”

Indeed, this is a boom time for American independent fare--”boom” bordering on “glut,” that is. More than 20 films got distribution deals after playing at the Sundance Film Festival last January. Others, using September’s Toronto, Telluride and New York film festivals as launching pads, are hitting the screens in their wake. And the squeeze on Manhattan and Los Angeles theaters is expected to worsen in the next few months as films such as “Lone Star” and “Fargo,” released earlier in 1996, are relaunched in theaters for Oscar consideration.

Unlike “Emma,” “Stealing Beauty” and “Trainspotting,” which served as counterprogramming to this summer’s special-effects bonanzas, low-budget movies released by second- or third-tier distributors are all struggling for a limited audience, experts say. Pitted against critically praised, heavily marketed films such as “Big Night” and “Secrets & Lies” (not to mention substantive Oscar-oriented studio offerings like “Michael Collins” and “Surviving Picasso”) they have barely a fighting chance.

“The pressure isn’t coming from low-end companies barely able to grab screens but from the first-tier independents,” says Greg Laemmle, vice president of Laemmle Theaters. “This fall, October Films has ‘Secrets & Lies,’ ‘Breaking the Waves’ and ‘The Funeral’; Fine Line has ‘The Grass Harp,’ ‘Mother Night,’ ‘Twelfth Night’ and ‘Shine’; Sony Classics has ‘Caught,’ ‘Beautiful Thing’ and the reissue of ‘Garden of the Finzi Continis’ . . . and we haven’t even talked about Miramax and Orion/Goldwyn who are even more egregious in loading films into this time slot.”

Steve Gilula, president and CEO of Landmark Theater Corp., points out that of the nine films that opened on Oct. 18, for instance, only two were considered mainstream.

“Films have a tough time holding theaters--they can’t withstand the pressures of the market,” he says. “The bar has been raised in terms of public expectations. Mediocre films will not survive.”

The casualty rate, in fact, has been inordinately high. Little-known titles such as “Caught,” “Entertaining Angels” and “Ed’s Next Move” barely registered in the public consciousness while critically acclaimed movies like “Walking and Talking” and “Manny & Lo” failed to perform up to expectations. Even a “name” was no guarantee of success. “American Buffalo” (with Dustin Hoffman) and “Infinity” (directed by and starring Matthew Broderick) both came and went fast.

In deference to “an already overcrowded marketplace,” First Look Pictures moved “johns” from Nov. 1 to Jan. 31, the company said. Miramax Films also decided against releasing “Unhook the Stars” on that date, opting for a two-week academy-qualifying run instead.

“We hope to play to our strengths at a time when the competition is less fierce,” says Miramax marketing chief Mark Gill, who plans to release the film in February--the better to showcase Gena Rowlands for a best actress nomination. “Moving a picture back used to signify trouble. Now it means you’re smart. You’ve got to pay attention, you’ve got to find a niche.”

With the independent marketplace as packed as he’s ever seen it, good reviews no longer ensure success, says Geoffrey Gilmore, director of programming for Sundance, where submissions have doubled in the last three years.

“Movies are pulled from theaters before finding audiences,” Gilmore says, “and since marketing is so expensive it’s hard to expand. This is happening when there’s pressure to succeed at a very high level. With Castle Rock laying out $10 million for ‘Spitfire Grill’ and Miramax paying $5 million for ‘Swingers,’ prices are double and triple what they were a couple of years ago. If $500,000 used to be a ‘success,’ many independents are considered failures if they don’t gross $10 [million] or $20 million.”

Observing the success of a “Crying Game” ($63 million domestic gross) or a “Pulp Fiction” ($107 million), a host of lower-tier independent distributors such as Seventh Art, Zeitgeist and CFP are joining the fray.

Says Greg Laemmle: “These companies are adopting the same philosophy that Hollywood does: Throw a bunch of films out there and see which one sticks.”

A decline in popularity of foreign-language films has further contributed to the proliferation of American independent fare. “Independents are taking up the space a Fellini or Truffaut film used to occupy,” says Philip Garfinkle, senior vice president of the box-office tracking firm Entertainment Data. “Though an ‘Il Postino’ occasionally breaks through, only American-style product travels well. ‘Les Visiteurs’ did over $30 million in France and didn’t exist in the U.S. ‘Maybe, Maybe Not’ took in almost $40 million in Germany and did only $82,000 here.”

Bob Laemmle, head of the Laemmle chain, had planned to open “Palookaville” at his Sunset 5 Cinemas after “Big Night” played out. But since that picture is performing so well, he’s instead moving “Jude,” which opened softer than expected.

“ ‘Secrets & Lies’ and ‘Swingers’ will be joined by three Orion/Goldwyn movies--’Big Night,’ ‘Trees Lounge’ and ‘Palookaville,’ ” Laemmle says. “Miramax, which releases up to 40 films a year, often steps on its own toes but, more and more, other distributors are cannibalizing themselves. Though it’s a great time for theater owners and consumers, it’s less so for independent filmmakers.”

The experience, observes “Man With a Plan’s” O’Brien, has been an eye-opener. “We all start out thinking we’ll be Quentin Tarantino . . . a big hit and then a three-picture deal,” he says. “But with all this talent around, it’s a lottery. Eddie Burns [“Brothers McMullen,” “She’s the One”] and Kevin Smith [“Clerks,” “Mallrats”] don’t realize how lucky they are. With big guys doing specialty stuff, it’s much more of a struggle for the little guys.”