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« SXSW 2008: Richard Jenkins, The Visitor and the Dallas Theater Center | Main | SXSW 2008: A conversation with Helen Hunt »

SXSW 2008: Bringing the Indie to you

2:23 PM Sun, Mar 09, 2008 |  | 
Stephen Becker   E-mail   News tips

Have you ever wondered what happens to all those little independent films that make the festival circuit, only to die off without reaching a wider audience? I did, which is why I stopped by the B-side Entertainment booth on Sunday in the festival's exhibition space.
B-side's mission is two fold: to separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to the thousands of independent films made each year and to help those filmmakers extend the lives of their films past the festival circuit.
"There are 20,000 films at 4,000 festivals each year, only a small portion of which actually make it to a theater near you," said B-side founder Chris Hyams. "We think that's pretty inefficient."

B-side is using the social networking capabilities of the Internet to further its mission. The company partners with smaller film festivals to run their Web sites. As part of that operation, festival goers are asked to visit those sites to comment on and rate the films. With enough audience participation, the cream eventually rises to the top.
"What we're doing is trying to impose some type of order on to the chaos," Mr. Hyams says. "And the way we're doing it is by listening to the wisdom of the crowds."
The next step for B-side is then to offer those films for sale on its Web site through DVD sales and direct digital downloads. With the low overhead, the company is inturn able to pay the filmmaker after the first sale.
For the films that really gain momentum, B-side has partnered with the IFC channel for a program called Choice Indies presented by B-Side. In that arrangement, select films will air on the channel that will later be available for on demand viewing through Cablevision and in May, iTunes download. Additionally, some films are made available for fan-organized screenings. The company announced Sunday that Super High Me, which screened at SXSW this week, will be made available in April.
It all serves as a pretty democratic way of getting the best of the festivals out to those who may not have an opportunity to attend.


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