Lights, Camera,...Covid: How the Pandemic Affected Indie Filmmakers
Think back to the last time you watched an incredible movie. Maybe you watched a film that compelled you to laugh so hard you cried or opened your eyes to a new point of view. Or maybe you’ve never had a profound experience with an on-screen display and you’re thinking, “Look, I just watch movies on Friday nights for fun.” And that’s great too.
No matter why people love films, it’s evident that films play an integral part in our media consumption and influence our lives. Many movies today result from independent (indie) filmmakers—filmmakers not affiliated with large producers like Hollywood. Over the past couple of years, the pandemic brought both negative and positive changes to the indie movie scene.
1. Struggles to receive funding
Like any creative, indie filmmakers need financial support to fulfill their visions. But funding proves hard to come by with pandemic unknowns lurking. Will the movie reach completion? Or will the investor lose funds because production was postponed due to health restrictions? Covid created obstacles for smaller filmmakers when attempting to secure money and insurance for their projects.
2. Covid regulations posed on-set hassles
Between casting actors, coordinating shot schedules, gathering wardrobe items, feeding the crew, and more, filmmakers don’t need extra tasks on their plates. But when the pandemic arrived, filmmakers needed to consider health protocols too. At the height of Covid, individuals implemented stricter precautions on set, like distancing actors, requiring daily testing, holding remote castings, and searching for less-crowded filming locations. Now, film unions utilize a Covid Compliance Officer—a trained individual who enforces Covid guidelines on set.
3. A new appreciation for video
Senior film major Keegan Hurley identified some of the benefits of the pandemic for indie creators, including an increased appreciation for video. “People are learning how important video is. I mean, they already knew that, but they’re starting to realize it more now.” Remote events became the “new normal” during Covid, and people have continued placing a greater emphasis on video since.
4. Highlighting indie creators
Hurley explained that the pandemic created opportunities for indie filmmakers’ work to gain traction in ways not possible before. Hollywood halted, minimizing the ongoing competition between large-scale and small-scale productions. “It’s allowed smaller creators to shine a little bit, as the bigger producers have been shut down,” Hurley stated.
5. An unknown future
As with every industry, Covid posed lasting effects and uncertainty on the film world’s future. As Hurley describes, “It’s left this vacuum of how the industry will look as a whole in the future. But it’s been interesting to see what the options have become for remote work, and workers are finally starting to request better pay rates and better hours.”
The future of the film industry remains uncertain. But the last two years proved the resilience of these creators. Even a pandemic cannot stop artists from pursuing their craft.
- Micah LaRue ‘23
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-07-09/independent-producers- still-struggling-even-as-pandemic-recedes https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/afm-2021-covid-risk-independent- film-1235040553/ https://www.grantlarsonproductions.com/blog/the-impacts-of-covid-19-on-the-film-industry https://www.ozmagazine.com/single-post/a-guide-to-becoming-a-covid-compliance-officer