Independent Film: Its Transformation From A Movement to An Industry

This thesis explores the social organization of the independent film industry and the transformation of independent film as a movement with a focus on creative independence to an industry that has come to parallel the Hollywood studio system. I explore how the structure of social organization assists and impedes independent filmmakers in reaching audiences, and particularly, how the nonprofit organization has an instrumental role in assisting filmmakers to traverse the complicated landscape of the independent film industry as it exists today.