Stats on Independent Fim Sales?

Cafe Society
1

Hey, my boss just threw this request on my desk, so I turn to the internet’s greatest fact finding resource, the Dope:

“are you able to find data on what market share indie films is?
box office, DVD EST, VOD?
US and globally?”

Yeah, a lot of info. Anyone have any suggestions of where to track this down? I’m always amazed by Doper fact-fu, and I have not yet developed my talents in that area to such levels.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, while I continue to look as well.

(Mods, while this is seeking factual info, I figured since it was about independent film, it should go in CS. Please move it if it should be in GQ.)

2

She clarifies:

Of course I pointed out that “indie” is a kind of nebulous term. She just wants ballpark. Not having much luck google-fu-ing.

3

This article might be a good starting point:

Dorothy Pomerantz also writes a lot about the economics of film, including the independents, at Forbes, so going through some of her material might help, too.

4

Hoo boy. Well, this is not going to be easy.

First, you’d want to get the big studio income. They’re corporations, so it’s not going to be hard. Just mosey on over to their websites and grab the top-line sales data off their most recent two-or-three years of data. Just look under the “Income Statment” for SEC financial filings.

But the Indies? Geez.First off, you’re not going to get a clear picture of worldwide. Most countries have some domestic movie sources. France, China, and Italy are probaly the biggest.

…

Honestly, couldn’t your bos have asked you to break your own kneecaps or something? It’s likely to be less painful and more rewarding.
OK, easy version? Try
http://www.factbook.net/wbglobal_rev.htm

The wiki link is especially helpfl because it lists sources (yay!)

5

Yeah I know. I was hoping that someone somewhere had done an industry article or something on exactly this subject: trends in independent movie sales or something. You know with a pie chart.

6

I thought about emailing www.the-numbers.com and asking if they had the figures somewhere, but while looking for contact info I saw that they offer a “research service.” Sounds expensive.