Commentary
Not all great movies are major studio productions with huge budgets. Some of the best movies of all time were independent films made by small companies with big dreams. Independent movies are well-respected and successful now, but it wasn’t always that way. Indies have fought for existence and recognition since the beginning of the film industry.
The Indie is Born
If you wanted to make an independent film in 1908, you were out of luck. That year, a trust called the Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC) was formed. It’s often called the Edison Trust because Thomas Edison owned most of the major motion picture patents. The Edison Trust was a cartel, since it held a monopoly on film production and distribution. The major film companies of the time were Edison, Biograph, Vitagraph, Essanay, Selig, Lubin, Kalem, American Star, and American Pathé, while the main distributor was George Kleine, and the primary raw film supplier was Eastman Kodak. They all were part of the Edison Trust. Anyone who wasn’t part of this tight-knit group, either by choice or exclusion, was an independent filmmaker.
