Just a few weeks after the employees of New Line were sent packing by their parent company, Warner Bros., two more “specialty” units within the major studio have shut down as well. Warner Independent and Picturehouse, both homes for more niche indie films than either New Line or Warner Bros., are no more, according to yesterday's Los Angeles Times (and, well, just about every other major publication). Picturehouse will release its final three films this summer and fall-- Mongol, Kit Kittredge: An American Girl and The Women-- then shut its doors. Warner Independent is pretty much already dead.
With independent film arms like these, the goal is always to get into the Oscar race, which is the best guarantee there is that an indie movie will be seen. Picturehouse had been pretty good at this-- La Vie en Rose benefited from Marion Cotillard's Best Actress win this year, and they also were behind Pan's Labyrinth, which took home three statues last year and made Guillermo del Toro more than just the guy who made Hellboy for independent moviegoers. Warner Independent was less successful; it's biggest Oscar hit, Good Night, and Good Luck, made only about $30 million, and its biggest box office hit overall was March of the Penguins, at about $77 million. Compare that to Fox Searchlight, which was behind the mega-success of both Juno and Little Miss Sunshine, and you see why Warner had such a low profile in the indie world.
Papa Warner Bros. studio is claiming now that their marketing and distribution departments can handle releases of smaller films like these, and they've at least got a little proof. Michael Clayton was the only offering from a major studio that made it into last year's Best Picture race-- the others came from Warner Independent's former competition: Focus Features, Miramax, and Fox Searchlight. That indicates that there's a few people over there who know how to handle specialty fare, but Michael Clayton wasn't exactly the definition of an indie. It'll be a while before we know if they can repeat the feat.
As much as we may lament the lack of opportunities for independent films now that two distributors are gone, we may actually be better off for it. More movies were released last year than in any other, which resulted in a whole lot of indies not getting seen because even the most dedicated film fans didn't have time for them. Maybe pruning back a little and focusing on the worthwhile indies-- Warner Independent's In The Valley of Elah as opposed to Funny Games-- will let us all regain a little focus.
