Edward Burns and the Socialization of Indie Cinema

Article by Christina Warren

“Twitter has fundamentally changed the way I make films,” film director, actor, writer and producer Edward Burns told me. At first blush, that might seem like an audacious statement, but in an era when full productions can get funded on Kickstarter and feature-length films are shot on consumer DSLRs, that boldness gives way to practicality.

Thanks to social and digital, the independent film movement is in a sort of renaissance. Not since the rise of the “indie” movement in the 1990s — when unknown filmmakers like Kevin Smith, Richard Linklater and Robert Rodriguez rose to prominence — has there been so much disruption in the business of filmmaking.

It’s a world that Burns knows well. In 1995 Burns’s debut film, The Brothers McMullen, won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. Shot for just $28,000, the film would gross over $10 million at the box office, becoming one of the biggest independent films of its era.

Sixteen years later, Burns is still making films without the aid of expensive crews, big studio contracts or pricey equipment.

Burns’s latest film, Newlyweds, is now available on VOD and Vudu. It comes to iTunes on Dec. 30, 2011. Although the film will have a small theatrical run in Chicago and San Francisco next month, VOD and iTunes are the delivery methods of choice.

We spoke to Burns earlier this month as he prepared for the Newlyweds film release. He talked about the changing nature of making film and the importance of social media to tie it all together.

One of the more remarkable aspects about Newlyweds is that it was shot in 12 days for $9,000. Burns laid out the budget process on Twitter and explained the process on his YouTube channel.

Burns used the Canon EOS 5D Mark II to shoot the film, along with a few stock Canon lenses. The quality of the output that filmmakers can get from prosumer DSLRs like the Mark II is stunning. Furthermore, he believes we’re only two or three generations away from having cinema-quality video sensors in our smartphones. The film director further reduced costs by using natural lighting and having cast members wear their own clothes and do their own makeup.

Burns talked about the very real implications these changes are having on young filmmakers.

“When I was in school making McMullen, I had to scrimp and save to buy film stock. You usually got poor-quality film stock or ends of other reels. That’s why movies from that era have that grimy, grungy look. A kid coming out of film school today won’t have that problem.”

Of course, lower barriers to entry also mean increased competition. Still, Burns doesn’t see this as a bad thing. “Why shouldn’t filmmaking experience the same disruption that every other industry has experienced?” he asked. “It’s happened in music and literature. Why should filmmaking be any different?”

For his last project, Nice Guy Johnny, Burns was able to crack the top six in iTunes the week it was released. “This was a film with no budget, absolutely no money for marketing — outside of traditional morning show press stuff — that appeared next to major box office hits.”

Edward Burns credits Ted Hope for convincing him to join Twitter. Hope, a prominent independent film producer in New York City, explained to Burns it was crucial that he find 500 followers to share and promote his message. Hope’s thesis — which he has since revised to include 5,000 fans — is that connecting with the people that really care about your work is the most effective way of getting things seen.

Hope was right. Since joining Twitter, Burns has found numerous opportunities to answer questions from fans, share insights about his filmmaking process and, of course, promote his projects.

Studios spend tremendous amounts of money raising awareness as to the digital and home video availability of their films. Edward Burns was able to accomplish that with Twitter.

Burns turned to the social web while working on Newlyweds as well. When it came time to get a poster for the film’s debut at the Tribeca Film Festival, Burns turned to the online community. Fans voted for their favorite submissions. The winner of the poster contest not only got to keep the rights to his artwork (he’s now selling prints and t-shirts on his own website), he also got flown in for the premiere.

When it came time find a song for the closing credits, Burns once again turned to the online community and then chose the winner from the submissions.

Although Burns hasn’t cast anyone directly using YouTube, he agrees with our assertion that online video is the new casting tape.

Watching Newlyweds, I would never have expected that its production budget was only $9,000. The film is endearing, funny and real, a story about a newlywed couple whose “honeymoon” stage comes to an abrupt end thanks to some unexpected drama from both sides of the family.

It’s very Woody Allen-esque, reminiscent of Husbands and Wives and Hannah and Her Sisters in its understanding of relationships.

After watching Newlyweds, I was struck by how difficult it is to find a good relationship film — be it comedy or drama — in the theater. Even harder to find are those smaller ensemble films. Once a staple in cinema, these types of stories are often pushed to the sidelines in lieu of franchise films, family comedies and big-budget action films.

Thankfully, in the era of iPads, connected HDTVs and more widespread indie distribution, filmmakers are still able to tell these types of stories.

"Catfish" and social media

I watched Catfish last night. I liked it. It wasn’t anything amazing, and, I think as long as you go into it expecting to know what’s happening by a quarter of the way through the film, you can enjoy it. But the film brings up something interesting. I was talking to a co-worker about this today. First, we both agreed that, while The Social Network is a much better film, Catfish better captures the realities and pitfalls of social media than the multi-award winner directed by genius and veteran filmmaker David Fincher.

Catfish really captures the idea that a person can, literally, be anything they want to be online. In an online relationship, its easy to be the perfect you, because the other person only see’s the you that you choose to show. The real you, the you that comes out in the worst times, or the boring times, or the middle times, you never have to really show those. Granted, your building a relationship on a lie, and it will crash and burn should you ever get together in real life, but you can get what you want out of it for the time being (which is exactly what one of the individuals in Catfish does).

The other thing we talked about was how social media (like Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr) is supposed to bring out the personal and transparent, but often times brings out the fake or the shallow or the judgmental. If you are transparent about what goes on in your life, there are people who become offended, even when they are not directly related to anything you say. There are people who think things you post are offensive, or inane, or pretentious (although, let’s face it, sometimes they are). There are those that use social media for the sole purpose of making themselves look as cool as possible (when, in reality, they are a lot more like you and I, but they only show their “exciting side”). Some people treat social media as a photograph that they are the model for. Their posts become a snapshot, a moment, by which you are to judge them by, forgetting, of course, that it’s very possible that they are different, in real life, than they publicize themselves to be.

I’ve been involved in various aspects of social media for years. It has been a release for me, and a way to TRY to be more transparent about what is going on in my life. Never the less, it always comes about that someone (or sometimes several people) disparage something that I do or say or post. You can’t win them all, but, if you are lying, if you are making yourself out to be someone you’re not, who are you really hurting? I feel like that was whatCatfish was about - The fact that, so often we use these tools to make ourselves look better than what we are, but, in the end, we are only letting ourselves and others down. We are only lying, or being lied to, unless we are telling the truth, and our “friends” are doing the same.

In the end, you are who you are. Some of the things you do or say will be wrong, some of them will help people, some will hurt people, but don’t be afraid to be yourself. Don’t be afraid of transparency, because, in the end, throwing something out there may be detrimental in the moment, but you may learn something. You may just learn that someone loves you for who you are.