My Declaration of Independence

By Rebecca Green

I’ve been thinking heavily on the state of the business, and my reaction, or lack of reaction, to bold statements such as, ‘indie film is dead.’ As someone who is fully informed and aware of the struggles and obstacles confronting my career, I’ve wondered why I’m not more panicked and why I haven’t jumped ship (is it any better somewhere else?). 

Recently, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the chief negotiator for SAG, told the BBC that Hollywood “always thinks it’s in crisis. It is a town that constantly faces technological innovation - all kinds of change - which is part of the magic. Part of keeping content fresh is everyone having the idea that things don't always have to be the way they've been.”

I began film school at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in 1997 at the time when digital cameras were starting to be used for film production. I vaguely remember my school having a digital camera, but my senior thesis film was shot on 16mm. 1997 was also the year Marc Randolph and Reed Hastings founded Netflix. While in school, I produced about a dozen short films and I graduated in 2001, the same year Louisiana became the first state to implement a tax incentive program for film production, forever changing film financing structures. 

Not long after graduation, I began my first real job in Hollywood working at Lionsgate as the Assistant to Peter Block, who was the Head of Acquisitions, Home Entertainment, and New Media. This was during the early 2000s when home video was king and Lionsgate backed the company CinemaNow, one of the first on-demand internet streaming media platforms. DVD sales were so popular that part of my job was to help plan DVD release parties, similar to a premiere, but for DVD sales. I fondly remember the Halloween party for Rob Zombie’s HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES DVD release the same year (2003) that Netflix reached one million subscribers. During my four years at Lionsgate, I also witnessed the invention of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Gmail, the launch of Amazon’s VOD service Amazon Video, and I remember Ted Sarandos meeting with my boss to discuss the launch of Netflix streaming, which followed in 2007. 

The year 2007 brought the invention of the iPhone, which changed life as we know it, as well as the RED camera, which transformed the way we shot movies and would later be blamed for Kodak filing for bankruptcy five years later. In 2007 I produced my first feature, TUG, shot on one of those popular RED cameras, starring Sam Huntington, Haylie Duff and Sarah Drew who is now most known for her appearances in Grey’s Anatomy and Hallmark movies. The film had a 600k budget and you’ve never heard of it because I had no idea what I was doing and it was only accepted into the Newport Beach International Film Festival. That said, I learned a lot from that experience and collaborators from that film went on to be some of the most important people in my life today. 

Following TUG, I found myself unemployed during the 2008 financial crisis. I had no job and no money, but was fortunate enough to have a friend from Lionsgate, Aimee Pitta, who produced their home video trailers and had taken me under her wing while I was learning how to navigate my first adult job, who had a lovely house in Beachwood Canyon with a spare bedroom for me. (She still lives in the same house and I know that room is always available to me regardless of my financial situation.) While I was staying at Aimee’s, I began working as a screener for the Sundance Film Festival. My good friend Joe Beyer, who was the Sundance Institute’s Director of Digital Initiatives, hooked me up with the job. I watched film submissions, wrote coverage, and rated each film. I was paid a nominal fee that amounted to less than minimum wage per film. Eventually, I moved into the tiniest apartment I’ve ever lived in, adopted a cat (RIP Mo), and got back on my feet by doing random jobs. What was the most financially trying time in my life ended up being one of the biggest turning points in my career when Joe got me an interview with Anne Lai in 2010 to be the Coordinator of the Sundance Institute’s Creative Producing Fellowship & Summit. At the time, the position was not even a year-long job because the program didn’t have its footing the way it does now. I was paid a gross salary of $690 a week. It was through this job that Dear Producer was seeded, I just didn’t know it yet.  

In the years I worked at Sundance, Instagram and A24 launched, Blockbuster filed bankruptcy, and I put together the financing for IT FOLLOWS (along with my producing partner Laura Smith and with the support of Anne Lai). I didn't give Anne my two weeks notice until the film was fully financed because I had no savings or partner or family to financially rely on and I could not go long without a paycheck (Laura also had a full-time job working with producer Holly Wiersma). However, in my last week of work at Sundance at the end of February 2013, my mom who had a rare stomach cancer, went into Hospice. While I was taking care of her with my sisters, half the financing for IT FOLLOWS fell apart. After my mom’s death, while going through the saddest time in my life, we eventually pulled the money back together and in the fall of 2013, we were in production. That movie changed my life and since then, I have not taken another full time job (but lots of temp jobs) and have called myself an independent producer. 

I’m recounting my life story for you to take the Duncan Crabtree-Ireland quote a step further and say that yes, the business often feels like it is in crisis, but the more accurate statement would be that the business is always in transformation. And with that transformation, I have adapted and found new paths to continue my career as a filmmaker and sustain a living. When I look back at my life, even the hardest times, I don’t regret any decision made. I don’t wish I would have left the business at forks in the road or found a new passion. When I stroll down memory lane, I remember the loving people who helped me along the way and who have remained in my life as my most sacred friends.

Since leaving Sundance in 2013 so much has changed in the entertainment business. Netflix’s HOUSE OF CARDS became the first show you could binge, forever changing how we watch television. TikTok launched in 2016 making the smartphone more powerful than it had ever been. The #metoo movement dropped a bomb on Hollywood in 2017 that we are still reckoning with understanding. In 2020, a federal court in New York put an end to the Paramount Decree, which dictated the movie industry's licensing rules for over 70 years. Mergers became in vogue with Disney buying Fox in 2019, Amazon buying MGM in 2021, and Discovery buying Warner Bros and HBO in 2022, and every company deciding they needed their own streaming service. CEO pay skyrocketed, the WGA took down agency packaging fees, a pandemic paralyzed the world, and last year brought union strikes like we hadn’t seen since 1960. And now we are facing advancements in AI that could change everything again. However, through this last decade of disruption, I have produced six feature films, one television pilot, and launched Dear Producer. 

I haven’t panicked yet because for the last 20+ years of my career, change has been constant. I appreciate that I have experienced different sides of the business and moved from job to job based on where my passions and needs take me. I have always figured it out, not by digging in my heels and refusing to evolve, but by meeting the moment where it is and adapting. Are we in unprecedented times? Perhaps. Is it the end of my career? Definitely not. Do I have to shape shift again? Absolutely. 

Despite all the challenges that come with being a producer, I love making movies. For me, it’s less about the final product and more about the process. While it’s daunting to have to start from nothing with each film, I love that I get to build new teams, work with a variety of collaborators, and tell an array of stories that personally resonate with me. I love that filmmaking has taken me to parts of the world that as a kid I never thought I’d see in real life. I love all the random things I have to learn to bring a story to the screen such as figuring out who the tallest man in the United States was when casting the “Tall It” in IT FOLLOWS or learning about the history of Buffalo when I needed characters to drive through a field of Buffalo in DOWNTOWN OWL (thank you Prairie Island Indian Community in Minnesota). While I can never plan too far ahead, I love that no two years of my life look the same. Yes, it’s stressful to not know where my next paycheck is coming from, but there is no monotony in producing. More than anything, I value my freedom of choice above all. The freedom to only work with those who inspire and respect me, the freedom to move about the world, and the freedom to express my values as a creative person, educator, and leader. 

I believe my advocacy on behalf of producers over the last decade, whether public facing or behind-the-scenes, has had a positive impact on our community. Dear Producer has become a resource for filmmakers to stay informed on the state of the business and addresses the final part of Duncan Crabtree-Ireland’s statement by reminding us that “things don't always have to be the way they've been.” By sharing producers’ stories of adaptability and resilience, as well as my own, Dear Producer sets an example for how to find your place in and survive a relentless business.   

With the move to Substack, I’m planting a flag for the next phase of Dear Producer, committed more than ever as we face this next frontier in filmmaking. We have seen a loss of journalism in the independent space with little coverage of our films or our stories. It’s vital to the growth of the field that we spotlight the people making original and daring work and continue to challenge old systems that no longer serve us. I don’t believe there is one answer to fixing the existential issues independent film has always faced, as even the Hulk can’t crush capitalism. However, I do believe making space for smart and talented people to gather and share new ideas is the strongest support for challenging the Hollywood status quo and how important stories will continue to get told. 

When I started film school back in 1997, I never could have imagined having this platform or being a trusted voice for so many. It’s been one of my life's greatest surprises and I’m so appreciative for the role you all have played in it. 

If Dear Producer has been helpful to you in your journey, I ask that you consider upgrading to a paid Substack subscription to support me in continuing to advocate for our community.