IndieWire
Encyclopedia
indieWIRE is a daily news site for the independent film community. It covers indie, documentary and foreign language films, as well industry news, film festival reports, filmmaker interviews and movie reviews. The website has sections for high-profile film festivals, film information and release dates, critic ratings of films (criticWIRE), filmmaker and industry blogs, as well as resources and tools for emerging and established filmmakers. The blog network includes independent bloggers as well as veteran writers Anne Thompson and Leonard Maltin
.
Following in the footsteps of various web- and AOL-based editorial ventures, indieWIRE was launched as a free daily email publication in the summer of 1996 by New York and Los Angeles based filmmakers and writers Eugene Hernandez, Mark Rabinowitz, and Roberto A. Quezada.
Initially distributed to a few hundred subscribers, the readership grew rapidly, passing 6,000 in the fall of 1997.
In January 1997, indieWIRE made its first appearance at the Sundance Film Festival
to begin their coverage of film festivals. It offered indieWIRE: On The Scene print dailies in addition to online coverage. Printed on site, in low tech black and white style, the publication was able to scoop traditional Hollywood trade dailies Variety
and The Hollywood Reporter
due to the delay these latter publications had for being printed in Los Angeles. Due to a zealous staff that was willing to print and distribute said dailies at all hours of the day and night, often handing them out to audiences waiting on line for films, indieWIRE was soon dubbed The School Paper. While the style and look of the print dailies improved over the years, the nickname stuck.
The website indieWire.com launched on January 12, 1998, and indieWIRE announced it would be charging for services. While met with cautious optimism by Wired
magazine, the experiment failed and indieWIRE returned to a free service less than a year later.
The site was acquired by Snagfilms
in July 2008. On January 8, 2009, indieWIRE editor Eugene Hernandez announced that the site was going through a re-launch that has been "entirely re-imagined".
In 2002, Forbes
magazine recognized IndieWire, along with 7 other entrants in the "Cinema Appreciation" category, as a "Best of the Web Pick".
describing its best feature as "boards teeming with filmmakers" and its worst as "glacial search engine."
indieWIRE has been praised by Roger Ebert
, Kevin Smith
, James Schamus
, and Tom Bernard.
Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin is an American film and animated film critic and historian, author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives.-Personal life:...
.
Personnel
- Dana Harris, Editor-In-Chief
- Brian Brooks, Managing Editor
- Peter Knegt, Associate Editor
- Eric Kohn, Chief Film Critic
- James Israel, Advertising Manager
History
The indieWIRE newsletter launched on July 15th, 1996, billing itself as "the daily news service for independent film."Following in the footsteps of various web- and AOL-based editorial ventures, indieWIRE was launched as a free daily email publication in the summer of 1996 by New York and Los Angeles based filmmakers and writers Eugene Hernandez, Mark Rabinowitz, and Roberto A. Quezada.
Initially distributed to a few hundred subscribers, the readership grew rapidly, passing 6,000 in the fall of 1997.
In January 1997, indieWIRE made its first appearance at the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
to begin their coverage of film festivals. It offered indieWIRE: On The Scene print dailies in addition to online coverage. Printed on site, in low tech black and white style, the publication was able to scoop traditional Hollywood trade dailies Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
and The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
due to the delay these latter publications had for being printed in Los Angeles. Due to a zealous staff that was willing to print and distribute said dailies at all hours of the day and night, often handing them out to audiences waiting on line for films, indieWIRE was soon dubbed The School Paper. While the style and look of the print dailies improved over the years, the nickname stuck.
The website indieWire.com launched on January 12, 1998, and indieWIRE announced it would be charging for services. While met with cautious optimism by Wired
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
magazine, the experiment failed and indieWIRE returned to a free service less than a year later.
The site was acquired by Snagfilms
SnagFilms
SnagFilms is a website that offers advertising-supported documentary films. Films are streamed on the website, which contains a library of around 2,000 films. Filmmakers can submit documentaries for consideration as well...
in July 2008. On January 8, 2009, indieWIRE editor Eugene Hernandez announced that the site was going through a re-launch that has been "entirely re-imagined".
Reception
indieWIRE is said to cover lesser-known film events ignored from the mainstream perspective. In Wired Magazine, Janelle Brown wrote in 1997:- "Currently, indieWIRE has little to no competition: trades like Hollywood Reporter and Daily Variety may cover independent film, but from a Hollywood perspective, hidden by a huge amount of mainstream news. As filmmaker Doug Wolens points out, indieWIRE is one of the few places where filmmakers can consistently and reliably keep on top of often-ignored small film festivals, which films are opening and what other filmmakers are thinking."
In 2002, Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
magazine recognized IndieWire, along with 7 other entrants in the "Cinema Appreciation" category, as a "Best of the Web Pick".
describing its best feature as "boards teeming with filmmakers" and its worst as "glacial search engine."
indieWIRE has been praised by Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
, Kevin Smith
Kevin Smith
Kevin Patrick Smith is an American screenwriter, actor, film producer, and director, as well as a popular comic book writer, author, comedian/raconteur, and internet radio personality best recognized by viewers as Silent Bob...
, James Schamus
James Schamus
James Schamus is an award-winning screenwriter The Ice Storm and producer Brokeback Mountain, and is CEO of Focus Features, the motion picture production, financing, and worldwide distribution company whose films have included Lost in Translation, Milk, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The...
, and Tom Bernard.