Business The revival of independent film Scripts, not effects
商业 独立电影的复兴 剧本是关键,资金不成问题
Independent films are at last recovering from the slump
最终,独立电影在走出低谷
THE Toronto film festival, which ends this week, marks the start of the serious-film season. Out—at least until Thanksgiving, in late November—go the superhero spectaculars. In come the foreign films and the dining-room dramas. The autumn crop is far more prone to failure than the summer one. But highbrow films now come with higher hopes.
本周结束的多伦多电影节,标志着严肃题材电影季节拉开了帷幕。依靠超级英雄来博取票房的电影至少要持续播映到十一月末的感恩节。外国电影和文艺影片将走向舞台。可以预计的是秋季票房收入比夏季还要惨淡。但高格调电影迎来了更高的期许。
For the past few years the independent film business has resembled a low-budget horror movie. Outside financing was brutally killed in 2008, as banks stopped lending. Three of the six major studios axed subsidiaries that had specialised in buying independent films. Consumers struck another blow by switching from buying DVDs to renting them.
过去几年间，独立电影产业的遭遇堪于一部低成本恐怖电影并论。随着银行停止给提供贷款，在2008年，外界融资渠道也中断了。六大电影工作室中的三个停止了之前专门购买独立电影的子公司。消费者接着又补上一记重拳，他们开始租赁光碟而不再购买DVD了。
Yet sales at film festivals this year have been brisk. New buyers such as CBS Films and Open Road Films have emerged to replace the departed studios. The larger independent outfits have steadied. The Weinstein Company, which almost collapsed two years ago, is basking in the success of "The King's Speech" (pictured). Lionsgate has shaken off an activist investor, Carl Icahn, who had argued it should get out of film production. Summit Entertainment, maker of the popular "Twilight" films, closed a large financing deal in March.
然而，今年各个电影节的影片销售却一路高歌猛进。新的买家如CBS和Open Road Films公司开始取代离开此领域的工作室。更大规模的独立摄制组运作也趋于平稳。两年前处于破产边缘的韦恩斯坦公司，依靠着《国王的演讲》，咸鱼翻身。狮门公司摆脱了它那位激进的投资商卡尔?伊坎,他曾主张狮门公司应该关闭其电影业务。《暮色》系列电影的制造商，顶峰娱乐公司在三月拒绝了一笔数额巨大的收购提议，决定不出售公司。
It helps that films have become cheaper to make. Actors' salaries remain depressed, and indies have become expert at exploiting competition between states and countries, which lavish subsidies on them. Most important, says Morris Ruskin, the head of Shoreline Entertainment, a glut of films commissioned in the era of loose credit has at last worked its way through the pipeline. "We've gone from a market that was saturated with films to a market that is hungry for them," he says.
电影制作成本的下降对独立电影业的发展有着推波助澜的效果。演员们的薪水依然不高，各独立电影制作公司精于利用州与州，国与国之间的竞争关系，从中获取慷慨的补助。海岸娱乐的老板 莫里斯.若斯金表示，最重要的是，信贷宽松时期充斥着被委托制作的电影，如今终于熬出头了。他谈到："那个供应饱和的市场已经远去，现在市场对电影变得趋之若鹜。"
The post-financial-crisis independent film business is both more independent and more focused on film than before. The three major studios that got out of indie films—Disney, Paramount and Warner Bros—have not returned and are concentrating on a few expensive blockbusters. And the collapse of DVD sales means it is more important to drive people to cinemas. Richard Abramowitz, who is distributing the racing film "Senna" in America, says the spread of Blu-ray cinema projectors has cut costs dramatically.
后金融危机的独立电影业较之以往,即更为独立，也更注重电影本身。退出独立电影行列的三大电影工作室——迪斯尼、派拉蒙和华纳兄弟——并没有重返独立电影业，而是将重心放在了花费高昂的大成本影片当中。光盘销售业的凋零使得把观众请到电影院变得尤为重要。正在负责赛车题材电影《塞纳》营销工作的理查德?阿布拉莫威茨谈到,蓝光播放器的普及使得其制造成本大大降低了。
The business is more international, too. Roman Polanski's latest film, "Carnage", was financed by Europeans, with American distribution added almost as an after-thought. Total sales of cinema tickets fell slightly in America last year. But they were up in Europe, and soared in Russia. Talky dramas are harder to export than cartoons or action flicks, which is partly why the major studios now concentrate on such things. But independent horror films sometimes travel well.
独立电影业也更趋于国际化。罗曼波兰斯基的最新力作《杀戮》由欧洲电影公司投资。美国的发行商随后也加入进来，虽然有马后炮的嫌疑。去年，美国电影的总票房收入略有下降。但在欧洲电影票房喜人，在俄罗斯则称的上是一路飙升。对话比重多的电影比卡通片和动作片出口要困难,这部分说明了为何现在大的电影巨头把后两者视为重心。但独立电影业出品的恐怖电影有时在海外票房堪佳。
It is still a harsh business. No fewer than 3,812 full-length movies were submitted to the 2011 Sundance film festival. Yet only 550 films open in American cinemas each year, and most lose money. The business runs on hope. But there is, finally, enough money to keep the projectors running.
电影业的竞争依旧激励。多达3812部长篇电影提交参审2011年的圣丹斯电影节。然而美国影院每年放映影片的数量却只有550部，大部分电影的投资打了水漂。独立电影业前景看好,发展显著。但说到底，是足够的资金支持着拍摄项目的运作。