On Friday evening, I moderated a panel at the Denver Film Festival called DIY FIlmmaking in an Indie Apocalypse. I pitched the panel to the festival in the hopes that by talking to actual filmmakers who have recently made moderately successful films (mostly) independent of the system that the “sky is falling” fatalism insists is broken, we could start to expand this dialogue beyond doomcasting and push towards options and solutions. I’m not sure we repaired the ever-expanding crack in the firmament in one night, but certainly the six filmmakers who took the stage offered a new perspective on the supposed crisis.

You can listen to a recording of the full panel here, but if you don’t have 73 minutes to spare, after the jump I’ve isolated what I think were five major themes of the evening. Here’s more info on the filmmakers and their films:

David Pomes, director of Cook County.

Jason Goodman, director and co-star of The Eternal City.

Mike Gibisser, director/cinematographer of Finally, Lillian and Dan.

Alex Cannon, Paul Cannon and Michael Lerman, co-directors of Natural Causes.

Darren Dean, producer and co-writer of Prince of Broadway.

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