ABSTRACT
While much of the economic film history of the New Hollywood has focused on the conglomeration of the industry and the globalization of media production, the industrial structure has changed not just for the major studios, but also for those distributors on the margins, the independent film and video distributors. In this chapter, I intend to analyse how the marketplace for independent film (films not released by the majors) has shifted in the past two decades by considering the development of the two largest independent companies, New Line Cinema and Miramax Films. The case studies of New Line and Miramax illuminate the diverse distribution, marketing and advertising methods developed and co-opted by the independents to weather an increasingly competitive economic climate. Perhaps strongest evidence of the two companies' success in traversing the marketplace can be seen by the recent mergers between these independents and major companies which have provided both New Line and Miramax with substantial financial backing.
