ABSTRACT
What does it mean to create indie TV outside of the corporate system? A broader conception of indie TV reveals the limits of focusing on the aesthetics of indie filmmakers who earn corporate distribution. Historically, corporate distribution limits representation, even if creators espouse an ‘indie’ sensibility. Open-access and independently operated web-based channels distribute different kinds of stories than corporations like HBO, Netflix, or the legacy ad-supported channels. The scope of representation is always wider when including indie distribution contexts, even as corporate representation greatly expanded with the rise of streaming platforms, and concurrent rise in programming on cable channels. Because their stories do not need approval from executives, artists, communities, and indie entrepreneurs have a greater capacity for challenging aesthetic and representational norms online. Using case studies of comparable corporate vs. indie shows, this chapter outlines the basic representational differences between indie TV and corporate TV in style and identity (race, gender, sexuality, etc.). It takes the most extreme, artistic representations on corporate channels -- the indie aesthetic -- and contrasts them with the most daring ones released online to show how ‘indie’ representations on corporate channels are routinely circumscribed compared to those created open access online.
