Independent movies don't grace many local screens

This lack of artsy film houses may mean several contenders for the 82nd annual Academy Awards, live tonight on ABC, are movies that haven't even appeared before an audience in Anne Arundel County. According to the Independent Film and Television Alliance, indie films received 79 overall Oscar nominations this year compared to just 42 major films.

Jean Prewitt, the alliance's president and chief executive officer, said this award season is no anomaly, with big wins in the recent past for many other little-guy motion pictures, such as "Slumdog Millionaire", "Crash" and "Million Dollar Baby".

This time around, indie films "The Hurt Locker", "An Education" and "Precious" are in the runnings for some of the top Oscar categories.

No venue for indies

Patti Obrow White, an Annapolis resident and co-founder of Filmsters Academy, said it's a "surprise" that Annapolis, a state capital, and its metro area lack a movie theater designated for indies.

White is not just an avid Oscar fan, but as a member of the Writers Guild, also contributes a casting vote in the yearly awards program. Because of her ties with the guild, she gets to view copies of many films to which ordinary moviegoers may not have as much access.

If it weren't for that fortunate connection, however, she'd be struggling to see some of the fringe films, too, she said.

"I mean I just went last night all the way to Baltimore to see 'The Prep School Negro' that just came out," she said. "We just don't have houses here that show these films, and usually if we do get them, it's after-the-fact, like after the Academy Awards, and we're not on the cutting edge. It's a shame because I think there is a demand for it here."

White is one who laments the shuttered Crown Eastport Arts 2, located in a shopping center on Bay Ridge Road, which closed for a second time in May 2004. It has since remained closed.

Dan Lederberg, the landlord of the Eastport Plaza LLC development, said he did not want to discuss the financial history of the theater in great detail with The Capital, but added that it was a well-known fact among the community that his desire and struggle has been, for some time, to fill that vacancy with a grocery store. And as for whether he would consider the possibility of another theater tenant, Lederberg said: "We have no plans to try to resurrect it as a movie theater."

Making money off of screening is no easy feat. Film industry experts have said those expensive boxes of candy, sodas and popcorn tubs are the major revenue builders. Most of the profits from ticket sales pay off the movie studios, who literally rent the films to the theater owners and pocket a portion of the theater's ticket earnings.

Theater owners also have to cover the costs of the building, payroll, equipment and utilities on top of the costs just to rent the movies.

Pericles Lewnes, an Annapolis resident and independent filmmaker, said the industry has changed a lot in just a few years, making it more difficult for indies to reach the masses. He concludes that Anne Arundel County is not unique in its dearth of indie venues, but is part of a growing phenomenon everywhere.

That's why he began the Annapolis Pretentious Film Society club this year, for which he curates a film series with showings at locations such as Rams Head On Stage. He invites indie actors, crews and directors to discuss their movies with the audience at these viewings. Lewnes said he tries to exhibit films that wouldn't otherwise have the kind of distribution to land in a nearby theater. So far he's enjoying some success with the series, drawing crowds of a size ranging between 40 and 120 for the screenings.

"There are some people that will really take to films that other people will really despise or not get," he said. "Filmmakers are banding together now and trying to work out a new sales model for the industry or their genre. I'm pretty much a foot soldier in this battle, because a lot of us are just trying to get our movies seen."

Building indie culture

In the past few years, the county has lost much of its diverse venues from the movie-viewing landscape. In July 2005, Annapolis Cinema Grill, a place where dates could literally do dinner-and-a-movie simultaneously, closed at its Forest Plaza location in Parole. Pasadena also lost its second-run movie theater Premier Cinemas at Jumpers in October 2006.

At the time of its closing, owner Cheryl Severe said an antiquated HVAC system on her property in need of replacement was just too costly for her to finance.

White said she believes it takes a patient investor to open an independent theater these days because it takes time for a community to acquire an indie culture and may take even longer for the profit to roll in.

"The major theater owners gauge whether there's a population that wants to go to one of these movies, and they're going to hedge their bets and say, 'Put 'Avatar' in one more theater,' " she said.

White said she believes one way to cultivate an independent moviegoer niche is through a strong filmmaking presence in the county and Maryland. But that can also be tricky, she said.

In just the past decade, states have become more competitive regarding the incentive programs they offer to lure filmmakers to shoot on their turf. Some legislators and industry lobbyists, such as the group Maryland Film Industry Coalition, have advocated for revisions to the state's rebate program to bring more film projects to Maryland.

Sen. Alex Mooney, R-Frederick, has introduced a bill this legislative session to convert the existing Film Production Rebate Program into a tax-credit program that would not be subject to annual appropriation.

Budget cuts have put the Maryland Film Office, a branch of the state's Department of Business and Economic Development that regulates and draws these filmings, on a bit of a shoestring.

Lewnes said he believes the office works hard to bring movie-makers to Maryland, and a greater emphasis on generating them here in the state would also, in turn, help independent theater owners.

"There needs to be places for people who seek this form of cinema, and they need to be nurtured by connecting to the people who make these films," he said.