Report by former Sundance CEO Keri Putnam, Walter Shorenstein Media & Democracy Fellow at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy
Los Angeles — December 10, 2024 — Parrot Analytics has contributed to the wide-ranging study “US Independent Film Audience & Landscape,” spearheaded by Keri Putnam at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy, a Harvard Kennedy School research center.
The report provides an overview of the state of the independent film industry in the United States, addressing untapped opportunities, systemic challenges, and the growing audience demand for alternatives to mass-market entertainment.
“The independent film sector is at a crossroads, with tremendous untapped potential to engage new audiences while navigating significant structural challenges,” said Brandon Katz, Senior Entertainment Industry Strategist at Parrot Analytics. “This report shines a light on the opportunities and innovations that can empower filmmakers and distributors to thrive in an increasingly competitive market.”
“Independent films have always been a vital part of the cultural ecosystem, but they now face unprecedented challenges from technological and market consolidation,” said Keri Putnam, former Sundance CEO. “This report underscores the importance of innovation, collaboration, and public policy in ensuring that independent creators and audiences have the tools and access they need to thrive.”
The study’s findings spotlight key areas for growth and collaboration in the independent film sector, including:
- Untapped Audience Potential: There is a larger addressable market for independent film in the US than current viewership suggests, offering a significant opportunity to engage more fully with diverse audiences. The report examines where they watch independent films today and highlights opportunities for future growth and engagement.
- Lack of Data in the Sector: The report emphasizes a troubling lack of publicly available data critical to digital marketing and content valuation; it advocates collaboration across the independent film sector to ethically share data in a centralized and shared fashion to benefit filmmakers, distributors, exhibitors, and financiers.
- Audiences hungry for alternatives: Smaller streaming platforms and independent theatrical films are capturing a larger market share, signaling an opportunity to engage audiences for independent film and documentary who want fresh alternatives to mass-market entertainment.
- High potential for films that carve their own path: Without distribution offers, many films are successfully building their own fan bases and release strategies. This independent distribution sector offers many tactics and tools that can be scaled and used across the field by independent exhibitors, festivals, and distributors.
- Policy and Structural Change: The study calls for antitrust, regulatory, and public policy interventions to address technological and monopolistic challenges, much like those faced by the music and journalism sectors.
By contributing its data, analytics, and expertise to Putnam’s study, Parrot Analytics continues to support critical research that shapes the future of entertainment. The full report serves as a vital resource for all stakeholders in the independent film industry and is available through the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy.
The full report can be accessed at: www.indiefilmlandscape.org
For more information about Keri Putnam, visit: https://shorensteincenter.org/staff_bio/keri-putnam/
About Parrot Analytics
Parrot Analytics is the leader in global entertainment analytics. The company values content, talent and IP by measuring over 2 billion audiences globally. Leveraging audience demand and content supply, Parrot Analytics can determine how much any TV show or movie is worth on a specific platform by region. Parrot Analytics’ partners use this knowledge to help better understand global supply and demand across all platforms to value content and talent, drive better production, distribution, acquisition, and marketing decisions, as well as increase D2C growth and retention. For more information about Parrot Analytics, see
www.parrotanalytics.com.
