An Economic Perspective to Independent Cinema

This paper investigates the economic patterns related to independent cinema, which seems to be an understudied perspective in the literature. Using the classification in The Movie Database, we delve into basic features of movies and make comparisons of mainstream and independent cinema. Applying count regression models to alternative classifications of independent movies, we investigate the temporal patterns of independent movie creation and the linkages between independent and mainstream production volumes. We find that increasing number of independent films may be partially an outcome of increase in mainstream movie releases, showing a case of positive externality. In addition, increasing production budget for a movie has a positive impact on independent movie releases, in which the independent movies are more financed by the foundations such as United Artists over years