I never cease to be amazed by the sheer number of films that indie filmakers are able to generate, even in an economy as difficult as this one. Almost all of these films are dramas, however, and as I previously wrote a couple months ago, this has created a huge shortage of independently produced comedies. I am not sure why this is the case but it ever so clearly is. Sometimes I think all of the good intentions that indie filmmakers embrace blind them to how effective, and saleable, a good comedy can be. There is no shame or selling out when you make people laugh, and maybe even think a bit when they're done chuckling.

There's an old joke in theatre circles about the nervous actor who implores her director to explain how he wants a scene played. "Make them laugh" the director replies. "They like that." Easier said than done of course, but I for one remember when most American comedies were made by independents, not the studios. Now that situation has clearly reversed itself and the independent film scene is worse off for it. It's as if independent filmmakers have ceded humor to the studio crowd. Some of the films these people make are indeed hilarious. Tropic Thunder is a case in point. Would it have been so hard to do an independent version of something like that?

Technically and financially speaking, comedies are the easiest and cheapest films to produce. As the market would have it, they are also the easiest independent films to sell. Our August dvd release of Slippery Slope, a funny film made on a very limited budget is renting like hotcakes. It's even starting to perform as a sell thru item. Why? It's humerous, sexy and thoughtful. Not a bad combination. The film is far from perfect, but audiences forgive a lot when you make them laugh. Hopefully more independent filmmakers will follow the path of Sarah Schenck and her team took with Slippery Slope. There is a big opportunity out there for those who do.

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