Independent Lens . Inside Indies . Inside Filmmaking

What inspires indie filmmakers to persevere? Go inside the making of independent film. Come back for new articles, interviews, journals and more.

Volume 5

FILMMAKER Q&A

A cameraman is on his knees in the desert, filming a row of soldiers dressed in camouflage

Cal Skaggs

DEMOCRACY ON DEADLINE: The Global Struggle for an Independent Press

DEMOCRACY ON DEADLINE: The Global Struggle for an Independent Press follows teams of journalists into some of the most dangerous and secretive corners of the world, pursuing their stories in the face of suppression, lies, imprisonment and threats of physical harm. To highlight the central role a free press plays in preserving democracy, Producer/Director Cal Skaggs and his team combed through 200 hours of footage to create this dynamic portrayal of independent-minded journalists. In the Filmmaker Q&A, Skaggs reveals the surprises, challenges and moments of true danger that he, his crew––and the journalists they followed––faced while filming, including one close call on a return trip to Israel from Gaza.

“Scary, dangerous, yet funny, like a roller coaster ride: We’re in Gaza, on a one-day permit. If we tried to spend the night then return to Israel the next day, we’d be detained by the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces). Certainly we’d never get back into Gaza for the rest of our work. But Amira Haas wants us to have one good meal at a seaside restaurant in Gaza City….”

FILMMAKER Q&A

Three middle-aged men in suits stand facing the camera

Alex Gibney

ENRON: The Smartest Guys in the Room

Director Alex Gibney reveals the inside story of one of history’s greatest business scandals, in which top executives walked away with over one billion dollars and investors and employees lost everything.

In the Filmmaker Q&A, Gibney reflects on the book that inspired ENRON: The Smartest Guys in the Room, how he developed the film’s memorable soundtrack and some of the challenges he encountered in translating the complicated story of a corporate scandal to the screen.

“I broke Rule #1 of the filmmaker’s handbook: Never make a film about accounting. I also broke Rule #2: Never make a film if no one wants to talk to you on camera. That was the biggest challenge. Because of all the legal cases (civil and criminal), no one’s lawyers wanted their clients to talk to me. Yet, in the end, I was able to get some to talk.”

Inside Filmmaking:
Volume 6
Volume 5
Volume 4
Volume 3
Volume 2
Volume 1


	indie icon: Ang Lee “Mainstream films have occupied Hollywood, but you can get bored very easily. It can be very repetitive, and I think now we want something fresh and something inspiring and different, daring.”

I hope [the film] will be like cold water in the face—to refresh those who know and wake up, those who don’t know—showing them that the democratic freedoms we all desire, imagine, and sometimes experience cannot exist without journalists.
—Cal Skaggs, DEMOCRACY ON DEADLINE

I had no big secret weapon when I walked into the room with Jadakiss and Busta Rhymes. I just walked into the room and gave them respect from jump. I spoke to them man to man.
— Byron Hurt,
HIP-HOP: Beyond Beats and Rhymes

I am interested in self-deception: how human beings find ways to deceive themselves that they are, in the words of Jeff Skilling, on the “side of the angels,” when, in fact, they are working for the man with the pitchfork and the pointy tail.
— Alex Gibney, ENRON