Independent Production Companies

Independent Production Companies

An independent production company is a production company that does business without a partner or parent company. It allows the company more freedom, as they do not have another business to represent. As there is no business attachment, they get complete decision making control which allows them to extend their creativity, which is the reason why independent production companies usually express moral and social issues within their work.

There are many independent production companies, usually only making one film. Fox Searchlight Pictures is a sister company of the Fox Entertainment Group, they specialise in promoting and distributing films made by independent production companies. This allows the film to be more successful as it is distributed to a wider audience, gaining more profit.

An example of a film that took advantage of more creative and social freedom was Little Miss Sunshine (2006). As well as discussing self-esteem, homophobic and drug abuse issues. The directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris also chose to discuss moral philosophers, through the use of opposing characters.

 Moral Philosophers

Both Dwayne and Frank have strong opinions on morals and the reason for suffering, and both follow a philosopher’s teachings, with continuous references about two in particular throughout the film.

Nietzsche

Dwayne is interested in the writings of Nietzsche. One of Nietzsche’s quotes was “God is Dead”, a small reference is made on Dwayne’s t-shirt, “Jesus was Wrong”. Dwayne also has a giant painting of the cover of Nietzsche’s book on his wall. Nietzsche believed that a man must make his own moral standards. He was one of the main philosophers to believe in moral relativism. Moral relativism is when someone believes that points of view have no truth, and they are subjective due to people’s perceptions. After writing a book on his teachings, Nietzsche went insane and was eventually picked up and reconstructed by Adolf Hitler.

Proust

Uncle Frank is a Proust Scholar and therefore a strong follower of his teachings. Proust believes that in a lifetime of suffering we can find happiness, this is also said as ‘experiencing suffering can bring meaning and allow us to know happiness’. Proust is known for writing a seven-volume novel (the longest novel ever); those that dedicate their life to understanding and following it are called Proust Scholars.