First, if you’re in the Bay Area be aware of the 9th annual Independent Film Festival.

Next, the Onion has become a powerful voice in the world of cultural criticism. Their AV Club continues to produce impressive content with consistently timely, smart, and unusual subjects.

In a recent interview with Edward Norton, Onion writer Scott Tobias invites Norton to contrast today’s indie film world with that of the 70′s. Here’s part of Norton’s response:

“I think there’s more ways to get a movie made today than ever in the history of the entertainment industry. It’s a very exciting time to work in movies, if you’re a creative person looking to make a very personal, weird vision.”

“You know, independent films have been institutionalized, practically. Every studio has got a boutique arthouse label. There’s like, 18 different independent film-financing funds.”

Seems counterintuitive to have an institutionalized indie anything, but we do, and Norton makes a good point.

Norton also takes credit for writing the Frida screenplay. Nice work there. Frida was my bigscreen debut.

[tags]San Francisco Independent Film Festival, The Onion, Frida[/tags]