Harry Potter star Timothy Spall told us the struggle is real for independent filmmakers at the Raindance Film Festival opening gala last night. "Most independent films are really made and brought to screen by the skin of their teeth, by love," the actor, who played worm tail, told us. Why? "Because the stories are not immediately seemingly commercial. They are unusual or they’re challenging," he said.
Another more likely reason is the domination of the industry by streaming services. Harry Potter director and film producer David Yates said "the streaming model has been a real challenge. There was a period where that was an existential threat for the indie sector," he said. "Even for the studio system it’s been a bit of a head scratch." That's one way of putting it.
