The goal of this study is to understand the institutional and cultural relationship between modern American independent film and the Academy Awards by focusing on the rise in success for independent films from 1992-2007. Two are two main approaches implemented throughout the work. The first focuses on the cultural construction of the indie brand on certain films during this time and the second analyzes how a production or distribution company tries to strategize the marketing of their films to boost their Oscar chances. These approaches allow a conversation for the occurrences of when these two meet and provide a coherent film identity I have identified as an “Oscar indie.” Starting with Miramax in the 1990s and ending with the Oscar race of 2007-08 a trend can be found which shows a rise in success of “indie” branded films at the Academy Awards. The implications of this trend are as simple as more “indie” films being released each year and as complicated as changing the face of the American film industry as a whole. / text

This thesis investigates the recent developments that have occurred in the independent film market after the major Hollywood studios created their own specialty divisions to produce and distribute independent films. Due to the involvement of the major studios, independent films became more mainstream while their various costs were also driven up due to the increased amount of independent films that were released by the studios. The financial crisis of 2008 forced the major studios to contract their production of independent films and this contraction allowed the prices of independent films to return to more stable levels.

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