Alternative Channels

When Marina Zenovich stepped into the waters of independent documentary filmmaking, she knew she was taking a significant gamble. The vast majority of indie features — particularly documentaries — wind up languishing in obscurity.

But Zenovich had little trouble placing any of her three docs. Her most recent 63-minute film, "Estonia Dreams of Eurovision!" — which details the annual Eurovision Song Contest where hopeful singers from across Europe attempt to prove their nation's dominance in the field of pop music — premiered last fall on the Sundance Channel, the same outlet that aired her two previous efforts, 2001's "Who Is Bernard Tapie?" and 1998's "Independent's Day."

Commerical-free outlets the Sundance Channel and Independent Film Channel have become a godsend to filmmakers like Zenovich and indie film enthusiasts from across the country — particularly those who live in areas where art house fare and indie pictures are hard to find. At this year's Sundance Film Festival, odds are that any number of fest titles will someday air on one of these two outlets.

The realities of today's indie marketplace dictate that sometimes a TV run makes better business sense.

"Making an independent film is a huge risk," writer-director Henry Bean says. "The fact that these channels will exhibit this work is crucial to the whole process. This is definitely helping to keep independent filmmaking vital and alive."

Bean's controversial movie "The Believer," which won the 2001 Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, got only limited theatrical distribution in part because of its run on Showtime last year.

While HBO and Showtime air indie features that have not yet been distributed theatrically, Sundance Channel and IFC stand far ahead of the pack as destination points for cable viewers looking for this type of programming.

"One of the things that makes us at the Sundance Channel most proud is that we can offer a platform to filmmakers who have slipped through the cracks of the national distribution system," senior vp film programming Paola Freccero says.

Launched in 1996, Sundance Channel — a joint venture between Robert Redford, Showtime Networks Inc. and Universal Studios — is available in nearly 16 million cable households. IFC, owned by Cablevision Systems, bowed in 1994 and now reaches about 25 million subscribers.

Ed Carroll, IFC executive vp and general manager, believes the audience for independent films has grown because the definition of art house films has expanded to include everything from period costume dramas to foreign films to last year's indie sensation "My Big Fat Greek Wedding."

"IFC got its foothold in urban centers on the East and West Coasts," Carroll »says. "But IFC programming is valuable in those areas where the films we show aren't widely available theatrically."

Sundance Channel screens high-profile indie projects such as 2001's "The Man Who Wasn't There," but it also embraces unknown films like Zenovich's documentaries, which have never been screened theatrically.

According to Freccero, the Sundance Channel receives more than 1,000 unsolicited films every year from independent filmmakers, though it's rare that such a film is chosen for broadcast.

IFC only airs films that have already had some type of theatrical release in the United States, but the company also has branched out into production and distribution with such acclaimed features as 2001's "Monsoon Wedding" and 1999's "Boys Don't Cry."

Both Freccero and Carroll say their networks aim to foster a sense of community among their viewers.

"We try to build a sense of community with everything we do," Freccero says. "For instance, on our Web site it's not just about the films we show, it's also about recommending books and music and listing events like art exhibitions. We try to make our viewers feel like they belong to a community of like-minded people."