STAGE TRICKS AND HOLLYWOOD EXERCIES

If some forms of independent production have worked closely in unison with Hollywood, others have operated in areas in which Hollywood has chosen not to tread, sometimes teaching valuable lessons to the dominant institution. Necessity has often driven independent operators to be the pioneers of American cinema, exploring new avenues in their search for territories not already colonized by the major studios. The early independents took cinema to parts of rural America, including the gold camps of Alaska, that were not served by the big companies. Technological innovations have also come from independent sources in some cases: the development of...