How ‘Pulp Fiction’ Destroyed Indie Cinema

Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs is renowned as one of the greatest independent films of all time. After its controversial Sundance debut in 1992, the filmmaker was praised as the next coming — John Cassavetes reincarnated. Only this video store clerk-turned overnight film god wasn’t reserved like Cassavetes, or like his contemporary indie newcomers Richard Linklater or Kevin Smith. No, Tarantino was (and still is) a lover of the limelight, a trait not often associated with DIY filmmakers on tight budgets.

By the time Pulp Fiction rolled around two years later, everyone was buzzing about the new wild child. He had the perfect script (co-written with Roger Avary who, after being bullied by Tarantino, only received a shared “story by” credit), a powerful ensemble cast, and a badass rock ‘n’ roll soundtrack to make his neo-noir black comedy a staple of American cinema. It made a profit of over $200 million on a budget of $8.5 million, nabbed the Palme d’Or at Cannes, earned seven Oscar nods, and took home a gold man for Best Original Screenplay, catapulting Tarantino out of the indie realm and into the Hollywood mainstream indefinitely.

Pulp Fiction is technically an independent film because of its bargain budget and Miramax backing, back when the Weinsteins were expertly churning no-name directors and actors into A-list gold. Tarantino became like a third brother to the distribution duo. They were able to cast Pulp for cheap because the film’s biggest stars, John Travolta and Bruce Willis, were both trying to revive their careers, signing on for pennies in comparison to top-billing salaries. Uma Thurman was still a nobody in need of a paycheck, and vet Harvey Keitel signed on because he loved working on Reservoir Dogs and wanted to help produce the film. Needless to say, Tarantino had been dealt a royal flush of cinematic fate. Unfortunately, because the term indie was used so loosely when describing Tarantino’s exciting trek to the top, Pulp crushed all hope for future Tarantinos.

New Line, October Films (RIP), and other competitors of Miramax couldn’t possibly keep up, as the Weinsteins were in a league all their own. They were an east coast Hollywood, stomping on the little guy for fun, gobbling up scripts just because they could. Tiny production and distribution houses could only risk millions on something they were sure would pay off because the game had radically shifted in just a few short years.

Pulp Fiction might have had a small budget, but it was not truly an independent film. Twenty years later, the damage it has done is painted over in hipster marketing campaigns and DIY slogans. South by Southwest, Tribeca, and Sundance film fests continue to build up their extravagance — little Hollywoods with different signs. Sure, the homegrown nature of these festivals is still very much prominent, but big films and even bigger names continue to take the cake. For example, Iron Man director Jon Favreau’s Chef won the Audience Award at the most recent Tribeca Film Festival.

Written and directed by Favreau, who also starred as the lead, Chef featured household names like Sofia Vergara, Scarlett Johansson, and Robert Downey, Jr. The Audience Awards at festivals are dependent on, yes, the audience, which means whoever comes out for the film gets to vote. Seems fair enough, but because film festivals have become less and less exclusive over the years, the general public who falls into the average moviegoer category might choose to see a film whose stars they recognize on the poster over say, a smaller film directed by someone they’ve never heard of and starring actors they’ve never seen.

What’s fantastic about film festivals, in theory, is they level the playing field for filmmakers and talent to be able to break into the industry with a distribution deal. Yet, because Miramax Hollywoodized the independent game and based all future successes on the same unattainable anomaly of Pulp Fiction, young filmmakers began working in the shadow of a cinematic phenomenon that could only happen in that space and time. Like an awkward teen flipping through magazine ads plastered with Photoshopped models, Pulp Fiction became their unattainable right of passage to play with the big boys — only the Weinsteins made sure that wouldn’t happen anytime soon. After the hype of the 1995 Oscars died down, it was obvious Pulp Fiction was something that can’t be replicated, even by Tarantino himself, who as we all know, went on to make more incredible films — none being quite like his Pulp.

What’s happened in the last 20 years? After Shakespeare in Love and Chicago, the Weinsteins sold the last of their Miramax shares to Disney in 2005 and went off on their own yet again. Tarantino bobbled for a bit after Jackie Brown and the Kill Bills but has since found his groove and has grown into a mature Hollywood presence, who went from spitting at paparazzi to giving poignant acceptance speeches for his Django Unchained screenplay. Festivals are bigger and more plentiful than ever: employing thousands of people year-round and bringing hundreds of films to urban communities. Films with familiar faces are still dominating the awards, but in recent years the game has started to change again thanks to digital self-promotion.

More and more web series and short film creators have made careers overnight thanks to outlets of YouTube, Vimeo, and Vine. Whether writing feature-length screenplays is obsolete is another argument in itself, but right now, short content is growing at rapid speeds and festivals are forced to create separate competitions solely for these series and Vine videos. The Internet got the word out, and festivals are helping push them into the mainstream. Take High Maintenance for example: a web series produced by a tiny three-person company, posted on Vimeo, popularized by fans who believe in it, honored at festivals, and now it’s getting brand new episodes backed exclusively by Vimeo later this month.

The independent cycle took almost 20 years to make a full lap, but between online and VOD outlets, producing and distributing processes are wearing new faces. Who will be the Tarantino of the Internet age? Are they already among us? Will they fall to the same mainstream Pulp fate? Let’s check back in another two decades. Who knows: by that time, nostalgia might be an even more lucrative business similar to the hand-written letters of Her, and banking off feature-length postmodern screenplays will be cool again.

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Photos: Miramax/Everett Collection