Too Many Indies? Actor and Director Kentucker Audley Urges 'Mediocre' Filmmakers to Stop Making Films

Filmmaker and actor Kentucker Audley, who is best known for his lead

performance in Amy Seimetz’s directorial debut “Sun Don’t Shine” and his supporting role in David Lowery’s “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints” created a petition on Change.org urging fellow mediocre filmmakers to stop making films. The petition, a direct response to recent stories in The New York Times and Salon complaining about the glut of independent films, is clearly tongue in cheek.

Audley, who previously wrote and directed the features “Open Five” and “Open Five 2” said he counts himself among the “mediocre” filmmakers who should retire. He also tweeted his request.

He writes on the Change.org page:

Our goal is 5,000 signatures. We believe if we can convince enough

aspiring filmmakers to give up on their dreams, the industry will become

solvent again, returning to a thriving and viable state. Film critics

and film audiences will no longer be overwhelmed by the glut of mediocre

indie productions, while the truly inspired and talented filmmakers

will easily be discovered and embraced, able to receive the wide acclaim

& financial gain they deserve. Distributors, theater owners,

tastemakers, as well as audiences and critics, will delight in having

far fewer films to choose from. Note: if you’re an indie

filmmaker with commercial promise, please continue making films. (Don’t

sign) This list is made for the mediocre filmmakers who would otherwise

be clogging up the indie arteries with undercooked, half-assed or

nobudge productions. This includes anything small scale, anything

personal, of course all mumblecore, and most other work with developing

visions. (In other words, if you don’t already have your artistry

perfected, please sign up.) I, Kentucker Audley, will be the first to sign up & look forward to you joining me in this quest to find another passion. We hit 5,000 signatures and the industry is saved! Thank you former indie filmmakers!

Earlier this year, New York Times film critic Manohla Dargis wrote an impassioned essay urging distributors to stop buying so many movies. “There are, bluntly, too many lackluster, forgettable and just plain bad movies

pouring into theaters, distracting the entertainment media and, more

important, overwhelming the audience,” wrote Dargis. Just recently at Salon, Beanie Barnes address the perceived glut of indie movies saying that “the indie film industry is cannibalizing itself.”

Thanks to technological advances that have made filmmaking more accessible than ever before, there are more films being made. But does that mean we should stifle indie creativity and instruct filmmakers to stop making movies unless they’re worthy? Audley pokes fun at this notion by calling out filmmakers “who would otherwise be clogging up the indie arteries with undercooked, half-assed or nobudge productions.”

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