If you can get past the Sundance hype and the commodification of the term “indie,” you can see that the independent film revolution began decades earlier. And it arguably began with John Cassavettes, a man who THE NEW YORKER said, “…may be the most influential American director of the last half century.”
A successful actor, Cassavettes pioneered modern American independent cinema by self-financing and producing film like SHADOWS, FACES and HUSBANDS. But his greatest achievement may have been the 1974 film A WOMEN UNDER THE INFLUENCE, where he truly bucked the system and took on the role of distributor along with financier and filmmaker.
Starring his wife, Gena Rowlands, and friend Peter Falk, the film was a box office smash, also earning Academy Award nominations for Cassavettes as director and for Gena Rowlands as Best Actress.
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the film’s release, we sit down with Jeff Lipsky, a veteran indie sales and marketing executive who got his start in the distribution business working on the release of the film. Jeff went on to help introduce American audiences to filmmakers like Jim Jarmusch, Mike Leigh and Lasse Halstrom, founding October Films along the way. But it all goes back to Cassavettes and A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE.
Listen to their conversation with this ultimate insider, and his perspective on this landmark film on INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE’s Youtube Channel.
