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WHO'S WHO A MAP OF THE INDEPENDENT FILM LANDSCAPE
MIRAMAX: Brothers Bob and Harvey Weinstein are still the kings of the indie clubhouse, mixing art-house and foreign fare (The English Patient, Kolya) with the Dimension division's mass-appeal genre films (Scream). OWNED BY: Disney. HIGH HOPES FOR: A strong August that includes the thriller Mimic, Sylvester Stallone in Cop Land, and Sean Penn, Robin Wright Penn, and John Travolta in She's So Lovely; in addition, the Japanese import Shall We Dance? has started strongly.
FINE LINE: A home for the low-budget films its more mainstream sibling New Line is too big to touch. With the exception of Shine, it has struggled for the past year. OWNED BY: Time Warner. HIGH HOPES FOR: Atom Egoyan's Cannes prizewinner The Sweet Hereafter (December) and Woody Allen's latest, Deconstructing Harry (late fall).
OCTOBER: A maverick that made a big impression last year with Mike Leigh's Secrets & Lies and Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves; known for loyalty to its directors. OWNED BY: Universal. HIGH HOPES FOR: Leigh's Career Girls (August) and the Australian thriller Kiss or Kill (November).
SONY PICTURES CLASSICS: Has a rep for patience and slow, careful marketing that gives films like Lone Star time to find an audience. OWNED BY: Sony. HIGH HOPES FOR: The Sundance fave In the Company of Men, a brutal take on misogynistic guys that could become late summer's watercooler hit.
FOX SEARCHLIGHT: The fledgling division launched itself last summer with She's the One but hit the rocks this spring with Blood & Wine, Smilla's Sense of Snow, and Paradise Road. OWNED BY: Twentieth Century Fox. HIGH HOPES FOR: The male-stripper comedy The Full Monty (August) and Ang Lee's '70s family drama The Ice Storm (September).
METROMEDIA: John Kluge's company recently purchased Orion (Ulee's Gold) and Goldwyn (Big Night), then was itself bought by MGM. HIGH HOPES FOR: Survival. MGM has already laid off 85 Orion staffers and the company's future as an art-film label is uncertain.
GRAMERCY: An eclectic distributor whose output runs from documentaries (When We Were Kings) to mid-budget flicks like Dead Man Walking and Fargo. OWNED BY: PolyGram. HIGH HOPES FOR: The Coens' The Big Lebowski (December) and the Bill Bellamy comedy Def Jam's How to Be a Player (August).
TRIMARK: Its oeuvre is a schizoid smattering of highbrow (Kama Sutra) and lowbrow (Rodney Dangerfield's Meet Wally Sparks). HIGH HOPES FOR: Living in Oblivion director Tom DiCillo's comedy Box of Moonlight (July).
CINEPIX FILM PROPERTIES (CFP): A scrappy new kid on the block, it has achieved surprising success recently with The Pillow Book and The Daytrippers. HIGH HOPES FOR: The Sundance prizewinners Sunday (August) and Sick (fall).
