Dave Cool talks Indie

Monday, September 25, 2006 at 10:18am by Angela Gilltrap in Marketing

What is Indie? It�s a question many artists, fans and musicians are constantly trying to answer - one person�s definition is rarely the same as another�s.

Dave Cool (that really is his name) a fellow entrepreneur and owner of Stand Alone Records, set out to dispel the myth with his independently released documentary, �What is Indie?�

Featuring interviews from Panos Panay (Founder of Sonicbids), Derek Sivers (Founder of CD Baby) and Suzanne Glass (Founder of Indie-Music.com), as well as 20 artists including Ember Swift and Paul Cargnello, it was filmed throughout the US and Canada and explores the theme of what it means to be an Indie artist.

To be an Indie artist requires a performer to take over aspects of show business once only handled by major labels, things such as marketing, distribution and promotion.

This documentary is not only informative and enlightening as a retrospective look at an evolving market place but it is also a great example of how multi-media can raise your business� profile.

Dave was kind enough to answer a few questions for us, the interview will be posted in its entirety over the next few days. Till then check out www.whatisindiemovie.com

> Any tips for people wanting to make a documentary about their industry?

I would just say that there are a ton of people out there willing to work on
DIY projects just for the experience, so take advantage. But before you
start your film, my best advice would be to PLAN. Plan everything ahead of
time, believe me, it’s going to save you a lot of headaches down the road!

> Did you do an initial budget for the DVD?

Kind of, but not really! The film actually started out as being just a short
10-minute thing we were going to throw onto a compilation CD as a
multi-media file, but then it grew into a full-blown documentary film. So I
basically just kept putting money into it as long I could do so, but I knew
that I didn’t want to surpass a certain limit.

> Were you surprised or horrified at the potential costs?

I was surprised in the end how little we actually spent compared to most
productions, but that was mainly due to the fact that my cameraman and
editor worked for a fraction of their usual fees because they were really
into the project. However I did give them some revenue-sharing in the
project for their kindness