Have technological advances like digital recording phased out the indie filmmaker culture that was shown in American Movie?
CS: People are still shooting on film, but on a documentary or an independent film, it definitely makes more sense to shoot on digital, just because it’s economically more feasible and it’s much easier to manage and use. So I think those days are over in a lot of ways. Mark and I both grew up with an appreciation of film, and we’re committed to it from an artistic standpoint. I think as time has gone on, the practicality of the whole thing, for me, making a documentary I would definitely choose to shoot on digital next time. But we just did an independent film in India that we shot on 35mm film. I think it’s sort of a case-by-case basis, but on a purely independent level and from an economic point-of-view, digital makes the most practical sense. D: Is it true that you sold American Movie to Sony for $1 million? CS: Well, we didn’t actually sell it for $1 million. That’s what’s been reported, so I’ll leave it at that. D: I read that on that IMDB.com— CS: I never mentioned it, so I don’t
