Troma co-founder Lloyd Kaufman dressed as a chicken and picketed New York's Village East Cinemas a few days prior to the opening of his horror comedy "Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead." His promotional antics paid off with the Troma release clawing its way past all independent movies with a finger licking good per-screen average of $10,700 at the Village East. Close behind was Magnolia Pictures' "Surfwise," director Doug Pray's documentary about off-the- grid surfer Doc Paskowitz and his family. "The Fall," Indian filmmaker Tarsem's eye-popping adventure tale set in silent-era Hollywood, also debuted in the iWBOT top five, which ranks films by per-screen average. "The Fall" earned $79,611 in weekend box office from nine runs for Roadside Attractions. Rounding out the iWBOT top five were "Before the Rains," Indian director Santosh Sivan's South India-set, period romance for Roadside Attractions, and "Bloodline," Cinema Libre Studio's documentary about the controversy concerning whether Jesus married Mary Magdalene and fathered children.

News of Warner Bros. shutting down its indie film labels, Warner Independent Pictures and Picturehouse cast a gloom over the weekend's art-house releases. While business analysts debated the value of specialty film divisions to Hollywood studios, a cross-section of alternative films, "Poultrygeist," "The Fall" and "Bloodline" debuted with solid box office results for their independent film companies.

Veteran cult filmmaker and Troma co-founder Lloyd Kaufman experienced one of the biggest debuts in New York-based Troma's thirty-five-year history thanks to his horror musical "Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead." About a zombie menace that occurs when a fast-food chicken restaurant is built atop Native American burial grounds, "Poultrygeist" earned $10,700 from its exclusive debut at New York's Village East Cinemas. "The shows were amazing," said Kaufman via e-mail. "We had people shouting and laughing and clapping. The Friday and Saturday shows were almost sold out with little advertising. Some celebs attended and "The Onion" sponsored a huge after party. The studios spend a hundred million and still can't buy that kind of genuine enthusiasm and word of beak." Boxer confirmed a slow expansion plan for "Poultrygeist," one dictated solely by its box office performance, with a Los Angeles opening in June. "We are bootstrapping the distribution; buying new prints out of the revenue," said Kaufman. We have fewer than 15 prints and they are all working. In fact, my wife and I had to shell out the $500,000 for the film's production budget. I told her she was investing in "Transformers Part 4," so don't tell her."

"Surfwise," director Doug Pray's documentary about hippie surfer Doc Paskowitz and his family of nine kids, earned $10,304 for Magnolia Pictures from an exclusive debut at New York's IFC Center. Neal Block, director of distribution, Magnolia Pictures, confirmed an expansion of "Surfwise" to Los Angeles and Newport Beach on May 23 and other markets in June. "We're happy with the performance of this doc in a non-surf-heavy locale like New York and we're excited to see hot it plays in places like LA and San Diego," said Block. "It's not your typical surfing film. "Surfwise" is much richer; its characters human and its drama universal."

"The Fall" Indian director Tarsem's elaborate fantasy adventure set in Hollywood's early years, earned $79,611 for Roadside Attractions and a $8,846 per-screen average from nine runs in New York and Los Angeles.

"Before the Rains," director Santosh Sivan's period romance between a British landowner and an Indian servant; set in Sivan's native South India, earned $48,159 from six runs in Greater New York and Los Angeles for Roadside Attractions. An expansion of "Before the Rains" into top ten markets is planned for Friday.

Rounding out the iWBOT top five was "Bloodline," co-directors Bruce Burgess and Rene Barnett's documentary about the long-held belief that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and fathered children. "Bloodline" earned $6,658 from its exclusive debut at New York's Village East Cinemas for Cinema Libre Studio; an expansion to Los Angeles is planned for Friday.

Debuting in the iWBOT top ten was "Refusenik," director Laura Bialis' documentary about the thirty-year effort to free Soviet Jews and fight anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union. "Refusenik" earned $4,383 for Abramorama Pictures from its exclusive debut at New York's Quad Cinema.

Just outside the iWBOT top five was Samuel Goldywn's "Roman de Gare," the latest film from French master Claude Lelouch. Featuring Fanny Ardant, Audrey Dana and Dominique Pinon as three strangers whose lives intersect with surprising results, "Roman de Gare" earned $64,516 from 15 runs for a $4,301 per-screen average and a cume of $334,098. While a steep 60% decline in per-screen average from its previous weekend, "Roman de Gare" remained the top-performing holdover on the iWBOT.

Other specialty debuts outside the iWBOT Top Ten included "The Tracey Fragments," director Bruce McDonald's adaptation of Maureen Medved's novel featuring "Juno" star Ellen Page in titular role. "Tracey Fragments" earned $3,002 from its exclusive New York run. Director Michel Hazanavicius' French spy comedy "OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies," featuring comic actor Jean Dujardin as a secret agent, earned $31,418 in weekend box office from nine runs for Chicago-based Music Box Films. "Noise," writer/director Henry Bean's comedy about a New York lawyer (Tim Robbins) railing against the city's countless car alarms, earned $3,687 for ThinkFilm from two New York engagements. "The Babysitters," writer/director David Ross' dark comedy about a teenage call girl operation, earned $23,518 from 22 runs for Peace Arch Entertainment.

The latest in a long series of Iraq War-themed movies that failed to generate sizable audiences was "Battle For Haditha," director Nick Broomfield's first narrative film after many years of directing documentaries. Featuring actors who did tours of duty in Iraq, "Haditha," a dramatic retelling of the November 2005 massacre of 24 Iraqi civilians by U.S. Marines, earned $2,181 for Lafayette Films at New York's Film Forum.

Venice, CA-based outfit Menemsha Films achieved a more positive milestone, recently surpassing one million dollars in box office for its documentary "The Rape of Europa," directors Richard Berge, Bonni Cohen and Nicole Newnham's look at art looted by the Nazis in World War II. "Rape of Europa" became Menemsha's second million dollar earner; joining its German romance "Gloomy Sunday."

Steve Ramos is a Cincinnati based writer.

indieWIRE:BOT tracks independent/specialty releases compiled from Rentrak Theatrical, which collects studio reported data as well as box-office figures from North American theatre locations. To be included in the indieWIRE Box Office Chart, distributors must submit information about their films to Rentrak at studiogrosses@rentrak.com by the end of the day each Monday.

The tragedy was in plain sight, but nobody thought it would hit this hard. As word spread today that Warner Bros. planned to close its specialty divisions Picturehouse and Warner Independent Pictures, shifting all projects currently in development to the larger studio and its recently absorbed subdivision New Line, a mournful tone took hold of the independent film industry. "It is a sad day when any film company, large or small, bites the dust," said President of THINKfilm Mark Urman. "One had heard and one had even considered that this was a possible scenario. It's still surprising when you see it in print."

Sometimes, reality bites. Of the forty-three employees at Picturehouse's New York-based headquarters, many will remain involved with the larger company through September to handle Picturehouse's three upcoming releases: "The Women," "Kit Kittredge" and "Mongol." A Warner Independent spokesperson declined to comment on its employees' plans, but while the demise was less expected, it was ultimately also less a cause for communal outcry. Although Warner Independent president Polly Cohen came from a studio background with the company, arriving to the independent distribution business from the oustide in, much beloved Picturehouse president Bob Berney landed there after playing an incessantly consequential role in the field for many years. As Head of Distribution and Marketing for IFC when "Y Tu Mama Tambien" became a hit and the pioneer behind the massive success of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," Berney proved again and again that people with his kind of job had a purpose. "Everyone in the industry was expecting something to happen, but I don't think anybody expected them to let go of an asset like Bob Berney," said producer Jason Kliot.

Alongside displeasure over Berney's fate, many in the industry contested a line in the studio's statement pledging their allegiance to "the sprit of independent filmmaking." The move implied anything but. "It just seems to contradict the statement Horn is making," Kliot offered. Pressed on the issue via e-mail, Horn simply added, "We remain very committed to making and acquiring films of all shapes and sizes. For our company, we do not believe we need to have multiple infrastructures duplicating their efforts." He rejected the possibility that the studio had little or no interest in specialty films. "This should in no way be a reflection of our commitment to making smaller pictures," he said. "I, myself, am a huge film of independent film and see them frequently."

Berney's plans for the immediate future remain unclear, but he will attend the Cannes Film Festival in the coming weeks, and Warner Bros. itself has pledged to make its presence at those places felt. "We'll be at the festivals," Horn said. "We will be looking to acquire films. If we like a picture, we're going to buy it. If we like a pitch, we'll develop and produce it."

Warner Independent was formed in 2003, launched by former Miramax president Mark Gill. Its hits include the Academy Award-winning "March of the Penguins" and Michel Gondry's "The Science of Sleep," and it plans to release Alan Ball's "Towelhead" later this year. Picturehouse, meanwhile, was formed by Warner Brothers' units New Line and HBO in the wake of the closure of Fine Line Features in 2005. Berney was announced as head of the operation at Cannes three years ago.

Just as Cannes has been deemed a glitzy affair disguised as a haven for art films, so too goes the complaint about certain studios kneeling down to the independent realm. Drawing from his experience at Columbia's classics division, Triumph Films, in the early 1980s, Urman noted a clandestine agenda at various specialty divisions that came later. "You get a cycle of a lot of specialty, prestige companies so that studio heads making big dumb and noisy movies can still go to the Oscars. Then they realize they don't need to go to the Oscars," he explained. "When Hollywood gets threatened by new technologies, they make their movies bigger and noisier, and they end up dumber."

Despite Horn's claims to the contrary, the closure does seem to suggest that Warner Bros.' has turned away from the independent business. With the upcoming release of "The Dark Knight," a highly anticipated franchise film undoubtedly set to make profit, the company doesn't appear all that interested in art houses. Speaking on condition of anonymity, one high profile executive suggested that studio involvement in independent distribution has always added pressure to a comparatively frail industry. Picturehouse's surprise success for the French film "La Vie en Rose" hardly matters, the source said, when considering the relative smallness of the movie, which was recently purchased by the Sundance Channel.

More generally, many distributors noted that last year's common argument that the marketplace was too crowded no longer holds any weight. Instead, the specific issue with Warner Bros. seems to revolve around indifference to non-studio films: Despite its various attempts to take a bite out of the independent game, most of Warner Bros.' successes happened with its larger productions. Two years ago, when "The Departed" won the Best Picture Oscar, the studio was in a good place. Since then, it has continued to release most of its notably serious, awards-worthy titles on a similarly large scale. Of late, this has included "Letters from Iwo Jima" and this year's Best Picture nominee, "Michael Clayton" (whereas fellow nominees "Juno" and "There Will Be Blood" came from independent shingles Fox Searchlight and Paramount Vantage, respectively).

Whether or not the studio can justify its decision, it's clear that several assumptions have been made, chief among them the notion that New Line is the only subdivision Warner Bros. needs. The authenticity of the motives remain debatable. "It doesn't surprise me, in this day and age, that the big companies make their decisions in a different way," said Urman. "They're made on the basis of profit. If that weren't the case, there would be no independent business." He stressed an essential balance between the two extremes of the industry. "We need them to be who they are, so we can be who we are," he said in reference to the studios. "They create the need for us. When they try to do what we do, they threaten us, and they probably don't do it as well as we do."

Rainbow Media announced today a plan to purchase the Sundance Channel for $496 million. Confirming reports that the network was seeking a buyer and Rainbow Media was the lead contender, the deal finds Rainbow Media Holdings, LLC, a programming subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation, buying the channel from its current owners NBC Universal, CBS, Showtime Networks and Robert Redford. The Sundance founder, meanwhile, will continue his role as the network's creative director, in addition to recieving just under $50 million from the deal, with the rest of the money divided up between the other owners.

Although both the Sundance Channel and IFC showcase independent film, a Cablevision spokesperson denied the possibility that Rainbow Media would merge the two channels. Both Rainbow Media and the Sundance declined to comment further to indieWIRE about the new arrangement Wednesday afternoon.

The Sundance Channel, which only recently began airing original programming content, has a continually expanding library of titles. Among its recent purchases are Dan Klores' "Crazy Love," which Magnolia acquired at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and later released theatrically last year. Last month, it bought eleven features from the National Film Board of Canada and 22 recent and classic titles from Lionsgate's library. It's not clear if the Sundance Channel will share its titles with IFC, or vica versa, but there is the distinct possibility that Sundance, which started taking sponsorship in January 2007, will start airing advertisements.

In a mass e-mail to industry colleagues and friends sent out this morning, Sundance Channel CEO Larry Aidem referred to NBC Universal and CBS as "Mommy and Daddy," and praised Redford for founding "this extraordinary brand three decades ago and [defining] its underlying mission: Discovery, Opportunity, Risk-taking and of course, Independence."

Downplaying the possibility of any executive shifts, Aidem portrayed the news as part of ongoing process. "As exciting as the opportunities are on the television and the digital media landscape, the challenges facing an independent programmer today are profound," he wrote. "In the weeks and months to come, my colleagues and I will work closely with NBC [Universal], CBS, [Redford] and, subject only to certain customary closing conditions, CVC, to facilitate the transition process and set the stage for Sundance Channel's continued success."

"Mister Lonely," filmmaker Harmony Korine's sweet-natured drama about two lovelorn celebrity impersonators, rocketed past all art-house releases with a debut, per-screen average of $16,769 at New York's IFC Center. "Son of Rambow," British filmmaker Garth Jennings' coming- of-age comedy for Paramount Vantage, also debuted in the iWBOT top five, which ranks films by per-screen average, with $53,778 in weekend box office from five runs in New York and Los Angeles. Rounding out the iWBOT Top Five, were "Redbelt," director David Mamet's fight drama for Sony Pictures Classics, "Viva," director Anna Biller's sexploitation drama for Vagrant Films Releasing and Samuel Goldwyn's "Roman de Gare," a thriller from French master Claude Lelouch.

News of the first hit of the summer blockbuster season, Marvel Entertainment and Paramount Pictures' "Iron Man," highlighted the difficult task of specialty films companies attempting to build awareness for their art-house releases during the summer season and attracting young adults to independent fare. While "Iron Man" established a new movie franchise for Marvel and Paramount, solid debuts by "Son of Rambow," "Redbelt" and the chart- topping "Mister Lonely" helped prove that some audiences remain committed to alternative fare no matter what season.

Filmmaker Harmony Korine became the comeback kid of the specialty film biz thanks to IFC Films' "Mister Lonely," about a sad Michael Jackson impersonator (Diego Luna) looking to start a new life at a Scottish commune with a Marilyn Monroe look-alike (Samantha Morton). "Mister Lonely" earned an impressive $16,769 from its exclusive debut at New York's IFC Center. For Korine, whose two previous features "Gummo" (1997) and "Julien Donkey-Boy" (1999) earned a combined $202,000 in total box office, "Mister Lonely" looked to become his first shot at an audience-friendly film. "There has been such great anticipation for Harmony Korine's film to open in New York and we're glad audiences came out for the opening weekend," said Mark Boxer, VP Sales and Distribution, IFC Films. "Mister Lonely" played extremely well at the Tribeca Film Festival and we are very encouraged with the opening numbers. The film skewered to a younger demographic, which is not a surprise, and sold out evening shows at the IFC Center." Boxer confirmed a deliberately paced expansion plan for "Mister Lonely" including 15 new markets throughout May.

"Son of Rambow" director Garth Jennings' funny coming-of-age drama about a young outcast in 1980s Britain who collaborates with the school bully on a homemade action movie, earned $53,788 for Paramount Vantage and a $10,757 per-screen average from five runs in New York and Los Angeles. Rob Schulze, executive vice president, distribution, Paramount Vantage, confirmed an expansion for the British comedy into suburban New York and twelve additional markets on Friday; hoping to capitalize on the film's strong word-of-mouth and the gap between blockbuster titans "Iron Man," "Prince Caspian" and "Indiana Jones." "Our feeling about this film is it's a charming British comedy that's very playable," Schulze said. "The more exposure customers get to this film the better off we're going to be with it."

"Redbelt," director David Mamet's drama about a Jiu-Jitsi teacher forced into a rigged prize-fighting contest in order to save his self- defense school, earned $63,361 from six runs in New York and Los Angeles for Sony Pictures Classics. Featuring Chiwetel Ejiofor in the lead role, and Mamet regulars Joe Mantegna and Ricky Jay in support, "Redbelt" landed in the middle of Mamet's previous debut, per-screen rankings with $10,560. A planned expansion to 1,000 venues Friday should increase "Redbelt's" chances at becoming Mamet's highest- grossing film.

"Viva," actress/director Anna Biller's cultish drama inspired by 1970s Sexploitation films for Vagrant Films Releasing, shot into the iWBOT top five with $8,688 in weekend box office at New York's Cinema Village. The challenge for a small independent film like "Viva," said Ryan Bruce Levey, president and founder, Vagrant Films Releasing, is to create a niche in the marketplace via flyers, the Internet and appearances by the filmmaker. "The audience was surprisingly all over the map, a combination of Baby Boomer couples, students and general art-house movie fans," said Levey. "Based on the response at the weekend question and answer sessions, the film definitely struck a cord due to its retro style and sly commentary." "Viva" will open New Orleans and Cleveland in May and debut in Los Angeles June 20.

Remaining in the iWBOT top five for a second week was Samuel Goldywn's "Roman de Gare," the latest film from French master Claude Lelouch. Featuring Fanny Ardant, Audrey Dana and Dominique Pinon as three strangers whose lives intersect with thrilling consequences, "Roman de Gare" held its debut weekend grosses with $22,533 from two New York runs.

Other top-performing holdovers included "Up the Yangtze" director Yung Chang's debut feature film, about China's gargantuan hydroelectric project along the Yangtze River. "Yangtze" earned $13,676 from New York's IFC Center and the Jacob Burns Center in suburban New York for Zeitgeist Films. "The Visitor" filmmaker Tom McCarthy's follow up to his 2003 film "The Station Agent," earned $606,597 in weekend box office for Overture Films, the new film division of Starz LLC, for a $4,666 per- screen average. Featuring character actor Richard Jenkins as a New York professor who befriends a Syrian musician, "Visitor" has earned $1,576,256 in total box office after four weeks.

The premiere reissue was "As Tears Go By," filmmaker Wong Kar-wai's 1988 romance featuring Andy Lau and Maggie Cheung. "As Tears Go By" earned $4279 for Kino International at Brooklyn's BAM Rose Cinema; quadrupling the per-screen average of Wong's current release "My Blueberry Nights."

Other specialty debuts outside the iWBOT Top Ten included "Fugitive Pieces," director Jeremy Podeswa's adaptation of Anne Michaels' novel about a World War II survivor haunted by his past. "Fugitive Pieces" earned $102,212 from thirty engagements in New York, Los Angeles and Canada for Samuel Goldwyn Films. Argentine filmmaker Lucia Puenzo's drama "XXY," about a young inter-sex teenager, earned $3,300 from its debut engagement at New York's Cinema Village. "As It Is In Heaven," Swedish director Kay Pollak's drama about a successful orchestra conductor who goes on hiatus and returns to his rural hometown, earned $2402 for Vitagraph Films at Dallas' Angelika Film Center.

While the Paramount action movie "Iron Man" started the summer blockbuster season with a blast, director Arthur Dong's self- distributed documentary "Hollywood Chinese," a far-reaching examination of Asian characters and artists in Hollywood film, earned $1,921 from its New York debut weekend at the Quad Cinema and accumulated $23,224 in total box office since opening in San Francisco April 11. The cost vs. box office proceeds for "Hollywood Chinese" prove that there's room for a film with a minimal P&A budget, said Dong, room for a true grassroots effort. "I'd like to think of "Hollywood Chinese" as the DIY film that could. It just needs massaging and a chance to gather good old fashioned word-of-mouth as opposed to relying on the opening weekend numbers as the only gauge to determine its possible performance in theaters."

Steve Ramos is a Cincinnati based writer.

indieWIRE:BOT tracks independent/specialty releases compiled from Rentrak Theatrical, which collects studio reported data as well as box-office figures from North American theatre locations. To be included in the indieWIRE Box Office Chart, distributors must submit information about their films to Rentrak at studiogrosses@rentrak.com by the end of the day each Monday.

Ten years can either be a blip or an eternity depending on your perspective. The year 1997 saw President Bill Clinton inaugurated for his second term, James Cameron's "Titantic" was the top movie and a book about a young wizard named Harry Potter first hit shelves. It was before the Internet stock bust and "information superhighway" was still a promise. The world of documentary in the U.S. was one of foundation funding, public television broadcast and educational distribution with precious few docs breaking into any kind of commercial success. It was in that entrenched world that then-new filmmakers Katy Chevigny and Julia Pimsleur felt like they had little opportunity.

Milton Tabbot, senior director of programming for IFP, was an early supporter of the Big Mouth team, which included Chevigny, Pimsleur and cinematographer Kirsten Johnson. They participated in the IFP Market with "Innocent Until Proven Guilty" as a work-in-progress, which went on to premiere at the Berlin Film Festival, and their next film, "Nuyorican Dream," premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. He notes, "In the late '90s, to an even greater extent than today, doc filmmakers were largely doing their own thing...with newcomers having to start from scratch to learn the ropes, search for resources, learn who their peers were and who had done what, and all the while not knowing exactly who would be interested in the work."

Chevigny, co-founder and executive director of Arts Engine, similarly recalls, "We didn't benefit from the old model. When we entered the field, we had to come up with new ideas. My former business partner [Pimsleur] had a vision around the internet." That vision included connecting concerned artists with activists involved in social justice issues, and using the web to expand access to documentary films. So with two successful productions under their belt and armed with ideas about connecting artists and activists via the web, they incorporated as a nonprofit organization and launched their first web project MediaRights.org, a searchable database of documentary films compiled from the offline catalog offerings of several independent distributors.

Director of American University's Center for Social Media and long-time media critic Pat Aufderheide notes, "Pre-Internet, it was a kind of mysterious art to know what documentary films were available. If you were at a university, your librarian was key, because they had the catalogs of the educational distributors." Pre-Netflix or Amazon, MediaRights.org was the place to find titles and descriptions on documentaries organized by topic. "It also did something critical: it created a bridge between filmmakers and nonprofit organizations, causes, campaigns and concerned citizens and community leaders," said Aufderheide. "MediaRights took advantage of the first Web tools for connection, and now it's reaching out with Web 2.0 tools as well." Today the database boasts over 7,000 titles and 17,000 members.

Arts Engine's Katy Chevigny.

The Media That Matters Film Festival, launching its 8th incarnation on May 28, began as a proof of concept project. Before YouTube, easy video compression or broadband connections, the fest aimed to show short, issue-oriented films along with "Take Action" links to capitalize on the moment viewers connect to an issue and are motivated to do something about it. While developing MediaRights and the festival, Big Mouth continued production with "Journey to the West: Chinese Medicine Today" and "Brother Born Again," which premiered at South by Southwest in 2001.

Another benchmark moment for Arts Engine was in 2004 with their film, "Deadline." Premiering at Sundance, the film followed Illinois' Governor George Ryan as he struggled to reform capital punishment in his state, prompted by several revelations of innocence. Despite potentially serious consequences to his own political career, Ryan made judicial history by granting clemency to 167 death row inmates. The film made documentary history, as it was the first independent film to be picked up by NBC's Dateline for a national network television broadcast, airing to 6 million viewers in July 2004 and garnering an Emmy nomination.

In 2006, the Media That Matters festival had its first viral video hit, "A Girl Like Me" by teenage filmmaker Kiri Davis, a moving piece about body image and self-esteem among African American girls. Chevigny notes that the success of the film resulted in crashing the Arts Engine servers. They had to temporarily rent equipment to keep up with the demand for the film, and they also started uploading it around the web on sites like YouTube to alleviate technology limitations. Millions have viewed the short and Davis was featured on Oprah in May 2007.

In their spacious, bright Chelsea offices, documentary production happens side by side with producing the online shorts fest (also available on DVD for hosted screenings), growing online resources for independent filmmakers (like the Independent Producers' Outreach Toolkit) and taking on new projects such as the recent acquisition of DocuClub, the popular NYC works-in-progress screening series. Chevigny believes that keeping their production company housed with the other projects has been one key to their success, "Our resources stay fresh because we are always in the thick of the experience of making films." She cites her activism on copyright and fair use as an example, "The knowledge of the difficultly allows me to speak about it with some authority."

Arts Engine's list of accomplishments in ten short years is impressive, but yet to be fully realized is their contribution to the field via mentorship. Arts Engine has served as an incubator for the next generation of social justice filmmakers. "How Wal-Mart Came To Haslett" was produced by the fledgling Meerkat Media Arts Collective and was featured in the 6th Media That Matters Festival.

"Having our short film about Wal-Mart accepted into the Media That Matters Film Festival really helped to launch Meerkat Media," said collective member Jay Sterrenberg. "The festival began our ongoing relationship with Arts Engine. When they were putting together a channel of original media about the Immigrant Rights marches in 2006 and asked us to participate, we jumped right on board and made our short called 'Mayday' in 24 hours that they were able to feature on their site." Arts Engine has continued to support the collective by featuring new work as it is released.

In addition to the upcoming retrospective and the launch of the newest Media That Matters festival, Big Mouth's most recent production, "Election Day" will screen on July 1 in the PBS summer documentary series P.O.V. The film follows 11 stories over the course of an election day to paint a portrait of the status quo of elections in the U.S. Other films included in the Paley Center series include "Arctic Son," which aired on P.O.V. last summer and "Outside Looking In: Transracial Adoption in America," as well as the other films mentioned above and selected shorts from the Media That Matters festival. Times and ticketing information can be found at PaleyCenter.org.

With the Tribeca Film Festival underway at cross-town venues, "Up the Yangtze," the Zeitgeist Films documentary about China's Three Gorges Dam and its destructive impact, led all specialty films with a standout $15,851 in earnings at New York's IFC Center. Director Yung Chang's first feature-length documentary also became 2008's top non-fiction debut; out-performing Sony Pictures Classics' highly anticipated "Standard Operating Procedure," veteran filmmaker Errol Morris' documentary about the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal. Other new releases in the iWBOT top five, which ranks by per-screen average, included "Roman de Gare," French master filmmaker Claude Lelouch's thriller for Samuel Goldwyn Films; and ThinkFilm's "Then She Found Me," actress Helen Hunt's directing debut. Returning to the iWBOT for the third straight week was Overture Films' "The Visitor," featuring Richard Jenkins as a middle-aged professor whose life changes after helping an illegal immigrant. "Holly," a drama about child prostitution from Priority Films and Slowhand Cinema Releasing, took advantage of corporate sponsorship from business information provider LexisNexis and advance group sales to earn $15,687 at New York's Quad Cinema.

"Up the Yangtze" director Yung Chang's debut feature film, earned an impressive $15,851 from its exclusive shows at New York's IFC Center; surpassing the per-screen averages of "Planet B-Boy" and "Young@Heart" to become the leading documentary debut for 2008. Chang's film, which examines the gargantuan hydroelectric project through two young adults working at a Yangtze River cruise firm, also became Zeitgeist Films' top documentary debut, surpassing 2004 release "The Corporation" and 2007's "Into Great Silence." Strong grassroots marketing paid off for the environmentally themed picture, said Nancy Gerstman, co-president, Zeitgeist Films, who confirmed thirty U.S. cities confirmed for future play dates. "It really does touch audiences in an amazing way," said Gerstman. "It's a very emotional movie. It's a beautifully done movie. We were at a couple of screenings and the audiences were visibly moved."

Samuel Goldywn's "Roman de Gare" the latest film from French master Claude Lelouch, reached 12,742 in per-screen average from the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas and Angelika Film Center in New York for strong weekend earnings of $25,484. Featuring Fanny Ardant, Audrey Dana and Dominique Pinon as a trio of strangers whose paths crisscross in mysterious fashion, "Roman de Gare" outperformed the per-screen debut of LeLouch's 2003 specialty release "And Now Ladies and Gentlemen." "It was great to see audiences coming out and enjoying one of the cinema's true masters," said Michael Silberman, president of Independent Distribution Partners, who confirmed May 9 expansions in San Francisco, Philadelphia and Washington DC and May 16 for Los Angeles, Boston and Seattle.

"Then She Found Me," featuring Helen Hunt on both sides of the camera, averaged $8,066 for $72,594 in debut weekend earnings for ThinkFilm from nine engagements in New York and Los Angeles. Based on Elinor Lipman's novel about a middle-aged woman desperate to have a baby, "She Found Me" matched the per-screen debut performance of a recent actress-turned-filmmaker effort, Sarah Polley's 2007 melodrama "Away From Her." The film skewered older and performed particularly strong in suburban Los Angeles said Mark Urman, head of U.S. theatrical for ThinkFilm, strong signs of the film's commercial potential. "My films, even the ones that work well, are very metropolitan," said Urman. "We normally open them in Manhattan only and are never sure how they will play in the suburbs. We never had a film do the sort of business in Pasadena like this one and there are many, many more places in America like Pasadena then there are like Manhattan. The box office at those LA theaters are much more telling to me about the film's potential to travel than a strong gross in the Lower East Side of New York."

Sony Pictures Classics' highly anticipated "Standard Operating Procedure," veteran filmmaker Errol Morris' documentary about the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, entered the iWBOT top five with weekend earnings of $14,108 from two New York venues. However, its $7,054 per-screen debut average ranked below all previous Morris films, indicating specialty audiences' continuing apathy for Iraq War- themed topics. The rare exception turned out to be another debut release, the Warner Bros/New Line comic farce "Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo."

Remaining in the iWBOT for the third straight week was "The Visitor" filmmaker Tom McCarthy's follow up to his 2003 film "The Station Agent." "Visitor" earned $477,711 in weekend box office for Overture Films, the new film division of Starz LLC, for a $6,286 per-screen average, a modest 30% drop from the previous weekend. Already the career highpoint for veteran character actor Richard Jenkins who stars in the film, as well as Overture's top-performing release, the goal, said Kyle Davies, executive vice president, theatrical distribution, Overture Films, is to continue to build on the film's great word of mouth and position the film as the leading alternative to the impending summer blockbusters. "Audiences want a movie with interesting characters and a compelling story and "The Visitor" delivers," said Davies, via e-mail. "It's a great contrast to the summer tent pole and effects-laden fare. Each week introduces a host of new films into the marketplace. "The Visitor" is building its success through incredible word of mouth that is allowing us to withstand the flurry of new releases each week. We have also been touring into markets we are opening which allows audiences to discover the film and its amazing filmmakers and cast."

Advance group ticket sales and extensive promotional support from sponsor LexisNexis led "Holly," a drama about child prostitution in Cambodia from Priority Films and Slowhand Cinema Releasing, to $15,687 in weekend earnings at New York's Quad Cinema; its first Manhattan shows since last fall. For Priority Films, formed in late 1999, the idea of a corporate sponsored specialty release has turned out to be a unique success story.

Just behind the iWBOT top five was First Run Features' "Without The King," director Michael Skolnik's documentary about impoverished Swaziland and its wealthy, out-of-touch ruler, King Mswati III. "Without The King" earned $4,237 at New York's Quad Cinema.

The strongest performing holdovers included "The Singing Revolution," co-directors James Tusty and Maureen Caste Tusty's documentary about Estonia's struggle to end Soviet occupation via popular song festivals. In its 21st week of release, the Abramorama documentary earned $12,842 in weekend grosses from three runs. Koch Lorber Films's "Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts," director Scott Hicks's documentary about acclaimed composer and musician Philip Glass, earned $4,356 from its sophomore weekend at New York's IFC Center; a modest 20% drop from its debut earnings. "Tuya's Marriage," director Wang Quan An's Mongolia-set family drama, the debut release from the Chicago-based film outfit Music Box Films, earned $4,675 from its exclusive run at its home base, the Music Box Theatre.

Sony Pictures Classics' Israeli comedy "The Band's Visit," director Eran Kolirin's story of an Egyptian band lost in rural Israel, failed to receive a Best Foreign Film Oscar nomination due to its scenes of English dialogue. Instead, it surpassed 2004's "Walk On Water" to become the highest grossing Israeli film in the U.S. with total earnings of $2,791,808 after 12 weeks in release.

Steve Ramos is a Cincinnati based writer.

indieWIRE:BOT tracks independent/specialty releases compiled from Rentrak Theatrical, which collects studio reported data as well as box-office figures from North American theatre locations. To be included in the indieWIRE Box Office Chart, distributors must submit information about their films to Rentrak at studiogrosses@rentrak.com by the end of the day each Monday.

Election years are typically strong for political documentaries. Capitalizing on citizens' hunger for issues that the mainstream media is either ignoring or mishandling, audiences flock to theaters to get a deeper sense of what's going on in the world. At least that was the thinking in 2004, with the blockbuster sales of "Fahrenheit 9/11" and also given the multi-million-dollar grosses of "The Fog of War," "Control Room," "Super Size Me," and "The Corporation." Even "Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry" wasn't swift-boated in theaters, earning more than $614,000.

"Everyone is uninterested," said Roadside Attractions' Howard Cohen, who worked on the release of "Super Size Me" as well as this year's "Chicago 10." Even in markets where Oscar-nominated director Brett Morgen's super-energized retelling of the Chicago 1968 rabblerousers got four-star reviews, such as Washington D.C. ("the first great film of 2008," wrote the Washington Post), audiences were "absolutely indifferent," explained Cohen.

But Diane Weyermann, executive VP of documentary films at Participant Media, which backed "Chicago 10" and Errol Morris' "Standard Operating Procedure," noted that we shouldn't react to the grim numbers in an "alarmist way." She said the marketplace is merely in a downbeat cycle. "I really think we're going to come back up again. It always has," she added.

She pointed to Errol Morris's unique brand of investigative documentary as something that can bring audiences back to the theater for engaging nonfiction. "There are people who will go see an Errol Morris film, because of who he is, and maybe that will open things up again," Weyermann said. Indeed, Sony Pictures Classics marketing of "S.O.P." puts Morris front-and-center (for example) as much as the controversial Abu Ghraib photographs that anchor the film.

But the opening weekend numbers for "Standard Operating Procedure" were not Morris' best, earning $14,916 on two screens (for an average of $7,458). His last three films all had higher initial per-screen averages: "The Fog of War"($13,816), "Mr. Death" ($8,041) and "Fast, Cheap and Out of Control" ($11,832).

Still, if there's any nonfiction director whose work looks like it should be seen on a big screen, it's certainly Morris's. (One of "S.O.P."'s cinematographers Robert Richardson was also director of photography on films such as "The Aviator," "Kill Bill" and "JFK.") "I think they are movies," said Morris of his films, emphasizing the "movie" aspect of that statement and likening "S.O.P." to a horror film. "If I made a nonfiction film noir," he said, referring to 1988's "The Thin Blue Line," "why not try a nonfiction horror movie?"

While Morris believes audience will see the film, he acknowledged that Iraq and its gruesome side effects haven't interested Americans much. "People have never been focused on it," he said.

Sony Pictures Classics' Michael Barker said that "S.O.P." will be rolling out over the summer in a "slow and steady release," reaching major markets in May and June and expanding all the way to Lexington, Kentucky and Norfork, Virginia in July. "It'll play in many cities and town," he explained. "What remains to be seen is the duration of the play in these towns."

Barker remains realistic about the challenges of releasing any film in today's market. "Since 'An Inconvenient Truth,' no documentary has done what they should do. But if you look at the indie films released between 'Little Miss Sunshine' and 'Juno,' there aren't many successes. It's a trend we're experiencing beyond films with difficult political subjects. It's difficult," he added. "It was always difficult."

Even with Morris's "Fog of War" - which grossed a healthy $4.2 million - Barker remembers journalists calling him after the opening, asking, "'Is this going to work?'" Likewise, there's plenty of time for "Standard Operating Procedure" to find its audience, according to Barker, both in the U.S. and also internationally. (After winning a Silver Bear in Berlin, the film will likely go onto be Morris' biggest foreign grosser.) "It's a long-term watch," said Barker.

This summer, several other political docs will try, despite the odds, to recapture theatrical audiences, including three films about the Iraq war: "Heavy Metal in Baghdad" (which opens in New York on May 23), "Operation Filmmaker" (which will play in several markets, starting in June) and "Full Battle Rattle" (which opens at the Film Forum on July 9). All three films share a uniqueness of approach and specific subject matter that could help them break out of the "Iraq-doc" box.

"Full Battle Rattle" co-director Jesse Moss feels the culture is ready to move beyond the first round of Iraq documentaries, which were, as he describes them, "film versions of the nonfiction books I read about Iraq," he said.

"Full Battle Rattle," which premiered in Berlin, documents U.S. army Iraq war simulations held in the Mojave Desert, with a sharply ironic gaze. "There's such a novelty factor to our film that I think people will come out for it," said "Full Battle Rattle" co-director Tony Gerber. "There's a flavor to our film that hasn't been part of the dialogue."

Likewise, Nina Davenport, who made "Operation Filmmaker," about an Iraqi film student who is rescued from Iraq by Liev Schreiber to work on his movie "Everything is Illuminated," said she likes to tackle a subject in a more offbeat way. "I'm always more interested in an angle that isn't the obvious one and that resonates on a larger level," she said. "Because my film is not just about Iraq; it's about what it means to do something charitable. And what does it mean to make a film about someone who doesn't have any resources when you yourself have resources."

For "Heavy Metal in Baghdad" directors Eddy Moretti and Suroosh Alvi, they're hoping their documentary will reach a younger audience, who they believe have been underserved. "If you look at the Iraq documentaries and the reporting," said Moretti, "this is one generation talking to itself. It has not engaged young Americans. It's McCain talking to McCain's generation."

Participant Media has not backed down on political docs that they hope will tap into and inspire a wider audience. According to Weyerman, the company has three political docs readying for distribution: Alex Gibney's latest "Casino Jack," about disgraced Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff, "Pressure Cooker," about an inner city culinary arts program, and "The Food Project," a co-production with River Road ("Brokeback Mountain") about the industrialization of food.

If the performance of "Standard Operating Procedure" doesn't portend smooth sailing for the rest of Participant's slate or the other upcoming political docs, there is one documentary in theaters about a hot-button issue that is generating sizable sales. "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed," a right-wing piece of creationist propaganda about the scientific establishment's unfair treatment of intelligent design, has grossed nearly $5.3 million in just ten days, making it one of the most successful nonfiction films of the past year.

"The Visitor," the Overture Films drama about a middle-aged professor aiding a Syrian street musician, remained atop the specialty charts for a second week with a $9,250 per-screen average. An art-house success for the new film division of Starz Entertainment, filmmaker Tom McCarthy's friendship drama continued to spotlight actor Richard Jenkins in his first leading role. Enthusiastic crowds at Toronto's Cinesphere helped return Abramorama's "The Singing Revolution," about Estonians protesting Soviet occupation through massive song festivals, to the iWBOT Top Five. Other specialty films fronting the iWBOT, which ranks by per-screen average, were "Young@Heart," Fox Searchlight's documentary about a senior choir that performs alternative fare from The Clash and Sonic Youth; "GLASS: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts," filmmaker Scott Hicks' documentary about composer and musician Philip Glass for Koch Lorber Films, and First Run Features' "Constantine's Sword," director Oren Jacoby's documentary about the historical role of Christianity in wars, conflicts and violence. Lagging far behind was director Morgan Spurlock's Middle East road documentary, The Weinstein Company's "Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?"

"The Visitor" filmmaker Tom McCarthy's follow up to his 2003 film "The Station Agent," earned $166,499 in weekend box office for Overture Films from 18 locations for total earnings of $280,000. While "Visitor's" per-screen average dipped some 50% from debut weekend marks, the immigrant drama, about a New York professor who befriends a Syrian musician, led all art-house releases with a $9,250 per-screen average. "Visitor" continued to be a career highpoint for Jenkins, the longtime character actor in his first starring screen role. "Visitor" has out-earned celebrity-featured, art-house releases like Weinstein Company's "My Blueberry Nights" and Overture's own "Sleepwalking," featuring Charlize Theron.

A steady platform will capitalize on the film's stellar reviews and a widening audience, said Kyle Davies, executive vice president, theatrical distribution, Overture Films, although the impending arrival of the summer blockbuster season may make expanding difficult. "We sure hope that "The Visitor" is that breakout specialty picture of the summer. The April release date was by design. Specialty exhibitors are in need of product late Spring and early Summer. We hope through the fantastic reviews we have received across the country, backed by the positive word of mouth, we will continue to expand beynd the art house audience."

"The Singing Revolution," co-directors James Tusty and Maureen Caste Tusty's documentary about Estonia's struggle to end Soviet occupation via popular song festivals, entered the iWBOT top five for just the second time in twenty weeks of release. "Singing" earned $21,236 in weekend box office from three runs for Abramorama, with the largest crowds coming from Toronto's Ontario Place Cinesphere. Key for a small independent film, said Richard Abramowitz, president, Abramorama, is to market aggressively to a film's core audience, Estonians and Eastern Europeans in the case of "Singing," and try to make every screening a special event. In Toronto, the National Estonian Foundation of Canada presented "Singing" and Tusty along with Estonian-American journalist Priit Vesilind accompanied the film. "There's still hope for a good film with an identifiable audience that can be addressed in a cost-effective manner," Abramowitz said via email. "The important thing to us, from the start, has been to pay attention to the details in each market, working with the local communities to turn out the audience, pre-selling screenings, touring the filmmakers, turning the screenings into cultural events and having a vital, inter-active website so that by the time the film arrives, the audience is invested in the film's success."

"Young@Heart," director Stephen Walker's documentary about a choir of New England seniors that performs alternative fare, earned $151,998 in weekend earnings for Fox Searchlight Pictures from 33 sophomore runs. Its per-screen average dipped approximately 65% to $4,605; still good enough for the iWBOT top five. "Young@Heart's" cumulative box office topped $226,000.

First Run Feature's "Constantine's Sword," documentary director Oren Jacoby's examination of Christianity and its role in past and present- day wars and genocides, averaged $5,066 in debut earnings at New York's Lincoln Plaza Cinemas and Quad Cinema. "The Pope's visit definitely helped bring some attention to the film that wouldn't otherwise have been there but the observance of Passover might have been a factor in preventing audiences from making it to the theater over the weekend," said Paul Marchant, director, theatrical sales, First Run Features. "I'm not aware of any organized protests thus far, but starting with the ban from Catholic NY, we've been steadily hearing from those outraged by the film's controversial look at Christianity."

Koch Lorber Film's "GLASS: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts," director Scott Hicks' documentary about acclaimed composer and musician Philip Glass, earned $5,546 from its debut at New York's IFC Center.

The acclaim over the Metropolitan Opera premiere of Philip Glass' "Satyagraha" helped launch the film, said Richard Lorber, president, Koch Lorber Films, who confirmed a release plan for "Glass" outside traditional art-house venues. "With a film like this, it makes huge sense for us to find venues that have built-it constituencies, a membership or subscription base, that have a loyal community following, that are art-centric more than film-centric and give them something that can open the experiences of their devoted members. This is a film that is made to order for that goal. So we're opening beginning in May at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston for example, the Walker Arts Center in Minneapolis and the Santa Fe Opera Society."

Specialty debuts in the iWBOT top ten included "The Life Before Her Eyes," director Vadim Perelman's drama about a teenage girl whose life is altered by violence. The Magnolia Pictures release, starring Uma Thurman and Evan Rachel Wood, averaged $2,528 from eight debut runs.

"First Saturday in May," co-directors Brad and John Hennegan documentary about six trainers and their horses preparing for the 2006 Kentucky Derby, earned $54,553 from 20 debut locations for Austin-based distributor Truly Indie.

IFC Films' "Anamorph," director Henry Miller's crime thriller starring Willem Dafoe and Scott Speedman, earned $3,120 from its debut engagement at New York's IFC Center.

"Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed," director Nathan Frankowski's documentary following actor Ben Stein's search for the theory of life, averaged $2,824 from 1,052 locations for Premise Media and Rocky Mountain Pictures.

Failing to crack the iWBOt top ten was the latest feature from director Morgan Spurlock, the Weinstein Company documentary "Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?" A follow-up to his 2004 documentary "Super-Size Me," with Spurlock traveling throughout the Middle East in search of the Al Qaeda leader, "Osama" earned a modest $148,698 in weekend box office from 102 locations. Despite comical graphics, a funny theme song and Spurlock's clownish behavior, "Osama" suffered the same, lackluster box office fate as more serious, Middle East-themed films like "In the Valley of Elah," "Taxi to the Dark Side" and "Redacted." While "Super-Size Me" debuted with a per-screen average over $12,000 in 2004, "Osama bin Laden" managed a slim $1,458 average.

Luckily, The Weinstein Company had better luck with "The Forbidden Kingdom," their joint release with Lionsgate and the first film financed from their recently announced Asian fund. For the two longtime specialty outfits, "Forbidden Kingdom," a martial arts action movie pairing Jackie Chan and Jet Li for the first time, represented an embrace of mainstream fare and the wide release strategies necessary to support such films. Debuting on 3,151 screens to $21.4 million and a $6,792 per-screen average, "Forbidden Kingdom" became the first, wide-release, specialty company success in the wake of Fox Searchlight's comedy smash "Juno."

Steve Ramos is a Cincinnati based writer.

indieWIRE:BOT tracks independent/specialty releases compiled from Rentrak Theatrical, which collects studio reported data as well as box-office figures from North American theatre locations. To be included in the indieWIRE Box Office Chart, distributors must submit information about their films to Rentrak at studiogrosses@rentrak.com by the end of the day each Monday.

Rising expectations for the future of film distribution paved the way for a pair of important industry moves within the independent movie industry today. Word that SXSW Film Festival head Matt Dentler would leave the increasingly important South by Southwest festival to join a new arm of Cinetic Media aimed at repping digital rights came alongside the announcement that Janet Pierson is replacing him in Austin. Dentler will serve as head of marketing and programming operations within the new Cinetic Rights Management (CRM) unit, while fellow board member at the local Austin Film Society, Pierson has been named the new producer of the fest and conference that runs alongside the popular annual SXSW Music event.

"Janet's got really good taste," Dentler told indieWIRE today, in a separate call, noting that Janet Pierson already has a strong track record as a programmer of films for the festival. "Not only has she been involved with the festival in its programming," he noted, but as a good friend, "She knows a lot about what my job entailed -- I've unintentionally prepared her for what it was all about."

Monday's announcement stirred greater interest in Cinetic's new division, which company founder John Sloss said Monday is aimed at working with just the sorts of independent filmmakers for which SXSW has become an important home in recent years. In the words of an announcement, Cinetic noted that CRM will "aggressively exploit content opportunities" in the digital market, ranging from sales negotiation and strategy, organization of digital encoding logistics, marketing support, as well as accounting and reporting. Dentler will work closely with Janet Brown, CRM's chief operating officer, to program titles for various new media platforms (ranging from VOD outlets to online distributors like iTunes, Netlix or Amazon). Core aspects will include marketing and montezing the relationships between the filmmakers and these emerging distributors.

"I've been saying for awhile now, seeing the worlds of new media and film overlap at SXSW, that there is a whole realm of possibility that the industry has yet to define. Young up-and-coming filmmakers are not finding a tradtional distribution deal, and I hope to help service that," explained Dentler, who joined SXSW as an intern more than ten years ago, rising to become head of the film fest back in 2003. "I was tired of watching great films come and go, and I'm excited to be at Cinetic so that I can put my money where my mouth is."

Asked to summarize CRM for iW, Matt Dentler explained simply, "It's taking what I consider to be the gold standard of indie film representation and creating an extra aspect that is going to explore avenues that [filmmakers] think about and know about, but don't know how to explore."

Twenty years ago it was the Piersons -- in particular Janet's husband and business partner John Pierson -- who emerged to shepherd indie films into distribution. The two were famously married at New York's Film Forum, where Janet Pierson once worked, and the couple emerged as mavericks on the American independent film scene. Both Piersons are credited with helping usher into theaters milestone films such as Michael Moore's "Roger & Me" (1989), Richard Linlater's "Slacker" (1991) and Kevin Smith's "Clerks" (1994). They also launched the IFC TV series, "Split Screen." The couple and their two children themselves then became the subject of a documentary in "Reel Paradise" (2005) by Steve James when the family moved to Fiji for a year and operated an independent cinema in a remote village. After returning to America, the Piersons left their Upstate New York home for Austin, TX after John Pierson, author of 1995's "Spike, Mike Slackers and Dykes," accepted a position in the film department at the University of Texas at Austin. Janet Pierson also immersed herself in the local film community soon after, joining the board of Richard Linklater's Austin Film Society.

"I've been involved with film for so long and in so many different ways," noted Janet Pierson, reflecting on her time in the indie community, "I've seen festivals change and grow, replacing the old art film world that I came of age with. So, it's particularly fascinating to be a part of that evolution. My work both before John and with John has been championing work and connecting film with audiences. That's why I'm particularly delighted [with this position]...It's the perfect job, I can't imagine anything more perfect for me in Austin."

Meanwhile, elaborating on CRM, Texas filmmaker Richard Linklater's longtime attorney John Sloss noted that Cinetic's emerging unit is increasingly important amidst distinct changes in the marketplace for independent films. Reflecting on the tough market at this year's Sundance Film Festival, Sloss cited a, "recession of revenue streams from traditional media," while adding that the, "corresponding revenue streams of digital have not filled in the hole, but they are going to..."

"It's a changing landscape," prefaced Cinetic partner Rob Nathan on the iW call, with Sloss adding, "As pay TV deals recede and as the DVD revenues plateau these are the [areas] that are going to rise."

With Sloss tapping Dentler to make the move to NYC, SXSW moved quickly to reach out to Janet Pierson for the position, even catching her a bit off guard she admitted. "On Thursday I was surprised to get a call from [SXSW founder] Louis Black saying that Matt was leaving for a great opportunity in New York and asking if I'd take over. The offer came out of the blue... As someone who loves film and has made it a part of my life here, I thought why not step in."

Asked about any immediate changes at the festival, Janet Pierson said she still has yet to meet with the staff, but joked again about filling Dentler's shoes. "I want to make a button that says, 'I'm not Matt' at SXSW 2009.'"

"I have my 25th anniversary this year, so everyone knows how I feel about my wife," concluded John Pierson, in remarks to indieWIRE today, regarding his wife Janet's appointment at SXSW. "I [also] want to give Matt the biggest thoughtful pat on the back. It's a lovely two-part story, and everyone should be happy about it."

"The Visitor," filmmaker Tom McCarthy's acclaimed drama about a lonely professor befriending a Syrian street musician and his family, distanced itself from all specialty releases with weekend earnings of $86,488 and a $21,622 per-screen average for Overture Films. "Visitor," McCarthy's sophomore picture, as well as Overture's first art-house buy, became the first specialty chart topper for the fledgling film division of Starz Entertainment. Second place belonged to "Young@Heart," director Stephen Walker's documentary about a New England senior choir whose eclectic repertoire includes The Clash and James Brown. "Young@Heart" averaged $13,078 from four debut locations for Fox Searchlight Pictures. Rounding out the iWBOT top five, which ranks films by per-screen average, were "Flight of the Red Balloon," Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien's drama for IFC First Take, "My Blueberry Nights," Hong Kong master Wong Kar Wai's debut English language film for The Weinstein Company and "Dark Matter," director Chen Shi-Zheng's drama about a troubled Chinese college student for First Independent Pictures.

"The Visitor" filmmaker Tom McCarthy's drama featuring veteran character actor Richard Jenkins as a lonely professor whose life changes after befriending a Syrian street musician and his family, reached a $21,622 per-screen average from four debut engagements for Overture Films. Featuring Jenkins in his first starring film role, "Visitor" out-performed more celebrity-driven, specialty fare like Weinstein Company's "My Blueberry Nights," featuring Jude Law, Natalie Portman and Norah Jones, as well as Overture's previous platform release, the Charlize Theron drama "Sleepwalking." Key to the film's strong debut, said Kyle Davies, executive vice president, distribution, Overture Films, was its glowing reviews. "We want moviegoers to know that we are one of the most well reviewed movies of the year," said Davies. "We've done a lot of groundwork. Now the exciting part is to roll the picture out and see how we do. I think we're going to do great. It's really gratifying to see picture like this get the reviews and it's a progression. You get the good reviews. You get the good of word of mouth and we keep adding markets. It's a wonderful trip." The first specialty chart topper and just the third release for Overture Films, the 18-month-old division at Starz Entertainment, Davies confirmed an aggressive expansion plan for "Visitor" with seven new markets Friday and an additional 25 markets April 25. "We are well poised to be the specialty film of choice as we head into late spring and early summer," said Davies. "While it's competitive, I think we're riding a tide here."

"Young@Heart," director Stephen Walker's documentary about a seniors choir in New England who perform alternative fare by The Clash and Sonic Youth, earned $50,937 in weekend earnings for Fox Searchlight Pictures from four debut runs in New York and Los Angeles and $62,231 since its April 9 opening. "It's a different kind of documentary," said Sheila Deloach, senior vice president, Fox Searchlight Pictures. "It's fun. Most documentaries are informative but they're not fun like this one. If there's a message to the movie, it's that just because you're old doesn't mean you have to die away. You can still contribute and be valuable. There are 78 million baby boomers in the United States and they all ought to go out and see this movie in order to see something they can look forward to."

Remaining in the iWBOT top five was "Flight of the Red Balloon," Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien's family drama inspired by French director Albert Lamorisse's "The Red Balloon." The IFC First Take release continued to draw well at its two New York venues with $23,918 in weekend earnings. "Flight of the Red Balloon," featuring Juliette Binoche as a Parisian mother and Simon Iteanu as her young son, out-earned the total domestic earnings of Janus Films' recent re- release of a restored version of the 1956 French art-house classic.

"My Blueberry Nights," Hong Kong master Wong Kar Wai's first English language film, earned $43,753 for the Weinstein Company from its six runs in New York and Los Angeles for a sophomore weekend per-screen average of $7,292. Featuring Natalie Portman, Jude Law and singer Norah Jones in her screen debut, "Blueberry Nights" dropped 40% from its debut average.

Also entering the iWBOT top five was "Dark Matter," director Chen Shi- Zheng's drama about a Chinese student at a large U.S. university battling his science professor. The debut film for Chen, an acclaimed opera director, "Dark Matter" earned $8,701 from exclusive debuts in New York and Boston for First Independent Pictures, with stronger audience response in New York.

Other specialty debuts in the IWBOT top ten included "Smart People," director Noam Murro's relationship comedy starring Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker and Ellen Page. "Smart People" averaged $3,700 from 1,106 theaters for $4,092,465 in weekend earnings, ranking seventh on the overall top ten box office chart. Balcony Releasing's "The Dhamma Brothers," a documentary about Alabama prison inmates improving their lives through Vipassana meditation, earned $3,710 from its exclusive debut at New York's Cinema Village.

Further behind was "Refusenik," director Laura Bialis' documentary about the thirty-year effort to free Soviet Jews. "Refusenik" earned $3,265 from exclusive debuts in Seattle and San Francisco for Abramorama Films. Director Gina Kim's melodrama "Never Forever," featuring Vera Farmiga as an unfaithful wife, earned $6,529 from two debut engagements for arts Alliance America. "Bra Boys," director Sunny Abberton's documentary about a clan of surfers from a Sydney, Australia suburb, reached a $1,981 per-screen average from 23 debut runs for Berkela Films and VAS Entertainment.

Right behind the iWBOT top five, reaching its highest rank since its March 10 debut, was "Body of War," directors Phil Donahue and Ellen Spiro's Iraq War documentary for The Film Sales Company. "Body of War," about Tomas Young, a young soldier who becomes an anti-war activist after a disabling combat injury, earned $11,549 in weekend earnings from three engagements with New York's IFC Center being the top performer. "It feels like it broke out of the doldrums," said Andrew Herwitz, president and founder of The Films Sales Company. "We've been fortunate to get great publicity. Phil Donahue has worked like no one else. He's a tireless advocate for the film and audiences are dying to see it due to the characters and the message of the film."

Failing to generate new audiences as an English-language movie was Sony Pictures Classics' animated drama "Persepolis." Based on Marjane Satrapi's four graphic novels about growing up in pre-revolutionary Tehran, and co-directed by Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud, the French- language film expanded to 147 runs; with 136 theaters showing the English-language version. "Persepolis" averaged a paltry $561 per- screen; meaning a lack of subtitles weren't enough to generate new fans for the acclaimed animated drama.

Steve Ramos is a Cincinnati based writer.

indieWIRE:BOT tracks independent/specialty releases compiled from Rentrak Theatrical, which collects studio reported data as well as box-office figures from North American theatre locations. To be included in the indieWIRE Box Office Chart, distributors must submit information about their films to Rentrak at studiogrosses@rentrak.com by the end of the day each Monday.

"Flight of the Red Balloon," Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien's drama inspired by the 1956 French classic "The Red Balloon," soared above its art-house competitors with earnings of $35,222 for IFC First Take at New York's Paris Theatre and IFC Center. Close behind was "My Blueberry Nights," Hong Kong master Wong Kar Wai's debut English language film. "Blueberry Nights" struck a $12,358 per-screen average from six runs for the Weinstein Company. "Jellyfish," a Tel Aviv-set drama from husband-and-wife filmmakers Etgar Keret and Shira Geffen, earned $25,352 for Zeitgeist Films from four Greater New York locations. Returning to the iWBOT top five, which ranks films by per- screen average were Abramorama's "The Singing Revolution," a documentary about Estonia's struggle to end Soviet occupation through song festivals, and Cinema Guild's "Alexandra," Russian filmmaker Alexander Sokurov's war drama.

"Flight of the Red Balloon" Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien's family drama inspired by French director Albert Lamorisse's "The Red Balloon" averaged $17,611 from debut engagements at New York's Paris Theatre and IFC Center. With weekend earnings of $35,222, "Flight of the Red Balloon" starring Juliette Binoche as a Parisian mother and Simon Iteanu as her young son, earned more than half the total domestic earnings of Janus Films' recent re-release of a restored version of the 1956 French art-house classic. "The strong response to the movie is likely attributable to the very favorable reviews the film received, which both elucidated and extolled Hsiao-hsien Hou's enormous gifts as a filmmaker and recognizing him as one of contemporary cinema's true masters," said Cary Jones, director, national sales, for IFC Films. "Flight" also tripled the domestic per-screen debut of Hou's previous film, 2006's "Three Times." "While we didn't conduct exit polls this weekend, the box office grosses were virtually identical at both the Paris and IFC Center, which would suggest that "Flight of the Red Balloon" appeals to avid filmgoers across the demographic spectrum." Jones confirmed a slow roll out, with IFC bringing "Flight" to the top ten markets in the next six weeks.

"My Blueberry Nights," Wong Kar Wai's first English language film, earned $74,146 for the Weinstein Company from six debut runs in New York and Los Angeles for a per-screen average of $12,358. "The grosses speak for themselves and the Angelika in the Village in New York was the biggest grosser for two reasons," said Steve Bunnell, chairman of distribution at the Weinstein Company. "It's more of a villagy, hip kind of film. We also attracted a large Asian audience, particularly in New York." Despite being Wong's first English language film and featuring Natalie Portman, Jude Law and singer Norah Jones in her acting debut, "Blueberry Nights" failed to match the per-screen debuts of Wong's recent films "2046" and "In the Mood for Love." Bunnell confirmed a release strategy supportive of a steady, word-of-mouth build up, with expansions to five markets like Chicago, San Francisco and Seattle on April 18. "Wong Kar Wai has a great following, you can tell that by the reviews" Bunnell said. "He has a great stature for making visually beautiful films and that's come across in the reviews. With Norah Jones, Natalie Portman and Jude Law and Wong's following, we feel we have a winning combination."

"Jellyfish," the debut feature from husband-and-wife filmmakers Shira Geffen and novelist Etgar Keret, reached a $6,338 per-screen average from four Greater New York runs for Zeitgeist Films and $25,352 in weekend box office. A drama about three Tel Aviv women whose lives crisscross at a wedding, "Jellyfish" expands nationwide through June. Remaining in the iWBOT top five was "Alexandra," Russian filmmaker Alexander Sokurov's drama about a grandmother visiting her soldier grandson in Chechnya. "Alexandra" earned $9,086 from an exclusive run at New York's Film Forum for Cinema Guild and reached $25,867 in total box office after two weeks. Entering the iWBOT top five for the first time since its Dec. 2007 debut, "The Singing Revolution, co-directors James Tusty and Maureen Caste Tusty's documentary about Estonia's struggle to end Soviet occupation via popular song festivals, earned $30,916 in weekend box office from five runs across North America. The Abramorama release reached $72,820 in total box office.

Other specialty debuts in the IWBOT top ten included "Shine A Light," director Martin Scorsese's concert documentary of the Rolling Stones performing at New York's Beacon Theatre in 2006. "Shine A Light" earned $1.5 million for Paramount Classics and Shangri-La Entertainment from 276 locations for a per-screen average of $5,392. Koch Lorber's "Water Lillies," French writer/director Celine Sciamma's teenage girls, coming-of-age drama earned $7,418 in weekend grosses from two engagements. "Tuya's Marriage," director Wang Quan An's Mongolia-set family drama, the debut release from fledgling, Chicago-based film outfit Music Box Films, earned $2,619 from its exclusive run at New York's Cinema Village.

Lagging behind was "Meet Bill," directors Bernie Goldmann and Melissa Wallack's male midlife crisis comedy for First Look Studios. Starring Aaron Eckhart and Jessica Alba, First Look debuted "Meet Bill" on 36 screens in mid- sized markets, earning $35,201 in weekend box office. Sony Pictures Classics' animated drama "Persepolis" closed out its chapter as a foreign-language film with $23,510 in weekend revenue from 30 runs and $4.2 million in total box office. The film based on Marjane Satrapi's four graphic novels about growing up in pre-revolutionary Tehran, and co-directed by Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud, re-emerges Friday as an English-language movie in over 100 theaters.

Steve Ramos is a Cincinnati based writer.

indieWIRE:BOT tracks independent/specialty releases compiled from Rentrak Theatrical, which collects studio reported data as well as box-office figures from North American theatre locations. To be included in the indieWIRE Box Office Chart, distributors must submit information about their films to Rentrak at studiogrosses@rentrak.com by the end of the day each Monday.

"Chapter 27," filmmaker J.P. Schaefer's drama about Mark David Chapman and his days leading to the murder of John Lennon, outdistanced all specialty releases with earnings of $13,910 for Peace Arch Entertainment at New York's Angelika Film Center. "My Brother Is an Only Child," Italian director Daniele Luchetti's 70's-set family drama for ThinkFilm, earned $9,357 at New York's Lincoln Plaza Cinemas. "Alexandra," Russian filmmaker Alexander Sokurov's war drama for Cinema Guild, earned $9,401 at New York's Film Forum. Rounding out the iWBOT Top Five, which ranks films by per-screen average, were "Love Songs," French filmmaker Christophe Honore's Paris-set musical for IFC Films and Red Envelope Entertainment, and Cinema Guild's "The Unforeseen," director Laura Dunn's documentary about a Texas community fighting to protect a natural spring from suburban development.

"Chapter 27" writer/director J.P. Schaefer's drama about the murder of John Lennon starring Jared Leto as Mark David Chapman earned $13,910 for Peace Arch Entertainment from an exclusive run at the Angelika Film Center in New York. "I think the reason we did some business was the provocative subject matter and Jared Leto's performance was haunting as Mark David Chapman, he was sensational," said Mark Balsam, head, U.S. distribution for Peace Arch. "I don't think the anti-'Chapter 27" websites had an effect, whether positively or negatively. We're going to expand to as many as five New York theaters Friday, opening in Los Angeles with Jared in attendance and will reach forty screens by May. It's all about Jared's performance, which was just magical."

"My Brother Is an Only Child," director Daniele Luchetti's 70's-set, Italian-language drama about competing brothers with different political agendas, earned $9,357 from its exclusive debut at New York's Lincoln Plaza Cinemas. "The reviews have been great and we had a near capacity Saturday night," said Mark Urman, head of U.S. theatrical for ThinkFilm. "We know the film really satisfies the foreign language film-going audience, so I find this a very encouraging debut." Urman confirmed expansion plans for "My Brother," Los Angeles Friday and Chicago and Washington D.C. April 11.

"Alexandra," Russian filmmaker Alexander Sokurov's drama featuring veteran actress Galina Vishnevskaya as a grandmother visitng her Russian army grandson in Chechnya, earned $9,401 for The Cinema Guild from its exclusive debut at New York's Film Forum. "Certainly the strong reviews and coverage played a big part in the weekend numbers," said Ryan Krivoshey, director of distribution for Cinema Guild. "But I think audiences also responded to the universal nature of the story. It could really be about any country at any time at any place. And I think for this reason it spoke to many people. It's a war film, but unlike any that's come before it. "There's also genuine interest in Sokurov, in what this master filmmaker comes up with. "Alexandra" may not be as groundbreaking cinematically as a single-take tour of the Hermitage, but a 90-minute film about a grandmother visiting her grandson may be just as audacious."

The strongest holdover was "Love Songs," French filmmaker Christophe Honore's Paris-set musical starring Louis Garrel, Ludivine Sagnier and Clotilde Hesme. The IFC Films/ Red Envelope Entertainment release earned $13,301 from two New York runs; reaching $44,266 in total box office.

Entering the iWBOT top five for the first time was the Cinema Guild documentary "The Unforeseen," director Laura Dunn's film about a Texas community struggling to protect a natural spring from suburban development. "Unforeseen" attracted hometown fans to the Alamo South Lamar Theater in Austin, TX and earned $12,877 in weekend box office.

Other specialty debuts in the iWBOT Top Ten included "Hats Off," director Jyll Johnstone's documentary about Mimi Weddell, who at the age of 67 became a full-time actress and model. "Hats Off" earned $6,570 for Canobie Films and Abramorama at New York's Quad Cinema. "Many people commented that they hadn't been to the movies in ages, so we know that our outreach to a more mature audience was successful said Johnstone. "They were quite pleased to see a film that wasn't directed at the typical youth audience." Truly Indie's "Backseat," director Bruce Van Dusen's slackerish road comedy, earned $5,775 in weekend grosses from its exclusive premiere at New York's Quad Cinema. "Flawless," director Michael Radford's period heist film for Magnolia Pictures, reached a $4,857 per-screen average from 35 runs. "Flawless," featuring Michael Caine and Demi Moore, debuted with $181,910 in weekend box office. "Priceless" director Pierre Salvadori's French romance featuring Audrey Tautou as pretty gold-digger, earned $116,308 from 24 runs for Samuel Goldwyn Films. "Shelter," writer/director Jonah Markowitz's coming out romance for here! Films and Regent Releasing, earned $28,210 in weekend box office from six runs.

Holding in the iWBOT Top Ten was "Planet B-Boy" director Benson Lee's documentary about b-boy culture and the break dancing Battle of the Year contest in Braunschweig, Germany. The Elephant Eye Films release reached a sophomore week per-screen average of $4,908 from eight engagements and $79,828 in total box office.

Steve Ramos is a Cincinnati based writer.

indieWIRE:BOT tracks independent/specialty releases compiled from Rentrak Theatrical, which collects studio reported data as well as box-office figures from North American theatre locations. To be included in the indieWIRE Box Office Chart, distributors must submit information about their films to Rentrak at studiogrosses@rentrak.com by the end of the day each Monday.

Is online distribution the future for indie releases? Probably, but for now, don't bet your budget on it. This year, at festivals from Sundance to Berlin to SXSW, industry professionals and filmmakers have been debating the state of feature streaming and online delivery at cocktail parties and on official panels with names like "Webolution!" and "Filmmakers on Demand."

Even those movies that are getting picked up have been thrust into the debate, say insiders, because digital-rights proponents say established film distributors are not doing enough to exploit these areas.

Cinetic Media partner Robert Nathan, who is spearheading the company's new Cinetic Rights Management division along with John Sloss and Janet Brown, established in the last six months to navigate the world of constantly evolving digital platforms, told indieWIRE, "If you were to do an all-rights deal and your distributor doesn't do anything with the bundle of digital rights, would you have been better off carving them out of the deal? That is, are you better off in the aggregate finding someone who is doing something with those digital rights?"

"That's the economic pressure that should be brought to bear when film distribution deals are done," he added. "And that pressure is just going to increase."

Netflix's Liesl Copland agreed. "I'm not convinced that the studio all-rights acquisitions are placing value on digital rights, because there's still a sense of conservatism on how to value those rights," she said. "They're not passing that value to the filmmaker upfront."

After staking out an early claim to the DVD rental business and experimenting with online streaming for about 7,000 titles, Netflix is now moving aggressively to acquire nonexclusive digital rights for its PC-only instant viewing service and an as-yet-to-be unveiled set-top box that will allow subscribers to watch movies streamed directly to their TVs.

"We're very interested in those rights," said Copland, though she admitted, "[The industry] don't have the data to say what these digital rights are actually worth."

And that's the million-dollar question. How much are these rights worth for producers and filmmakers? "Right now, the answer," said B-Side's Chris Hyams, "is that there really are no filmmakers who stand to make any money back on digital rights. From the perspective of online distribution, it's a nascent business. The reason that Netflix and Blockbuster are on it now is because they believe it's the future. Until, then, everyone is happy to lose money in the short run." Video-on-demand, on the other hand, which is also a segment of the new digital rights discussion, is already more established, say industry observers, because there is a more stable infrastructure, with consumers easily set up to watch movies via cable delivery.

At this point, Netflix appears to be one of the few places where a business model is emerging for online streaming. While specific deals are different for every film, of course, Copland contended that Netflix "would pay more than a home video distributor or more than a theatrical entity would be willing to advance, given their P & A commitment."

Jason Janego, head of Business & Legal Affairs for Magnolia Pictures, pointed to their partnership with Netflix on the distribution of James Scurlock's credit documentary "Maxed Out." "For that particular title, Netflix performed as well or better than expectations," he said, claiming that it was successful for Netflix's Red Envelope Entertainment, Magnolia and the filmmakers. "It would encourage us to make more films available on that medium," he added.

Netflix, contrary to iTunes, is also more likely to acquire those indie films that don't have a distributor already in place. (iTunes's movie page is dominated by studio content.)

According to Copland, "If a filmmaker plays at five film festivals and it turns out that Roadside, Magnolia and Goldwyn all said they loved my movie, but they don't want to spend half a million to market the film, they can take X dollars from Netflix for the Netflix rights, and then hire a publicist for $5,000 and book a few theaters and then we can enable the film, it gets reviews, and then consumers can come to us for it."

IFC Films, on the other hand, has taken most of its library, nonexclusively, to iTunes, where rather than streaming, like Netflix, allows consumers to download movies. (Some argue that the streaming model is inferior, because it demands a consistent broadband connection and the viewer's attention at that moment. iTunes' new rental function allows users to watch within 30 days of the download, in a 24-hour period.)

IFC also has a 60-day exclusive pact with new rentals through Blockbuster's online subsidiary Movielink.com. While it's too soon yet to see data on MovieLink rentals or whether the exclusivity could diminish the online eyeballs for smaller films, Lisa Schwartz, IFC's Sr. VP of Sales and Business Development, noted the number of sales for their films through iTunes is "encouraging" and a "viable means for people to consume movies."

However, Schwartz acknowledged that it's still a fraction of their business. "I wouldn't say tiny," she told indieWIRE. "I'd say interesting. If I were a much larger studio, they might say tiny. But when you're in specialty division, a couple bucks get interesting."

IFC's top-performers on iTunes include a wide array of both old and new movies, including Errol Morris' 1988 documentary "The Thin Blue Line," Todd Graff's 2003 comedy "Camp," and Kevin Wilmott's surprise 2004 mockumentary hit "Confederate States of America."

But the reality of the sector is still daunted by several practical concerns. As Hyams noted, "Once you get to feature length content, people don't want to watch it on their laptop or iPhones." Once Apple TVs become widespread or streaming set-top boxes become the norm, things could look very different.

For now, Cinetic's Nathan said, "It's still unclear what's going to work for feature films and what revenue model will succeed. But it is clear that digital consumption, whatever the platform, is a big part of the future," Nathan continued. "This is a set of rights that are going to matter. The question is how soon and under what economic model? And if anyone tells you they know the answer to that, they're lying."

Currently, the various models include download-to-own, such as iTunes, or subscription-based, such as Netflix. In the age of "freeconomics," however, as outlined by Chris Anderson's March 2008 WIRED cover story "Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business" (link), "the trend lines that determine the cost of doing business online all point the same way: to zero." The most successful future model, then, could be simply to give the movies away.

That's at least what Hyams's B-Side has been doing in theaters: B-Side has been promoting over 300 free screenings around the country for their most successful title, the music documentary "Before the Music Dies," in the hopes that it will drive online sales. Since B-Side launched, according to Hyams, the movie has sold 1,362 download units (40% at their highest price point, DVD resolution, for $7.99), compared to 1,059 hard DVD units. (Filmmakers get 70% of revenue, minus 40 cents per copy for server fees.)

"I don't believe there will ever be a time when you can just put your movie online and make money," said Hyams, who believes that a cross-platform approach is integral to getting movies watched and purchased.

Whatever happens, insiders say filmmakers need to make sure they're not left on the sidelines. "I would agree don't bet your budget," said IFC's Schwartz, "but on the other hand, be pleased when people you're doing business with have taken the time to do these distribution deals with these outlets, because it's meaningful over time."

Magnolia's Janego concurred: "From a filmmaker or producer's perspective, it's an absolutely relevant thing to discuss with a distributor and it's becoming more and more relevant. From a filmmaker's perspective, every little bit counts."

"Planet B-Boy," director Benson Lee's break dancing documentary for Elephant Eye Films, jumped past all art-house releases with a debut, per-screen average of $13,889. "Under the Same Moon," director Patricia Riggen's immigration drama, a co-release for Fox Searchlight and the Weinstein Company, broke opening-weekend records for a Spanish-language film with three-day earnings of $2.8 million from 266 screens. "Love Songs," French filmmaker Christophe Honore's Paris- set musical for IFC Films and Red Envelope Entertainment, averaged $10,244 from two New York runs. Rounding out the iWBOT Top Five, which ranks films by per-screen average, were "Boarding Gate," French filmmaker Olivier Assayas' thriller featuring Asia Argento and Michael Madsen, and "Praying with Lior," director Ilana Trachtman's documentary for First Run Features about a Jewish boy with Down's Syndrome preparing for his Bar Mitzvah.

"Planet B-Boy" director Benson Lee's documentary about b-boy culture and the break dancing Battle of the Year contest in Braunschweig, Germany earned $27,778 from exclusive runs at the Landmark Sunshine in New York and the Landmark Nuart in Los Angeles. Just the second release for fledgling New York-based distributor Elephant Eye Films, "Planet B-Boy" proved to be a successful follow up to their recent debut release "Billy the Kid."

"We were pleasantly surprised at the Friday evening screenings in New York," said Vicky Wight, co-president at Elephant Eye Films. "There were ten-year-olds and grannies who were sixty-five and seventy. There was this huge spectrum and we were delighted. We always thought this film had cross-over potential and that's what's starting to happen with it." Wight, along with Elephant Eye co-president Bridget Stokes, confirmed "Planet B-Boy" holding over in New York and Los Angeles, expanding to San Francisco, San Diego and Washington DC Friday and adding more than twenty-five cities throughout April. "This will be a wider release than "Billy the Kid," Wight said. "We always saw "Planet B-Boy" as the big film at Elephant Eye. We love the film and everyone who sees it loves the film. We knew there would be potential and we are prepared to support it very well if the exhibitors allow us."

"Under the Same Moon" director Patricia Riggen's drama about a female illegal worker trying to reunite with her nine-year-old son, shattered the opening-weekend record for Spanish-language films with a three-day, per-screen average of $10,412 from 266 screens and weekend cume of $2,769,655. "Moon," a co-release of Fox Searchlight and the Weinstein Company, reached $3.5 million in total earnings since its Wednesday opening and debuted in the overall Top Ten box office.

"After we acquired "Moon" along with Fox Searchlight out of the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, we screened it in Manhattan, LA, Texas and Florida to different Hispanic audiences as well as art film audiences and we got great reactions everywhere we went," said Steve Bunnell, chairman of distribution for the Weinstein Company. "Traditionally it had been a challenge if you had a Mexican- oriented film to get it to translate to other Hispanic cultures across the country. But this was a movie that transcended all of those specific ethnic groups and appealed to everyone. We decided to release the movie in 266 theaters where there are large Hispanic populations no matter what background as well as core art house theaters in those markets. We decided to go Easter weekend because that historically is a strong time for Hispanic audiences to go to the movies."

Venues in the suburban Hispanic markets of Los Angeles, Houston and Chicago performed exceptionally strong along with traditional art- house venues like the Arclight in Los Angeles and Landmark's Bethesda Row Cinema in Bethesda Maryland. Bunnell confirmed aggressive expansion pans for "Moon," culminating with approximately 600 runs on April 18. "I think "Moon" is another step in the right direction for Spanish- oriented films," said Bunnell. "The Spanish marketplace is gigantic and this is a special movie that speaks to audiences and is a crowd pleaser. I think it's a stepping off point for future Spanish movies."

"Love Songs," French filmmaker Christophe Honore's Paris-set musical starring Louis Garrel, Ludivine Sagnier and Clotilde Hesme, earned $20,488 for IFC Films and Red Envelope Entertainment; drawing different audiences to New York's Paris Theatre and IFC Center. "There was a very distinct split for "Love Songs" with the traditional art house moviegoer uptown and a younger demographic attending the IFC Center showings," said Mark Boxer, vice president, sales and distribution for IFC Films. "The film is off to a good start and will platform slowly throughout the country."

"Boarding Gate," French filmmaker Olivier Assayas' thriller featuring alt-rocker Kim Gordon as well as Asia Argento and Michael Madsen, earned $11,440 for Magnolia Pictures from its exclusive debut at New York's Cinema Village. "Assayas has a steady and dedicated audience and everyone loves Asia Argento," said Neal Block, director of distribution for Magnolia Pictures. "The strength of his recent films and some great reviews out of New York got us to a very satisfying holiday weekend tally. Despite a marketplace cluttered with options, people found this film. We're taking it out slowly over the next month to the rest of the top 10 markets."

Remaining in the iWBOT top five was "Praying with Lior," director Ilana Trachtman's documentary about Lior, a devout teenage boy with Down's syndrome about to experience his Bar Mitzvah. "Lior" continued to attract hometown fans at Philadelphia's Bala Theatre. "Lior" earned 6,443 in weekend earnings for First Run Features and reached $35,712 in total box office.

Louisville, KY-based production company The Group Entertainment also attracted hometown support for its documentary "FLOW: For Love of Water." Boosted by appearances by "FLOW" director Irena Salina, the documentary about global water shortage earned $3,644 from a special engagement at Louisville's Baxter Avenue Theaters.

Other specialty debuts included Kino International's "Poisoned By Polonium: The Litvinenko File," director Andrei Nekrasov's documentary the cover ups and corruption involving the murder of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko. "Poisoned" earned $2,402 in weekend grosses from its exclusive premiere at New York's Quad Cinema. "The Hammer," director Charles Herman-Wurmfeld's boxing comedy for International Film Circuit, reached a $4,857 per-screen average from twenty runs. "Irina Palm" director Sam Garbarski's drama featuring longtime singer Marianne Faithfull as a middle-aged sex club worker trying to earn money for her grandson's surgery, earned $3,474 for Strand Releasing at the Quad.

The strongest holdover continued to be Sony Pictures Classics' "The Counterfeiters," Austrian director Stefan Ruzowitzky's drama about concentration camp inmates who form an uneasy alliance with their Nazi captors printing counterfeit money. The Best Foreign Film Oscar led all specialty holdovers with a per-screen average of $5,387 from weekend earnings of $495,625 from 72 runs.

The biggest weekend benchmark belonged to "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days," filmmaker Cristian Mungiu's drama about a young woman who undergoes an underground abortion in 1987 Romania. The IFC release reached $1,012,533 in total box office, bold proof that challenging foreign-language fare can find an audience.

Steve Ramos is a Cincinnati based writer.

indieWIRE:BOT tracks independent/specialty releases compiled from Rentrak Theatrical, which collects studio reported data as well as box-office figures from North American theatre locations. To be included in the indieWIRE Box Office Chart, distributors must submit information about their films to Rentrak at studiogrosses@rentrak.com by the end of the day each Monday.

Born out of anger, to use the words of filmmaker Jason Kohn, the inaugural Cinema Eye Honors for documentary films awarded three prizes to "Manda Bala (Send A Bullet)" on Tuesday night in New York City. Kohn's doc, nominated in six of the nine Cinema Eye categories, was honored as best picture and also received awards for cinematography and editing.

"When these movies don't get seen, you feel like you're fucking losing," Kohn said, after accepting the best picture award. Continuing the thought amidst laughter, he quipped, "You feel like somebody else is winning and that person is no good. So, this movie was made out of anger, it was made out of a lot of anger."

Best director winner Alex Gibney ("Taxi to the Dark Side"). Photo by Eugene Hernandez/indieWIRE

Indeed, the new Cinema Eye Honors were conceived out of frustration. Spurred by the recent short list of nominees for the annual Academy Awards, filmmaker AJ Schnack enlisted doc programmer Thom Powers and distributor IndiePix to launch the new awards. The nominations were created by the programmers of a dozen festivals and, with the exception of the audience award, winners were chosen by about 140 film community insiders.

Seth Gordon's "The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters" won the first Cinema Eye audience choice prize, while this year's Oscar winner Alex Gibney received the award for best director for his latest film, "Taxi to the Dark Side."

The ceremony, held at the IFC Center in downtown Manhattan, featured extended film clips, tributes to the late Tony Silver and St. Clair Bourne, music from Ionic of Force Theory, a brief panel discussion interlude, and award presentations from a number of accomplished filmmakers, including Barbara Kopple, Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg, Sam Pollard, Ross Kaufman, Alan Berliner, and Marshall Curry. Following the two-hour plus show, guests headed uptown for an after-party in NYC's Meat Packing District.

After a pair of unexpected brief musical numbers, award founder AJ Schnack delivered extended remarks criticizing the honoring of documentarians purely as journalists and activists, rather than artists.

AJ Schnack (right) and Thom Powers (left) at the first Cinema Eye Honors in New York City. Photo by Eugene Hernandez/indieWIRE

"The Cinema Eye Honors exist because we as filmakers recognize that from the earliest days of the form, people like Vertov and Flaherty made creative choices, they experimented with cinematography, they experiemented with editing and even enimation, they staged scenes, they constructed." Concluding, Schnack added, "They believed that the cinema eye was more truthful and more real than the human one."

EDITORS NOTE: This story was updated with two corrections, noting that City Lights Pictures originally released "Manda Bala" and including the winner of the best first feature prize for "Billy The Kid."

Complete list of Cinema Eye winners:

Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Filmmaking
"Manda Bala (Send A Bullet)"
Director - Jason Kohn, Producers - Joey Frank, Jared Goldman & Jason Kohn

Outstanding Achievement in Direction
Alex Gibney
"Taxi to the Dark Side"

Outstanding Achievement in a Debut Feature
Billy the Kid
Director: Jennifer Venditti

Outstanding Achievement in Production
Seth Kanegis, Tomas Radoor & Mikael Rieks
"Ghosts of Cite Soleil"

Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography
Heloisa Passos
"Manda Bala (Send A Bullet)"

Outstanding Achievement in Editing
Doug Abel, Jenny Golden & Andy Grieve
"Manda Bala (Send A Bullet)"

Outstanding Achievement in Graphic Design and Animation
Animation by Curious Pictures
"Chicago 10"

Outstanding International Feature
"The Monastery - Mr. Vig & The Nun"
Director - Pernille Rose Gronkjaer, Producer - Sigrid Dyekjaer

Audience Choice Prize
"The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters"
Director - Seth Gordon