This survey was conducted by the Independent Filmmakers Guild of America. We promoted, marketed, and advertised the survey to IFGA members and to filmmakers on social media, primarily through Facebook.

The survey was conducted over six months and had 150 participants. 

The goal of the survey was to gather information on the independent filmmaking industry. Our goal is to educate and inform filmmakers about the indie film world. 

Furthermore, we are working on putting together a handbook of best practices and how to maintain an ethical production as an independent. 

The following are the instructions and information given to participants.

The State of the Indie Film Industry Survey

This is the most in-depth survey ever done on the industry of independent filmmaking. The more you can complete, the more it will benefit those who work and create in this field.

• RESULTS: The results of this survey are anonymous. 
• EMAIL ADRESS: Emails are used solely to validate that you are a real person. We will run your provided email through a validation service. We will not share or make your email public and it will not be used internally beyond participation in this survey. Invalid emails will result in discarded survey submissions.
• PRIVACY: We may send one (1) email at the end of the survey so you can view the results. Beyond that, your email and any provided personal information will not be used by the IFGA for any other purpose, unless you indicate you would be interested in participating in our follow-up Case Study.

About this Survey

This survey has eight (8) sections

• I. Contact and Survey Verification;
• II. The Basics About Your Experiences;
• III. Production Practices;
• IV. Budget, Box Office, Success;
• V. Crowdfunding and Financing;
• VI. Marketing, and Film Fests;
• VII. Distribution and Aggregation;
• VIII: Finishing Up

Required Items: Only Sections I and VIII have mandatory items (for a total of four required responses). Everything else is optional as it applies to your experiences.

Survey Instructions:

1. You only need to complete what is applicable to you and your experiences.
2. Sections II-VII are entirely optional based on your experiences.
3. Honesty and accuracy will serve the results best. It won’t benefit anyone of entries are inaccurate or exaggerated.
4. The survey is designed to take about 15-20 minutes if you respond to every question.

Section 1: Survey Verification

We did require a valid email to verify a real person was taking the survey. Beyond that, the survey was anonymous. Survey takers were given the option to include their name and IMDB link should they want to participate in further research down the road.

• 150 people with verified email addresses took the survey
• The survey was conducted from July 2023 to January 2024
• The survey had 8 sections
• Participants only completed what was applicable to their personal experiences

Section 2: Experience and Perception

Section 3: Production Practices

Section 4: Budget, Box Office, Success

Section 5: Crowdfunding and Financing

Section 6: Marketing & Film Fests

Section 7: Distribution & Aggregation

Section 8: Finishing Up

We welcome you to review all of the results and draw your own conclusions. We did our best to be as accurate and objective as possible in the outcome.

Based on the results here, we will be doing some follow up research on the following topics:

1. Critic Reviews: We were surprised to see that filmmakers believe critical reviews have very little to do with their marketing and/or success. We would like to know more about this topic and the experiences of filmmakers.

2. Film Festivals: We want to find out more about the good, the bad, and the future of film festivals for filmmakers.

3. Production Practices: As we continue work on our IFGA Best Practices Handbook, we are eager to learn more about all aspects of indie production and how the experiences of many can influence, aid, and streamline the process for others.

Of course, there will be much more as well.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to participate in this survey and we look forward to looking even further at the results to see how it can help indie filmmakers across the industry.