NonDē is Ted Hope's word, not mine. He introduced it, short for non-dependent cinema, in his essay “What is NonDē for?” on HopeForFilm. The idea: no filmmaker should depend on any one system or platform to make, fund, release or share the work.
It clicked for me because I kept watching good films stall while the people making them waited on someone else's yes. A grant panel. An investor who went quiet. A festival that passed.
I'm a filmmaker and an entertainment attorney, so the part I can do the most about is ownership. Ted's tenets say filmmakers own their work, and ownership lives in paperwork: the option, the deal memos, the releases, the chain of title. That's why I built The NonDē Filmmaking Legal Lab.
For me, NonDē means making the film without waiting for permission, and being able to prove it's yours when it's done.
Read the full guide on The NonDē Filmmaking Legal Lab →Mike Rekola, filmmaker and entertainment attorney
Meet the Faces of NonDē →