My friend Leo pointed me towards [One Too Many Mornings](http://www.onetoomanymornings.com/), a really truly indie that’s playing at Sundance this year. As it turns out, I know the director (Michael Mohan) through his work at the filmmakers’ lab.
The movie looks great in its lo-fi simplicity, but what interests me even more is how the filmmakers are approaching distribution.
In the wake of The Nines, I’ve written [several](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2008/nines-post-mortem) [times](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2009/hard-indie) about how getting a movie made is substantially easier than getting a movie seen. The mythical Sundance experience — fierce bidding wars to land the next indie smash — are over. Most films don’t sell, and the few that do struggle to reach even a tiny audience.
Some filmmakers like Todd Sklar have [opted to self-distribute](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2008/self-distributing-an-indie-feature), essentially taking the indie band approach and touring theaters around the country. That’s great if you enjoy being in a van.
The Mornings team is doing what I would try: skipping theatrical altogether. The day after the premiere, you can [download their film](http://www.onetoomanymornings.com/store/) or get the DVD. You can even buy a piece of the set, or buy the filmmakers lunch.
They’re not going to make a lot of money, but my hunch is they will be able to get a lot more people to see their movie this way. That should be the main goal of any indie.