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transcript
Did Gen X Invent Indie Film?
The actors Claire Danes, Luis Guzmán and Omar Epps discuss the indie film era in this excerpt from a T Magazine documentary about how Generation X, the cohort once synonymous with slacking, came to leave such an indelible impression on the culture.
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It was a revolutionary moment in cinema. This idea of indie film was born. Soderbergh and Richard Linklater, Spike Lee. Paul Thomas Anderson a little after. My story about “Boogie Nights” goes like this. So, some guy sends me a script. I never heard of the guy. I called him up and I go, “Bro, are they gonna even let you make this movie?” It was out there like something I had never read in my life. And so then we get into like, “How, how old are you, bro? ‘cause, you know, you captured this era so well.” And he mumbles something. I go, “Okay, you’re 35.” He goes, “No I’m 25.” And I go, “What? You’re (beep) 25 years old and you wrote this?” Being a kid from Brooklyn, watching “Do the Right Thing” felt like someone just had a camera and was filming like real life. Again, going back to our time, even when you think about filmmakers, everyone had a very unique voice and it was celebrated.

By Megan Lovallo and Jamie Bradley
December 5, 2025
