Lawrence Kasdan has an impressive filmography. He co-wrote The Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Among the films he wrote and directed are Body Heat, The Big Chill, Silverado, Grand Canyon, and Wyatt Earp. All of those were studio films. Darling Companion is his first independent film. It is a story of the relationship between empty-nesters after the husband loses the wife's dog in the woods. With an impressive ensemble cast (including Kevin Kline, Diane Keaton, Dianne Wiest, and Richard Jenkins) and its focus on relationships among characters who are Kasdan's contemporaries, the film can be seen (as the press notes suggest) as forming a trilogy along with The Big Chill and Grand Canyon.

At a recent press day for Darling Companion I brought up the difference between making a film with a studio and as an independent. First of all Kasdan said he loved making an independent film. He noted that the film was made for less money than he made his first feature, Body Heat, for thirty years ago. The cast and crew worked on the film for scale. Nobody had a trailer. No one was in it because it would be a big payday.

When I asked Kasdan if The Big Chill or Grand Canyon (both of which were nominated for screenwriting Oscars; The Big Chill was also nominated for Best Picture) could be made with a studio today, he replied, "Never. Never. I've made ten movies with studios. Maybe three could be made with studios today." He spoke of some of the ways films must tie in to various marketing strategies to get the support of a studio. It always comes down to the bottom line. That is the nature of their business. Independent films, while not immune from financial issues, are more concerned with the story they tell. He pointed out, "Human stories are much harder to franchise."

Not long ago, I attended a forum with some indie film producers. Among the things said there was that studios are no longer interested in making films for adults. Dramas especially are things that studios stay away from. When I asked Kevin Kline about this assessment, he agreed. "The studios aim at younger audiences. Fewer and fewer movies are being made for more mature people."

At that forum it was also mentioned that more and more talent was willing to work in indie films because that was where the good stories were being told. Both Kasdan and Kline agreed with this as well. At the press day, they were also asked if they might be interested in working on cable television, since it is also a place where quality stories were being told. Both said that there were some very good things happening on cable and hoped to be able to find the kind of project there that they could be part of.