When Sean Baker (Anora) won best director at the Film Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday, he took the opportunity to reflect on the current state of independent film and said the industry needed to change to keep that genre of films alive.

“Indie film is struggling right now, more than ever,” Baker told the audience in a lengthy speech. “Gone are the days of DVD sales that allow for greater risk to be taken on challenging films. That revenue stream is gone, and the only way to see significant back-end is to have a box office hit with profits that far exceed what any of our films will ever see, unless you are Damien Leone and strike gold with a franchise like Terrifier. But as we all know, that’s an extreme rarity for me, and I think for many of my peers. If we’re lucky, the average number...