INDEPENDENT SPIRIT SPREADS THROUGH MOVIE INDUSTRY.

Byline: Amy Dawes Daily News Staff Writer

With the Sundance film festival crowded beyond the bursting point, there is an unmistakable sense here of a revolution in full swing.

The line between independent and studio filmmaking has blurred in recent years as studios have moved in to take advantage of the commercial success linked to the quirky, independent vision of young filmmakers such as Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino, Bryan Singer and Steven Soderbergh.

Encouraged by low-budget success stories, more and more people are finding ways to make personal movies on their own, free of the mass-market dictates of the major studios.

Among the striking trends this year is a notable presence of women filmmakers and women's stories, many of which are connecting solidly with the festival audience.

Two of them, Nicole Holofcener's droll comedy "Walking and Talking," and the raw, affecting teen drama "Girls Town," by writer-director Jim McKay, were snapped up for distribution during the festival's first few days.

Another, the moving drama "Care of the Spitfire Grill," about a female ex-convict and her attempt to rejoin society, earned a rare five-minute standing ovation for star Marcia Gay Hayden at a Saturday screening.

At the moment, however, Robert Redford, the festival director, is worried that the marketing and distribution systems that could bring these movies to an audience are too limited.

"Opportunities for making independent films are not being matched by the opportunities for distribution," he noted at his press conference.

One solution may be the advent of the Sundance Film Channel, a 24-hour cable channel that will bring independent features, documentaries, foreign films, shorts and animation - the festival's basic lineup - to subscribers starting Feb. 29.

"We'll be offering an alternative to the mass-appeal, big box-office commercial films that are readily available," said Redford. "I think the audience is starved for options."

The Independent Film Channel, a rival service offering similar eclectic programming, already is available to cable subscribers in some parts of Los Angeles.

Redford said the Sundance channel will differ, placing emphasis on first-run movies, "the newest, most cutting-edge films available."

San Fernando Valley film students at the festival said they believe their other friends would like independent movies as much as they do, if only they were exposed to them.

"Advertising plays a huge role in why people see movies, and my friends will go see a bad movie just because it has a good ad campaign," said Josh Gray-Emmer, one of the producers of "Common Bonds," the Valley students' film-in-progress.

Though alternatives are taking hold, the students believe word-of-mouth is the best hope for promoting independent films.

For now, said Gray-Emmer, "I think the Sundance festival is doing the right thing. It puts independent film in the media spotlight.

CAPTION(S):

PHOTO

Photo Al Pacino, left, faces photographers after a press conference Friday at the 15th annual Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Associated Press