Independent film is generally associated with creativity and originality, the auteur theory (the concept of the director as author), and lower budgets. However, these characteristics are not inherently founded in American cinema. The writers of the French film journal Cahiers du Cinema, many of whom are credited with leading the French New Wave, actually pioneered the filmmaking methods that would dominate The American Independents from the 1960's on. In his book Celluloid Mavericks, Greg Merritt points out the effect the French New Wave had on American cinema. "The French New Wave impacted American independent films through such techniques as improved dialogue, handheld camerawork, and deliberately rough editing, but its more important legacy was to put into practice the philosophy of "Do your own thing"" (Merritt, 155). This freedom in filmmaking is what directors to this day strive for; it is the fundamental reason that cinema continues to evolve so that new stories can be told in different ways.
             Among the writers for Cahiers du Cinema were Francois Truffaut, Eric Rohmer, Jean-Luc Goddard, Eric Rohmer, and Andre Bazin. Throughout the sixties the Cahiers writers redefined film theory. They attacked traditional filmmaking methods, argued for more freedom in style, looser writing and acting, more on location shooting, and more innovative and different cinematography techniques. Merritt understands the Cahiers to be in favor of original ideas throughout the cinematic world while realizing the necessity of the independent sector. "In essence, though it championed directors who made personal movies within the system, Cahiers du Cinema was for independence. Hence, independent filmmaking, without the confines established within the studio system, served as a better means to such ends.
             Independent cinema is not restricted to art house productions and no name directors and actors. Actua
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