I don't know about your "co-opting" idea. I know next to nothing about the Hollywood system, but I imagine a "middle tier" of studios that are between "indies"

I don't know about your "co-opting" idea. I know next to nothing about the Hollywood system, but I imagine a "middle tier" of studios that are between "indies" and "the big guys". A studio that would do everything in-house, and tap into the emerging distribution networks (Amazon/Netflix/iTunes) for "release". Maybe even working with independent theaters. I think the other factor here would be promotion. I don't think the distribution networks want to bother with that part, but there are probably a bunch of other players ready to get into that market. (Kevin Smith perhaps?)