Great Response!

From: Alan Whitney - a producer/director in the Central Florida area.

Here is my two cents worth. I do not think there is a magic formula that can be followed. I think that making a movie is an art, but making money on a movie is a business. Writers, Actors, Directors, Set Designers, Costume Designers, DPs, etc. are artists, but need to be aware of the business side of things. Producers need to be astute business people. There are good artists and bad artists and there are good business persons and bad business persons. It seems that most independent filmmakers want to be an artists and most people involved with the film making process do need to be artists. But without a business savvy production, a project is destined to be part of the 80% that do not make any money.
There seem to be many ways to have a successful film – lightning strikes that are unique ideas or unique marketing campaigns (ref: Blair Witch, District 9, Paranormal Activity), big money studio marketing campaigns, big money star power, big money productions, etc. Other than lightning strikes, most of these ways require lots of money. Not all big money films make money, but on average studios make money so there must be something to throwing cash at enough films to get a return. One common element is that for the most part (again, other than lightning strikes), the films that make the money are quality projects - quality writing, quality acting and quality production.
Independent filmmakers have to rely on something else than big money. So the budgetary constraints leave lighting strikes or quality productions of quality ideas. Lightning strikes are like lottery tickets, so the best odds are to make quality projects - with one caveat that if you think you have the winning lottery numbers (i.e. a sure fire marketing idea or a sure fire gimmick), you should go for it.
Quality writing can come from strange places (ref: Juno) and quality acting can be from newcomers (ref: any early Kevin Smith, Richard Linklater or John Hughes film), but a recognizable face will help since they are most likely recognizable because they are quality. A recognizable face to me does not mean that you need Brad Pitt, etc., just someone that people know (ref: Richard Jenkins in The Visitor) Like quality acting and quality writing, quality production requires true artists. The business side of it is finding artists within your budget - after all, Ben Affleck and Jason Lee only got a few dollars for doing Mall Rats and Chasing Amy. It seems that cream has a way of rising to the top.
Crocodile Dundee was a lightning strike that captured the imagination and made a household name out of Paul Hogan - for a short time. Little Miss Sunshine, Juno, Fargo and Sling Blade are great stories that had name actors (even Billy Bob Thornton had done a dozen or more films before Sling Blade, though he was not a big money star yet). Saw was an original idea that was timely (as was Hostel), Friday the 13th created great quality scares using suspense, shock and gore (one of the first to do this to near perfection as was Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street), and Night of the Living Dead was a trailblazing idea (the many versions that followed did not gain the cult status as the original). Although it is common belief that horror films are the most marketable, for the most part it is the truly original ideas and quality productions that make the bigger money.
Anyway, that is my opinion for what it is worth....

Alan Whitney