According to Marshall Fine, "Cassavetes, who provided the impetus of what would become the independent film movement in America … spent the majority of his career making his films 'off the grid' so to speak … unfettered by the commercial concerns of Hollywood. To make the kind of films he wanted to make, it was essential to work in this 'communal', 'off the grid' atmosphere because Hollywood's "basis is economic rather than political or philosophical", and no Hollywood executives were interested in Cassavetes's studies of human behaviour. He mortgaged his house to acquire the funds to shoot "A Woman Under the Influence", instead of seeking money from an investor who might try to change the script so as to make the film more marketable.