NEW YORK (AP) — For much of its life, the Independent Film Channel was essentially content to show independent films.That wasn't enough for Evan Shapiro. Since taking over as general manager two years ago, he's sought to establish IFC as a haven for free speech, a network that relishes taking on controversial issues. His slogan for IFC is "TV, Uncut".

"If cable does what broadcast cannot, IFC needs to do what cable does not," said Shapiro, who ran his own marketing company before working at Court TV and IFC.

One example is the recent documentary, "This Film is Not Yet Rated", that explores the politics behind Hollywood's movie ratings system. Many people in television loved the idea but no one wanted to make it, Shapiro said. He reasoned that "if we don't do this, we don't deserve to be the Independent Film Channel."

This year IFC is making "The Bridge", a film about suicides at the Golden Gate Bridge. The upcoming trilogy "Indie Sex" is what it sounds like: a documentary about sex in cinema. These projects follow documentaries about homosexuals in Hollywood, bull-riding and the radio show "The F Word" and its relationship with the FCC.

IFC has also put a handful of series in production, including the "Weeds"-like drama "Pornopolis", with a seemingly average suburban family where the parents run a porn empire; and "Bad Habits", a drama about a group of people with various addictions. Its comedy "The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman", about two women exploring backstage life in Hollywood, was renewed last week for a second season. Outspoken punk poet Henry Rollins, who has his own talk show, was also renewed.

In short, "Bambi" is not on the agenda.

An iconoclastic, left-leaning image is hardly a stretch for a network that showcases independent films. Fans who prefer these quirky movies to the suburban multiplex fare are already likely to be city-dwellers intrigued by culture on the edge.

"I think we attract far more libertarians than any other classification," Shapiro said. "Mavericks, independents, libertarians — the stay-out-of-my-business mentality."

It took a marketer to understand that IFC, which began operating in 1994 and is seen in a little more than one-third of the nation's television homes, hadn't done enough to distinguish itself from rivals like Sundance and Bravo.

When many consumers have more than 100 channels to surf through, a network needs to make some noise to be heard, he said.

There was some scepticism about Shapiro within the indie film community when he got the job, said Eugene Hernandez, co-founder and editor in chief of indiewire.com, the leading news source for fans of these films. Yes, he wore T-shirts to work. Yes, he wrote a provocative, occasionally profane Web log.

He seemed well-cast in the role. But his background was in marketing, not filmmaking.

"Evan has earned his indie cred and earned respect within the industry by the films that he's putting his money behind," Hernandez said. "At the end of the day, it comes down to the projects."

There was little to distinguish IFC from Sundance when both networks started, he said. Now they seem to have taken different directions, with Sundance having more of an emphasis on international films, he said.

Shapiro has done a good job building upon IFC's mission, said John Lyons, president of Focus Features, the production house behind "Brokeback Mountain".

"I think the perception is that they have fulfilled a really unique place in the industry and that they are real supporters of independent film," Lyons said.

Films like "Brokeback Mountain" are examples of how the indie film community has grown and matured over the past decade, Hernandez said. Just like the movies, IFC is much more polished now than it was, Hernandez said.

He finds an interesting parallel between IFC and the rock band Green Day, which has done some work for the network. Green Day was once an indie band scraping to make it. While they keep their coolness factor and write some politically charged music, they're also smooth professionals who run big-business tours.

IFC has organised its programming schedule into various theme nights, like Friday's "Grindhouse", which has films that have some level of 'sploitation to them. The network's best films are featured on "Sunday's Best".

"It's not enough to just have a lot of films on your network," Shapiro said. "You have to curate it."

Even before Shapiro arrived, IFC released its own theatrical films ("My Big Fat Greek Wedding"). He's also tried to work on ancillary projects like DVDs and the website to create more of a sense of community among viewers. IFC is owned Cablevision Systems Corp.

"We went from being a channel on the dial to being an entertainment brand in the last three years," he said.

The mainstream movie industry suffered through a series of lacklustre years recently and Shapiro believes it was because too many movies looked the same. Since there were very few risks taken, there were very few rewards, he said.

That's not what he's interested in for IFC. And if it's not to your taste, Shapiro follows the Howard Stern philosophy — you're free to change the channel.

"One in ten Americans tell the other nine what to do," he said, "and I'd rather talk to the one than the nine. I'd rather make 'Napoleon Dynamite' than 'King Kong'."