Sundance 2011: Does 38 Film Deals Mean That The Indie Biz Is Back?

COMMENTS (14)

• Wall Street Journal has already documented a 66% drop in buying in last 3 years or so at Sundance Film Festival.
  So one would have to ask if 38 successfully closed; what was the total # of films available and what is the 38 percentage of the total presented? A 100? 200?

  Comment by SinCityFinancier — Friday February 4, 2011 @ 5:01pm PST  Reply to this post

• Well, yes. And thank the good Lord. I mean did you all see the pitch Todd Garner bought recently? We need to put a stop to this crap. The only way to do it is to keep making real stories and try our best to make something worthy.

  Teetu.

  Comment by E — Friday February 4, 2011 @ 5:04pm PST  Reply to this post

• No. It certainly does not.

  Comment by The Answer — Friday February 4, 2011 @ 5:05pm PST  Reply to this post

• it looks like the biz is on the up and up, but will anyone end up seeing most of the movies?

  Comment by mka — Friday February 4, 2011 @ 5:07pm PST  Reply to this post

• the indie biz is still not lucrative. it’s like the stock market. you only hear of the success stories out of the countless other 99% that don’t make it. look at the bigger picture of how many indie films are made each year and then how many get distribution. you’ll find the number to be miniscule, but a reporter can’t spin that story so you probably won’t do that research.

  Comment by indazone — Friday February 4, 2011 @ 5:09pm PST  Reply to this post

• No

  Comment by myansweris — Friday February 4, 2011 @ 5:56pm PST  Reply to this post

• Is that seriously the banner for My Idiot Brother? Is the movie itself really that indie-pandering?

  Comment by ILDC — Friday February 4, 2011 @ 7:23pm PST  Reply to this post

• I think the big problem is the lack of serious promotional muscle behind the sub-Sundance-hit microbudget films.

  John Doe uses his trust fund or his parents’ retirement savings to make a movie that gets a nice Variety review.

  John puts the movie in the hands of XYZ Film Reps Inc. One problem is that, with a lot of the little sales companies, it’s not clear whether they’re small, serious firms hit hard by the economy, delusional vanity projects, scams, or fronts for spies/drug cartels/etc. There’s no communication. If the film does get sold and shows up on satellite TV, the only way the filmmaker can find out is through Googling.

  Another problem is that, because of the idea that print is dead, no one puts together a real publicity campaign or buys print ads for the film. John Doe does not have the good sense to trash a hotel room and cheat on Taylor Swift to stay in the news; he just makes the film and goes home. So, the film gets some reviews and a little feature coverage when it’s four-walled, then it vanishes.

  If someone puts the film on a VOD system, great, but how do you bring it to the attention of VOD visitors who might like it if the film has never been properly promoted?

  Comment by A spouse — Friday February 4, 2011 @ 7:33pm PST  Reply to this post

  • Good points- and story to veer off topic a tad, but the problem starts even before your XYZ Rep scenario- what about Jim Doe (John’s brother) who makes a great film that gets terrific reviews including by the Reporter and Variety and many other pubs, wins multiple small festivals, but poor Jim can’t XYZ or PDQ reps or anyone to even LOOK at his film (especially the big fests and certainly nor distribs) because it doesn’t have any “names” in it.

    Nope, just amazing actors and a terrific story that is shot exceptionally well. So the film dies in obscurity because Jim didn’t have the cash to pony up for a B list ex 90′s sit com star to play the lead, or he didn’t play the Hollywood game well enough to suck up to the right players. Sour grapes? You betcha. Rotten system that needs to change? BIG you betcha.

    Comment by Raging — Saturday February 5, 2011 @ 11:11am PST  Reply to this post

    • Jim could always hire an expert in the field of distribution who will get his film out there to the good distributors. Because Jim is hiring the expert, the expert won’t be inclined to drop Jim when his film isn’t picked up by the first half dozen companies. Jim’s film will be put in front of several dozen companies, because the expert had been hired to perform a service, and is therefore obligated to fulfill that duty.

      Comment by WTFisGoodTVComingTo? — Sunday February 6, 2011 @ 1:33pm PST  Reply to this post

• That 66% drop the ‘Wall street Journal’ talks about is no dout the result of the crappy economic conditions, bestowed upon us by various short-sighted genius’es, and not the result of the indie business dying. If you lose your job, you’r more likely to buy bread, not movie tickets.

  Comment by Rich — Saturday February 5, 2011 @ 9:29am PST  Reply to this post

• Reality, wait to see the b.o. totals and see if those films picked up at Sundance, actually make money. Sundance is all hype…

  Comment by steath — Saturday February 5, 2011 @ 9:37am PST  Reply to this post

• another tricky detail to remember is that the minimum garauntee for all these films is either smaller than the production budget or requires worldwide rights (on all media). Typically the domestic distribution deal is a zero guarantee with the producer being responsible for the deliverable costs (which may be advanced by the distributor and applied as a distribution cost). The producer is relegated to a net backend sharing arrangement; which for the indie producers may be OK because the domestic theatrical deal will trigger interest internationally and add a premium in the foriegn markets. For most the stategy is to sell domestic at sundance for little to no money followed with foreign sales in May (at Cannes) for an upfront fee per territory.

  Comment by Sid — Saturday February 5, 2011 @ 9:40am PST  Reply to this post

• it seems to me that Roadside, Lionsgate and Fox Searchlight bought the best films.
  but still don’t know if they can make their money back. Box office for indie movies is a risky road.

  Comment by penny — Saturday February 5, 2011 @ 10:17am PST  Reply to this post