Sundance Film Festival 2008: Five Key Trends and Must-Knows for Indie Directors and Producers
Author: Daniel Lafleche

The Sundance Film Festival, though firmly in its
mid-twenties and suffering all the expected crises, is one
of the world's most important cinema venues. It's been said
that what plays well up in the mountains of Park City this
year will be trickling into the Hollywood mainstream by the
summer after next.  If this is true, the 2008 iteration of
the festival leaves us with a lot to think about.  Here are
5 things to chew on as American movies face what is likely
a pivotal year.

5. Trouble in Hollywood is not necessarily good news for
indies. At the outset of the festival the Writer's Guild
strike dominated conversation. Prognosticators expected a
buying frenzy at Sundance 2008 as studios searched
nervously for films to fill their potentially empty release
slate. However, at the same time, pundits were quick to
point to last year's rampant overspending and predicted
buyers would be cautious.

So, what happened? Not much. After an initial panic, over
$25 million worth of deals were inked at Sundance '08.
While this pales compared to the $53 million forked over at
Sundance '07, we can consider 2008 as a return to sanity.

4. Of the 17 films sold at Sundance...8 were documentaries.
In fact, all the films to sell in the usually frantic first
weekend at Sundance were documentaries, leading many to
believe that this year's marketplace would be a bust. But
even if prices were down a bit for dramas, critics and
audiences agree that the American documentary is as vital
as ever, and even after the disappointing box-office
performance of last year's Sundance docs (MY KID COULD
PAINT THAT, IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON) there is still a
very healthy market.

3. The Webolution is not being webcast. "The writing is on
the wall-the industry must adapt to new media or face
extinction. Today's studios and independents are finally
embracing the challenge of porting content and revenue to
new distribution strategies. Join Hollywood power brokers
and new media superstars to discuss their strategies for
the Web."

That's from the official Sundance Film Festival Guide and
the introduction to the much-buzzed about panel
"Webolution!". Netflix, Veoh.com, Joost.com, Hulu.com, the
MPAA, and MTV were all represented.

Sadly, nothing was solved.

The big take-away: the US needs to do more to inspire the
kind of access to high speed internet the rest of the
developed world enjoys. Some commentators have said,
compared to Europe, Japan, and Korea, the US is a
"broadband third world."

Despite the panel and the panic about the web, this year
Sundance is scaling back its online offerings. Its Online
Film Festival, launched in 2001, has all but disappeared.
In 2007, Sundance's site offered nearly 50 films
continuously over the course of the festival; this year,
it'll show just one for each of the festival's 10 days.

2. Who really rules Sundance and why is it that no one
likes Sony Pictures Classics? There have been rumblings for
a number of years now that sales agents (or brokers) might
have a little too much pull at Sundance. Dealmakers like
Cinetic Media, William Morris, Submarine Entertainment, and
the CAA (Creative Agency Artists) come to Sundance to
represent filmmakers and to fuel the bidding war furnaces.
Does a Cinetic stamp of approval get you into Sundance?
Probably not, but the annual Cinetic Sundance Party is
definitely where you want to be once you get there.

This year the brokers had Sony Pictures Classics' number.
While Fox Searchlight and Focus films paid the most for
films ($10M for HAMLET 2, and $5M for CHOKE, respectively),
SPC was the most active, snapping up three dramas this
year: FROZEN RIVER (repped by William Morris Agency),
BAGHEAD (repped by CAA), and THE WACKNESS (repped by
Submarine Entertainment). So why are bloggers up in arms?
Sony Pictures Classics has a horrific track record
releasing and marketing Sundance films (JUNEBUG, LAYER
CAKE, PERSEPOLIS), and it is expected that SPC will fumble
these crowd favourites.

This side of Sundance has always received a lot of talk,
but this year it seems to be receiving, mainly thanks to
the efforts of bloggers, the kind of scrutiny that will
help it mature in line with Sundance's artistic aspirations.

1. New American Realism equals... drugs? For critics,
commentators, and most bloggers, there was a lot to
celebrate at Sundance 2008. Manohla Dargis (New York
Times), tweaked to what she called the "emergence of a new
American realism," praised the Sundance crop this year for
pointing a way beyond the twee and solipsistic, the
mainstays of Sundance Film Festivals past. But at the same
time, Todd McCarthy, in Variety, can't help but comment on
how many films this year feature characters trying,
failing, succeeding, or thinking about getting high.
American documentaries may be in the midst of a
renaissance, and the injustices of the world may call for
even closer scrutiny, but the stories America is telling
itself seem stranded between a desperate holding tight to
the bare bones of experience and the wisps of self-delusion.

The jury prizes went to TROUBLE THE WATER, a staggeringly
intimate documentary on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
(still unsold as of this writing), and to FROZEN RIVER, a
drama about immigrant smuggling across the United
States/Canada border (sold to Sony Classics for less than
one million). The audience awards went to FIELDS OF FUEL, a
documentary abut American addiction to oil (still unsold as
of this writing), and to THE WACKNESS, a comedy drama about
New York pot dealers (sold to Sony Pictures Classics for
less than 2 million).


About the Author:

Daniel Lafleche is the COO of IPEX TV, the leading
multiplatform B2B Film and Video online marketplace. Daniel
has over 25 years experience in film distribution,
combining film and video licensing with internet media.
IPEX TV specializes in helping indie producers and film and
video distributors take advantage of the web and reach out
to international license buyers. You can learn more at
http://www.ipextv.tv