Overall, film sales were down at Sundance 2008. And
documentary titles accounted for about half of the
distribution deals made this year. However, the real story
for deal-making at Sundance may well be that Sony Pictures
Classics, the bright-eyed indie wing of the 400 pound
gorilla that is Sony Pictures, single handedly kept the
festival a viable market for scrappy indie films in
competition.
Sony Pictures Classics does not have the success stories
of, say, Fox Searchlight Pictures box office bonanza LITTLE
MISS SUNSHINE. Purchased at Sundance 2006 for a
record-breaking $10.5 Million, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE went on
to gross close to $100 Million and won 2 Oscars. Smart buy.
Smart marketing. In contrast, SPC purchased JUNEBUG at
Sundance 2005, which earned next to nothing but did prove
to be Amy Adam's breakout film and earn her an Oscar
nomination. SPC's continued determination to acquire at
Sundance is all the more remarkable for its past failures
to capture the crossover success that Sundance legend lives
one.
Just look at the breakdown of Sundance 2008 deals. Of the 9
feature films, 6 deals were made for distribution in the
US. (1 of the deals was by United Artists who purchased the
remake rights for the Spanish film TIMECRIMES, but have no
plans to distribute.) 2 of those 6 films (HAMLET 2 and
HENRY POOLE IS HERE) played in the Premiere selection. So,
of the 121 features in competition, 4 found a home, and for
3 of them that home is with the SPC (FROZEN RIVER, BAGHEAD,
as well as THE WACKNESS).In many respects, SPC is keeping
film acquisition alive at Sundance, choosing to shop the
lesser know films and purchasing in quantity (all were had
for around 6 or 7 figures), rather than looking for the
headline grabbing big money deal. Indeed, I find it quaint
and almost touching the way SPC handles Sundance. Its
choices seem bracing and risky, even if they may be due to
its buying strategy of avoiding bidding wars and looking
for asking prices to drop as the fest wears on. Bottm
feeders SPC may be, but that does not change the fact that
it is willing to court the wallflowers of the festival that
nobody else wants to take for a spin, including this year's
Grand Jury Price winner FROZEN RIVER.
On paper this film has nothing going for it. Star power
that falls well below your average TV Movie Of The Week
(and that's Network TV); a downer subject that lacks sexy
topicality -- illegal US border crossings from, wait for
it, Canada. It's a nutty move, as are their two other fest
buys. THE WACKNESS got some festival buzz, but nobody was
willing to go for the mat for it, perhaps because it
clearly doesn't have a chance of becoming the next LITTLE
MISS SUNSHINE (although we should never underestimate the
nation's love of the Olsen twin). SPC is making smaller
deals for smaller movies to do, probably, small business. I
sort of love it; I like the "think small" attitude towards
independent film. After all, isn't that the point, rather
than go after the one Indie film that has a chance of
crossover success, Sony is taking up a few wild cards and
one day, they will make it to a theatre near year—if
only for a week. I think if the Independent Spirit Awards
had an award for Film Acquisition this year, it should go
to SPC. The company's gamble on niche markets, on the
oddball, on the rag-tag underdog has exactly the wild Indie
spirit that the most successful Sundance films routinely
champion--and that the biggest Sundance deals routinely
lack.
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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 film license buyers. You can learn more at
http://www.ipextv.tv
