“If somebody actually likes a movie and wants to buy it and comes in aggressively, it could make (the acquisitions process) much faster,” one sales agent tells TheWrap
For the first time in the 43-year history of the Sundance Film Festival, the event will take place virtually. We will hear no heavy breathing pacing up Main Street in Park City, Utah, to get to a screening on time, see no rush of talent and film fans heading into the Eccles for a premiere or long lines outside of restaurants for filmmaker parties.
Perhaps the biggest question filmmakers, sellers and buyers will face is how a virtual festival will impact sales of projects. Not only will films screen without live audiences for distributors to gauge real-world reactions, there will be no more late-night meetings at sponsored lounges or private screenings at filmmaker’s cabins. Will sales take longer or go faster with acquisitions just a Zoom login away? In interviews with multiple sales agents, the expectation was set for a fast and aggressive sales market should a movie create enough buzz.
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“If somebody actually likes a movie and wants to buy it and comes in aggressively, it could make (the acquisitions process) much faster,” one sales agent told TheWrap. “If you’re at Sundance in person, you need to schedule times for meeting with the acquisitions teams face-to-face in a hectic environment where everyone is running around. When those meetings finally happen, they can take three hours. Now, those discussions are more instantaneous since we can say, ‘Let’s get on a call with everyone on Zoom.’ The buyers and sales agents are solely focused on the market.”
Also Read: Juno Films Nabs Bjorn Andresen Doc 'The Most Beautiful Boy in the World' Ahead of Sundance
“Malcolm and Marie” (Netflix)
ICM’s Oliver Wheeler agreed, adding that he anticipates more creative dealmaking given how the ongoing pandemic continues to loom over traditional theatrical releases.
“You’ll see that the bigger, more competitive titles will move fast and then you’ll see a longer timeline for the smaller titles,” he said. “It’s part of our job, but one of the challenges in a virtual market is creating a sense of urgency, a competitive environment. It’s always going to be more difficult than having everyone in the same place at the same time. But we continue to find successful, creative, and innovative ways to get around the challenges, and we’re optimistic going into this year’s festival.”
The festival itself has been coming up with creative ways to make the gathering special and to keep up buzz for the films although word-of-mouth will be limited to texts and Zoom calls. There are still appointed viewings with allocated tickets, so everyone will see the film at the same time, and the festival still planned panels that require sign-ups for a specific time.
Buzz and competition might also be amplified given the 43% drop in the number of features included in this year’s festival compared to last year (from 128 to 73).
However, last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, which also went virtual with a smaller slate of titles, saw unusually slow sales. While Netflix spent roughly $60 million on three films — “Malcolm & Marie” (which sold in just 24 hours), “Pieces of a Woman” and “Bruised” — and Solstice Studios acquired Mark Wahlberg’s “Joe Bell” for $20 million, some acquisition titles took months to hammer out deals. According to multiple agents, the slow process was a result of both sides needing to find an appropriate fit for each project — especially in the current environment.
“We found our pacing in these markets and what is right with the film,” another agent selling films at Sundance said. “We’re not in a rush to close anything overnight, otherwise the pace of the deal will dictate the price. All of our Toronto sales took one or two weeks, some of them took a month. I’m not focused on timeline, but the buyers and the best deal for the project.”
Still, the experience at previous virtual festivals like Toronto provides a roadmap for both buyers and sellers heading into Sundance. “We’ve settled in to a good rhythm at these virtual markets,” Endeavor Content’s SVP Film Advisory Deb McIntosh said.
Also Read: Sundance Preps for 'Robust' Sales Market Despite Pandemic and Theater Closures
“Prisoners of the Ghostland” (Courtesy of Sundance Institute)
This year’s Sundance is already moving full speed ahead, with several films announcing deals ahead of opening night. For example, Juno Films acquired “The Most Beautiful Boy in the World,” RLJE Entertainment bough the Nicolas Cage vehicle “Prisoners of the Ghostland,” and Ed Helms’ “Together Together” was bought by Bleecker Street in December.
In fact, the pandemic has amplified the need for many companies to acquire projects outside the high-pressure festival and market environment. “Progressively in the last few years, this market has become a 365-day market, and more and more you see movies sold in between festivals,” Cinetic Media’s John Sloss said. “The quarantine has just hastened that, so, yes, it doesn’t surprise me that films announced at Sundance were shown to buyers before Sundance, and it wouldn’t surprise me if films take a while to close if the market hasn’t reached its peak immediately after the screening.”
Overall, Sloss said that Sundance continues to be the “best market for independent film by far,” whether it is virtual or in-person.
“Sundance has historically itself been sort of conflicted about whether it sees itself as a market, but the market has been unambiguous,” he said. “We have not been super active in the virtual festivals up until now. We are leaning into Sundance as a selling market and we have worked very closely with them to craft the mechanism to optimize the experience from a seller/buyer standpoint in a virtual environment, and I think they’ve done a great job. We’re really excited about the prospects of the market.”
14 Buzziest Sundance Movies for Sale in 2021, From Questlove's 'Summer of Soul' to Rebecca Hall's 'Passing' (Photos)
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Sundance Film Festival / Getty ImagesThis year's Sundance is shorter, virtual, national instead of local and has a new director for the first time in years. But what has not changed is that Sundance remains one of the best marketplaces for independent films. This year's lineup even has some hopeful Oscar contenders such as Robin Wright's "Land" and "Judas and the Black Messiah" from Warner Bros., and we've already seen a few titles such as "Together Together," "The World to Come" and "The Most Beautiful Boy in the World" find homes. But while there may be fewer films overall and without the in-person wheeling and dealing, the market figures to be just as robust with some exciting movies up for sale (all titles are presented alphabetically).
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Courtesy of Sundance Institute"Captains of Zaatari"
A potential crowd-pleaser out of the World Documentary Competition, "Captains of Zaatari" was a late addition to the Sundance lineup, and the film follows two best friends living in a refugee camp in Jordan who have dreams of becoming pro soccer players. Despite their circumstances, they're given the chance of a lifetime when a sports academy comes to visit. Ali El Arabi, who has produced docs for Nat Geo, is making his feature directorial debut on the film.
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Courtesy of Sundance Institute
"Coda"
Sian Heder in her follow-up to "Tallulah" directs this heartwarming drama about a teen girl (Emilia Jones) who is the only hearing person in her deaf family and is stuck keeping their family fishing business afloat. But when she's drawn to her school's choir club, she's encouraged by her teacher (Eugenio Derbez) to pursue a career in music. The film is playing in the U.S. Dramatic Competition.
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Courtesy of Sundance Institute
"Cusp"
Parker Hill and Isabel Bethencourt direct this documentary following three girls in a small Texas town and how they grapple with discussions of sexual violence, consent and their own rebellious instincts. "Cusp" is shot in a cinema verite style and tracks the teens over a year in their lives. The film is also playing in competition in the U.S. Documentary section.
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Courtesy of Sundance Institute
"Eight For Silver"
Sundance has a rich history of indie horror movies that go on to big box office performances, and this year's big contender is "Eight for Silver," a period werewolf movie starring Boyd Holbrook as a hunter and land baron who unleashes a curse after slaughtering a Roma clan. Sean Ellis, an Oscar nominee for his short film "Cashback," wrote and directed the film.
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Courtesy of Sundance Institute
"How It Ends"
Directors Daryl Wein and Zoe Lister-Jones return to Sundance for this offbeat apocalyptic comedy about a woman (Lister-Jones) who is trying to make it to a massive party on the night before an asteroid is scheduled to obliterate the Earth. Lister-Jones also stars alongside "The Craft: Legacy" star Cailee Spaeny as a younger version of herself, as well as a supporting cast that includes Olivia Wilde, Fred Armisen, Helen Hunt, Lamorne Morris and Nick Kroll. "How It Ends" is a premiere playing out of competition at the festival.
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Courtesy of Sundance Institute
"John and the Hole"
"John and the Hole" is a twisted, psychological thriller about a 13-year-old boy who discovers an underground bunker and then drugs his parents and sister to keep them there captive while he does what he always wanted. Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Ehle play the parents to the troubled teen played by Charlie Shotwell, and the film is the first from Spanish visual artist Pascual Sisto.
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Courtesy of Sundance Institute
"On the Count of Three"
Sundance describes "On the Count of Three" from director Jerrod Carmichael as an "unusual existential bromance" and dark comedy. After Carmichael's impressive career as an actor, comic, a writer on his own show and a producer on "Ramy," he is now making his feature directorial debut on the film and also stars in it alongside Christopher Abbott. They play two best friends with two guns who agree to take each other's lives at the end of the day. "On the Count of Three" also co-stars J.B. Smoove, Tiffany Haddish and Henry Winkler.
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Courtesy of Sundance Institute
"Passing"
Actress Rebecca Hall is making her directorial debut on "Passing," a psychological thriller set in 1920s New York and starring Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga. The film finds two Black women who have been able to "pass" as white due to their lighter colored skin, but their comfortable lives are now brought into question. "Passing" is based on a 1929 novel by Nella Larsen, is shot in a silky black and white and is playing in the U.S. Dramatic Competition.
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Courtesy of Sundance Institute
"Prisoners of the Ghostland"
Nicolas Cage teams with Japanese auteur Sion Sono for this spoof film that mashes up Westerns, samurai films, action movies and post-apocalyptic thrillers. Cage stars as a bank robber who is strapped into a leather suit that will self-destruct in five days and is tasked with rescuing a missing person played by Sofia Boutella. The hyper violent and bloody "Prisoners of the Ghostland" is playing out of competition at the festival.
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Courtesy of Sundance Institute
"R#J"
It's Shakespeare for the Tik Tok era. "R#J" is a telling of the classic "Romeo and Juliet" play but set in the modern day of smart phones and social media. In fact, much like the film "Searching," the love story is told entirely through social media feeds and screens. The film, which is playing in the NEXT section, is directed by Carey Williams and is produced by Timur Bekmambetov.
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Courtesy of Sundance Institute
"Rebel Hearts"
"Rebel Hearts" follows a group of nuns in Los Angeles who over the course of 50 years have fought the patriarchy of the Catholic Church and become unexpected activists and trailblazers in the community. Pedro Kos, who worked as a writer on "The Great Hack," directs the documentary playing in competition that combines archival footage, animation and modern day images of the nuns protesting during the Women's March in LA.
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Courtesy of Sundance Institute
"The Sparks Brothers"
"Baby Driver" director Edgar Wright pivoted to a documentary for the first time to tell the story of the two brothers who form the band Sparks, a highly influential yet overlooked synth dance pop band from 1970s Los Angeles. The tongue-in-cheek documentary was three years in the making for Wright, and the director describes the film as "a musical odyssey through five weird & wonderful decades" about "your favorite band's favorite band."
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Courtesy of Sundance Institute
"Summer of Soul...Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised"
Originally titled "Black Woodstock," The Roots bandleader Questlove borrowed a line from Gil Scott Heron for the full title to his debut documentary "Summer of Soul," which documents the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival that drew over 300,000 attendees and yet received very little media attention compared to Woodstock. Questlove combs through 40 hours of footage of never-before-seen performances from Stevie Wonder, Sly and the Family Stone, Nina Simone, B.B. King, the Staple Singers, the 5th Dimension, David Ruffin, Mahalia Jackson and Gladys Knight and the Pips. "Summer of Soul" is playing in the U.S. Documentary Competition.
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Courtesy of Sundance Institute
"Wild Indian"
Hyped for its lead performance from Michael Greyeyes, its visual style and as a potential touchstone for Native American cinema, "Wild Indian" is a survival drama about a man who now has to face his past sins after murdering a man when he was just a boy. The film is written, directed, produced and edited by Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr and is playing in the dramatic competition field.
Other acquisition titles, such as “Wild Indian,” “Coda” and “The Sparks Brothers,” play virtual fest running Jan. 28-Feb. 3
This year's Sundance is shorter, virtual, national instead of local and has a new director for the first time in years. But what has not changed is that Sundance remains one of the best marketplaces for independent films. This year's lineup even has some hopeful Oscar contenders such as Robin Wright's "Land" and "Judas and the Black Messiah" from Warner Bros., and we've already seen a few titles such as "Together Together," "The World to Come" and "The Most Beautiful Boy in the World" find homes. But while there may be fewer films overall and without the in-person wheeling and dealing, the market figures to be just as robust with some exciting movies up for sale (all titles are presented alphabetically).
Beatrice Verhoeven
Film Editor