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Why Amazon, Netflix Ghosted Sundance Sales After Dominating Last Year

Streaming giants actively bid but ultimately left the festival empty-handed, while Neon was the big player

and | January 29, 2018 @ 4:12 PM Last Updated: January 31, 2018 @ 10:19 AM
Sundance Market Wrap Up

Amazon Studios and Netflix pretty much ghosted this year’s Sundance Film Festival — acquiring no films just one year after dominating the indie marketplace with big-dollar acquisitions films like “Mudbound” and “The Big Sick.”

Insiders say Amazon at least bid on multiple films but came up short to more traditional theatrically focused indie distributors — sometimes working in tandem with upstarts like 30West and MoviePass.

One factor was this year’s slate of films — which didn’t inspire the kind of bidding wars that prompted some to question whether the streaming giants had overspent last year. “The commercial viability of the lineup was as low as any in recent memory,” one festival veteran told TheWrap. “There were not many titles for anything beyond a festival audience.”

Also Read: Sundance Film Festival Programming Chief Trevor Groth Heads to 30West

In addition, both companies have hinted at a new focus on pricier, more commercial projects going forward. Netflix just greenlit the sequel to its Will Smith sci-fi movie “Bright,” while Amazon recently acquired TV rights for “The Lord of the Rings” books with a multi-season commitment.

“No one showed up,” one top dealmaker told TheWrap about other nontraditional content companies like Hulu, Facebook and YouTube failing to emerge as big players in this year’s marketplace. (Also MIA: go-to Sundance buyers like Fox Searchlight and The Weinstein Company, both awaiting the completion of deals by new owners).

Amazon Studios Worldwide Film Head Jason Ropell tried to debunk a Reuters report about its Sundance plans, insisting the company was not “abandoning the indie space” but rather “increasing the potential size of the audience for our films.”

Also Read: Neon Lights Up Sundance With Big Money, Big Acquisitions

Still, one sales agent told TheWrap that Amazon’s main focus seems to be finding the next big “Game of Thrones,” not another art-house hit. The studio has also been weathering the fallout from film chief Roy Price’s ouster after sexual misconduct accusations — as well as clouds surrounding “Transparent” star Jeffrey Tambor and Woody Allen, director of the upcoming “A Rainy Day in New York.”

And it went home empty-handed this year after purchasing a whopping five titles at the 2017 Sundance, including Kumail Nanjiani’s “The Big Sick” for $12 million and Jenny Slate’s comedy “Landline”spent for mid-seven figures.

Netflix also kept its wallet hidden this year after spending $12.5 million on Dee Rees’ “Mudbound,” now nominated for four Oscars, as well as $8 million for Lily Collins’ “To the Bone” and $5 million for the Russian sports-doping doc “Icarus,” another Oscar nominee.

One individual with knowledge told TheWrap that Netflix and Amazon had more competitors to face at Sundance this year, some of whom moved faster and more aggressively with their bids. Netflix and Amazon certainly seemed to be there to buy, but were late into negotiations — something the streaming giants may not have expected given their prominence in previous years.

Last year, the streaming platforms were seen as the “sexy, cool new buyers” for films, which probably played a role in why so many projects sold quickly to them. But this year, people weren’t as enamored with the companies, in part due to their growing reputations as digital clearinghouses of content. Theatrical distributors like Bleecker Street and NEON felt more enticing, particularly to directors.

Of course, both Amazon and Netflix came to the festival with titles to screen — Netflix debuted the Gloria Allred documentary “Seeing Allred” and the comedy “A Futile and Stupid Gesture,” while Amazon arrived with Spike Lee’s “Pass Over,” Gus Van Sant’s “Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot,” “Generation Wealth” and “You Were Never Really Here.”

And YouTube, which sponsored a portrait studio on Main Street, went home only with Eminem and Joseph Kahn’s battle-rap parody film “Bodied” — which it had acquired before the festival even began.

Reps for Netflix have not yet responded to TheWrap’s request for comment.

Also Read: Sundance: Will Fox Searchlight Still Be a Player in Shadow of Disney Acquisition?

With the streaming and tech behemoths on the sidelines, Neon and Bleecker Street emerged as the biggest players at this year’s festival — which had a dramatically lower profile as well as sales prices.

Neon partnered with the Russo Brothers to pay upwards of $10 million for tech thriller “Assassination Nation,” and also acquired police brutality drama “Monsters & Men,” the documentary “Three Identical Strangers” and Coralie Fargeat’s “Revenge” (with Shudder).

An insider told TheWrap that Neon’s game plan ahead of the festival was to build a slate from scratch with as many purchases as possible, chasing a similar business model as Oscar-winning indie darling A24.

Bleecker Street also made a splash in Park City, acquiring Ben Foster’s “Leave No Trace” and Keira Knightley’s “Colette” (alongside 30West).

HBO Films surprised many when it bought the buzzy Laura Dern film “The Tale” for a deal in the high-seven figures. HBO has decided to skip a theatrical release, going for Emmy instead of Oscar glory. This also marked the first time in a while that HBO bought anything other than a documentary out of Sundance. An individual with knowledge of the deal said that HBO has a fully realized plan to support this film on a global basis and plan to continue the conversation about abuse. HBO also acquired the U.S. rights to “The Sentence” and “The Oslo Diaries.”

Also Read: 'A Kid Like Jake' Star Priyanka Chopra Says Gender Identity Story 'Needs to be Told' (Video)

“The current marketplace demands distributors who have refined plans for these films – in positioning, in marketing, and in spreading these very important messages tantamount to the conversations of today,” Jessica Lacy, Partner and Head of International and Independent Film Finance at ICM Partners, told TheWrap. ICM handled the deal for “The Tale.” “In HBO, we have a distributor that looks at the wide gamut of options available today – community outreach, Q and A’s, panel discussions, a civic engagement campaign tethered to the film. That’s the difference in this business today – ensuring that the tenets of marketing and distribution strategies of whomever the respective distributor is mesh perfectly with the film being sold – a one-size-fits-all approach just won’t cut it.”

“Sorry to Bother You,” starring Lakeith Stanfield, Steven Yeun, Tessa Thompson and Armie Hammer, sold to Annapurna. Sony Pictures Classics paid $5 million for world rights to director Marc Turtletaub’s debut feature “Puzzle.”

Gunpowder & Sky bought the rights to Nick Offerman’s “Hearts Beat Loud,” with the international rights going to Sony Worldwide Acquisitions — which also paid $5 million for “Search,” starring John Cho and Debra Messing.

And Lionsgate beat out Neon, The Orchard and CBS Films for the buzzy “Blindspotting.”

Also Read: Kristen Stewart, Chloe Sevigny Crime Drama 'Lizzie' Picked Up by Saban Films

Many distributors teamed up for acquisitions this year, perhaps to mitigate their risk at a time when the indie theatrical marketplace is in such a state of transition.

After a huge bidding war for the ax-murderer period drama “Lizzie,” starring Chloe Sevigny and Kristen Stewart, Saban Films acquired the North American rights in partnership with Roadside Attractions.

Magnolia purchased “The Guilty” and the Ruth Bader Ginsburg doc “RBG” with Participant Media, while The Orchard bought the rights to “American Animals” with MoviePass, which announced it would begin acquiring films with established distributors and promote them via its movie ticket subscription program. The film was purchased for $3 million plus P&A.

And some titles, like “A Kid Like Jake” and “The Miseducation of Cameron Post,” were still up for grabs as industry figures packed up and left Utah.

97 Sundance Portraits From TheWrap at Acura Studios With Keira Knightley, Robert Pattinson and More (Photos)

  • Sundance Day 4 featured image
  • Chloe Sevigny Lizzie
  • Lizzie Bryce Kass, Denis O'Hare, Craig William Macneill and Chloe Sevigny
  • Believer Don Argott Tyler Glenn and Dan Reynolds
  • What They Had cast
  • Michael Shannon What They Had
  • Meg McGarry, Flynn McGarry, Cameron Yates and Laura Coxson, "Chef Flynn"
  • Flynn McGarry, "Chef Flynn"
  • DIRECTOR JESSE PERETZ, "JULIET, NAKED"
  • CHRIS-O'DOWD, "JULIET, NAKED"
  • DIRECTOR EUGENE JARECKI, "THE KING"
  • An Evening With Beverly Luff Lin
  • Private Life Kayli Carter, Kathryn Hahn, and Tamara Jenkins
  • Private Life Kayli Carter
  • ALI ABOUOMAR Private Life
  • Eighth Grade Bo Burnham and Elsie Fisher
  • Kiersey Clemons Hearts Beat Loud
  • Arizona cast
  • Arizona Elizabeth Gillies
  • Dead Pigs Cathy Yan, Li Meng, Zazie Beetz, and David Rhysdahl
  • Cathy Yan Dead Pigs
  • Zazie Beetz Dead Pigs
  • Blindspotting Rafael Casal, Carlos López Estrada, Daveed Diggs, Janina Gavankar, Justin Chu Cory, and Jasmine Cephas Jones
  • JASON RITTER The Tale
  • COMMON The Tale
  • ISABELLA AMARA The Tale
  • CARLSON YOUNG The Blazing World
  • ROBERT PATTINSON AND MIA WASIKOWSKA Damsel
  • ROBERT PATTINSON Damsel
  • MIA WASIKOWSKA Damsel
  • DIRECTOR SILAS HOWARD, "A KID LIKE JAKE"
  • JIM PARSONS A Kid Like Jake
  • PRIYANKA CHOPRA A Kid Like Jake
  • CLAIRE DANES A Kid Like Jake
  • OCTAVIA SPENCER A Kid Like Jake
  • Jeffrey Wright Kelvin Harrison Jr. Anthony Mandler MONSTER
  • KIERA Knightly and DOMINIC West Collette
  • Kiera Knightly Collette
  • JOHN CHO Search
  • MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL and SARA COLANGELO kindergarten teacher
  • MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL kindergarten teacher
  • ANNA BARYSHNIKOV the kindergarten teacher
  • Aloe Blacc America's Musical Journey
  • JESSICA SANDERS End of The Line
  • FOREST WHITAKER Burden
  • GARRETT HEDLUND Burden
  • DIRECTOR TALAL DERKI Of Fathers and Sons
  • DIRECTOR BOOTS RILEY Sorry To Bother You
  • LAKEITH STANFIELD Sorry To Bother You
  • ARMIE HAMMER Sorry To Bother You
  • JASON SEGEL Come Sunday
  • CONDOLA RASHAD Come Sunday
  • DIRECTOR STEPHEN MAING Crime and Punishment
  • SKATE KITCHEN GROUP
  • JADEN SMITH SKATE KITCHEN
  • BLAZE GROUP
  • ETHAN HAWKE Blaze
  • ALIA-SHAWKAT Blaze
  • BEN DICKEY Blaze
  • CHARLIE SEXTON Blaze
  • THE DEVIL YOU KNOW Ken Cook, Darlene Kiger, Stephanie Soechtig, Joe Kiger, and Bucky Bailey
  • The Devil You know DIRECTOR STEPHANIE SOECHTIG
  • Hari Nef Sam Levinson, Coleman Damingo and Bill Skårsgard Assassination Nation
  • BILL SKARSGARD Assassination Nation
  • SAM LEVINSON Assassination Nation
  • COLEMAN DOMINGO Assassination Nation
  • HELENA HOWARD Madeline's Madeline
  • CHRIS MCGURK CEO Cinedigm
  • David Wain Domhnall Gleeson Tom Lennon and Emmy Rossum A Futile and Stupid Gesture
  • EMMY ROSSUM A Futile and Stupid Gesture
  • DOMHNALL GLEESON A Futile and Stupid Gesture
  • Beirut Brad Anderson
  • WE THE ANIMALS GROUP
  • JUSTIN TORRES We The Animals
  • SHEILA VAND We the animals
  • RAUL CASTILLO We The Animals
  • NEVER GOIN BACK
  • CAMI MORRONE Never goin back
  • AUGUSTINE FRIZZELL Never Goin Back
  • MAIA MITCHELL Never Goin Back
  • Painting with Joan TIM & JACK HENRY ROBBINS
  • FRANCHESCA RAMSEY FRANCHESCA
  • TREY ELLIS King In The Wilderness
  • LORD OF CHAOS Valter Skarsgard Lucian Charles Collier Sky Ferreira Jack Kilmer Jonas kerlund WILSON GONZALEZ Rory Culkin
  • VALTER SKARSGARD Lord Of Chaos
  • RORY CULKIN Lord of Chaos
  • WILSON GONZALEZ Lord of Chaos
  • DIRECTOR JONAS AKERLUND Lord of Chaos
  • JACK KILMER Lord of Chaos
  • JOAN JETT Bad Reputation
  • WHITE RABBIT Daryl Wein
  • SUMMER OF 84 Graham Verchere Rich Sommer Francois Simard Anouk Whissell Yoann-Karl Whissell Matt Leslie Stephen J. Smith TIERA SKOVBYE CALEB EMERY
  • CALEB EMERY Summer of 84
  • TIERA SKOVBYE Summer of 84
  • LUIS GERARDO MENDEZ Time Share
  • MATTHEW LILLARD Halfway There
  • SARAH SHAHI Halfway There
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Sundance 2018: Hilary Swank, Forest Whitaker and Armie Hammer among the stars shot by photographer Irvin Rivera in Park City

Photographed by Irvin Rivera for TheWrap at the Acura Studios

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