The article is
really examining the overall economic success of the Indie Film genre at the
2013 Sundance film festival. Many of the
indie films purchased sold for over one million to almost ten million dollars. The excitement was largely because over a
dozen films at Sundance in 2013 went for over one million dollars. More importantly, the article highlights the
performance of the documentary film category at the 2013 Sundance Film
Festival, which raised its sales in 2013 from 2012 impressively. In fact, at Sundance 2013, four documentary
films sold for well over a million dollars versus the previous 2012 result of
one documentary that actually sold for over a million.
Because Sundance
occurs in the beginning of film festival season, this festival inherently sets
the pace for subsequent South by Southwest, Tribeca, Cannes, and Toronto film
festivals. Overall, it is suggestive of
how strong the indie market is and that it is recovering from the previously
disappointing purchase results of 2012.
Furthermore, The Hollywood
Reporter features an opinion within the article regarding Sundance 2013
deals. Graham Taylor, from WWE Global,
stated, “The hills are alive with film sales,” which had everything to do with
the fact that he believed, “Sundance has curated a great crop of films this
year, hence the deal making (Miller & Siegel, 2013).”
Perhaps the most
intriguing part of this article has to do with a filmmaker like Shane Carruth
who made Upstream Color. This particular filmmaker was discussed based
on his unique utilization of the festival as a platform to self-distribute his
film. The process of self-distribution
at a film festival was a point of high interest and Sundance reported that it
would be a concept that they will see way more of in the future. Carruth was quoted by The Los Angeles Times regarding his thoughts on his journey to
self-promote his film: “It’s not necessarily about revenue or that I don’t
think it will sell; it’s that I get to frame this thing exactly the way I think
it needs to be framed. I get to continue
narrating through marketing, releasing teasers, and artwork that you could make
the case aren’t the most commercial ways to sell this but they absolutely are
in tune with the way I think of the film and what I want to communicate (Olsen,2013).”
Based on the
article, “Distributors Pay Top Dollar at Sundance, Has Indie Film Recovered?
Plus a Complete List of Acquisitions,” evidence suggests that the indie film
market is strong now and will keep its economic momentum as companies continue
to fight hard to acquire titles (Marine, 2013). Most
importantly, in 2013, the control and courage to self-distribute, self-market
and promote one’s film is the future trend that will be seen at future
festivals from indie filmmakers. I think
this is a great movement towards the encouragement of profound content within
indie films and supporting hardworking filmmakers who have meaningful pieces of
art that were made to inspire audiences with their films’ messages world wide. As an indie filmmaker/producer, I understand
the need to get the story marketed the way the film’s message was meant to be
conveyed without commercial interference, but its also great to get bought and
have meaningful distribution deals go well with studios who share the same
vision.
Best wishes towards meaningful distribution of meaningful work,
Michelle Fernandez
