Indie Incline

     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