The eleventh-hour decision by Sundance Film Festival to cancel the physical component of its planned-for hybrid event and go online was a “dark moment” for fest director Tabitha Jackson but she is convinced the 2022 edition will deliver a robust slate of provocative fare for hungry buyers.
Jackson points out the decision to switch to online was simple once the data showed infection levels in the Park City area would peak midway through the festival (January 20-30) at a time when local infrastructure would be under stress from ski season.
Everyone prefers to physically attend a festival or market and all the benefits that come from that. Jackson however is thankful the team pushed ahead last summer with plans for a hybrid festival because of what the 2021 online event brought, namely a new audience and a way for the global artistic community to gather. “We didn’t want to give up on that.”
Director of programming Kim Yutani has pointed out there will be a considerably large number of genre titles on show, while there is again heavy emphasis on discovery. That should not preclude deals and potentially high numbers as the industry saw last year with Apple’s record-breaking $25m swoop on Sian Heder’s sophomore effort Coda.
Studios, streamers, indies ready to engage
“This year is going to be an extremely competitive Sundance,” says acquisitions head Jordan Fields of Shout! Factory. “There’s been a dearth of completed films available to release in 2022. Most of our recent acquisitions have been pre-buys for delivery later this year so we are going into Sundance with a big appetite.”
Studios, streamers or indies are ready to engage and know a well organised portal affords them the luxury of watching more films than usual. Yet they should be prepared to engage – and act – throughout the festival at any time. “It’s not about casually watching movies – buyers have to move fast,” says one prominent seller, noting how last year Neon pounced on Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Oscar triple threat Flee the night it premiered.
WME Independent co-head Alex Walton sees the value in a virtual market set-up. “It’s expanded the way that you can share your films with companies in a really effective way,” he says. “But we would love to show them in cinemas.”
The same goes for paying audiences and despite exhibition challenges and lingering hesitancy to return, Walton remains bullish on theatrical even though he says release campaigns “have to be quite specific”.
Like all sellers WME Independent co-head Deborah McIntosh appreciates the broad landscape of distribution opportunities that exist today. Once the worst of the pandemic is over, and provided distributors are set up for theatrical distribution, she says: “We’ll see people emerge and want to consume independent non-tentpole films at movie theatres again.”
For Jackson, it has been heartening to see some of the heavyweight Sundance 2021 selections still making waves in awards season. “Seeing Flee, Coda and Summer Of Soul still in contention we know that the online festival managed to launch work that’s still very much in the conversation and it’s going to happen again this year. We’ve got some provocative stuff.”
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