Sunday Sunday
Quick takes from up here on the mountain…
People were a ittle shocked by Searchlight’s buy of Little Miss Sunshine only in that a number of other distributors think their breakeven is now around $20 million domestic. On the other hand, the R-rated comedy – which one snow guru suggests could be cut to a PG-13 and most others feel would kill the power of one character, played by Alan Arkin – does have a 40 Year Old Virgin with a hit TV show and might actually turn out to be an easier sell than Napoleon Dynamite.
(Edited 1:18p) – According to Cinetic, All Rights for Wordplay are still available.
(Earlier entry) Next up, Wordplay… though television rights are already gone and that may keep some buyers away.
This Sundance is looking like a Tale Of Two Indie Industries, as Sunshine may be, as projected, the one good buy for the Dependents (P-Money strikes again!) and there may actually be a very strong opportunity here for the small indies. Films like Destricted and Wordplay and Thin and Stay are really strong niche plays, but have no possiblity of breaking the bank. (Thin is the one film of those that could become a true cultural phenomenon.)
This really is the moment for one of these rich guys to step up and fund a true small indie of ThinkFilm size to roll out a well-thought out and diverse slate. It almost needs to be an all-year festival distributor, building a mailing list and a fan base movie by movie by movie over the course of a year. It’s bigger than Shooting Gallery, smaller than ThinkFilm or Lions Gate. Or maybe it will turn out to be Picturehouse. (What business are they in, exactly?)
Anyway… Saturday was a better day for the festival. Movies were better and that’s all that matters. There were still some new misses that dissapointed hopeful buyers, like The World According To Sesame Street, the too-long but fascinating A Lion In The House, and the very dry and not-as-emotional-or-as-clever-as-it-needed-to-be Stephanie Daley. Lifetime should be pleased to get two very serious rape stories fronted by Robin Tunney and Tilda Swinton… when they finally pick those two films up.
Onward…
As long as the movies are better. Really all that matters.
Better than what?
Better than last year. Better in general. Better and good. Better than poor. Better in ever sense.
The cast to “Little Miss Sunshine” is impressive enough to get a high offer. Steve Carell is a legit star and this could go down as a bargain.
Could end up making them look smart and very rich for doing this.
Dave, someone, anyone, please explain to me how any film starring Steve Carrell can be considered *independent* in any fucking sense of the word!
It’s beyond absurd for anyone to label this film an indie just because the producers got funding from a non-studio source. Carrell alone guarenteed not just distribution, but theatrical. The guy starred in the second-biggest comedy of the year, and one of the best sitcoms on TV.
It’s one thing for someone like Aniston to do a flick like The Good Girl and showcase at Sundance, but between Friends With Money and Sunshine…screw it. Redford’s an asshole to let this occur.
It’s just part of the continued movement away from Sundance as ‘independent film showcase’ and towards it being ‘Showest in January’.
movies like this aren’t in the spirit of sundance but technically they are independent films.
The same griping happens every year. Sundance is a big festival, and has room for all types of films. The Premieres section is for films with a higher profile, already with distribution in place, big stars, Sundance alum who have gone on to bigger but not always better projects, etc. And that’s what the press by and large covers. It’s also what brings the distributors to town. (Of course, also don’t forget that Little Miss Sunshine likely wrapped shooting before 40 Year Old Virgin hit theaters.)
But look at the complete lineup, the majority is composed of newcomers and truly independent and low budget films, and now with the World Cinema sections it’s becoming more global. For most of those films, selling to a distributor or making a big splash in the press isn’t likely to happen. But even if it doesn’t it can’t hurt to have those people see your film.
You’ll hear about the Steve Carell film selling or the Edward Norton film, or you’ll read plenty of coverage of Friends with Money and Alpha Dog, which already have distribution in place. Just don’t make the mistake of assuming that’s all Sundance is. As the foremost institution of independent film, they seem to a pretty good job at serving varying levels of “independent film.”