Distribution

In this letter from Filmmaker Newsletter, Scott Macaulay questions the wisdom of showing your film into the festival, even if it’s not ready, in the hope of scoring well for your investors in the search for the minimum guarantee (MG).

What are your thoughts on this?

Editor's Letter

The Sundance Film F...

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What are your thoughts on this?

Editor's Letter

The Sundance Film Festival begins [this] week, but will the films be truly ready? While we’re in full prep mode—watching advance screenings, getting interviews and other pieces into our CMS—I was struck by an edition of Filmmaker contributing editor Anthony Kaufman’s newsletter that landed in my inbox. Titled “The Sundance Dash, and Why It’s Not Good for Filmmakers,” it begins with a link to a piece he wrote for us nearly 20 years ago, “Rush Jobs,” which spoke to filmmakers deciding whether or not to accelerate their post-productions in order to make the Sundance deadline. He writes, “I understand filmmaking is a capital-intensive practice, and one must consequently balance art and commerce, but making films to conform to festival deadlines seems like it might get in the way of quality.”

The piece, I realized, could have been written today, which is kind of remarkable. For filmmakers and producers eager to create the most impact and sales afterlife for their independently produced films, a Sundance berth remains massively important—an importance that hasn’t waned since when Anthony wrote that piece or even, really, since we founded this magazine in 1992. How many film organizations—or distributors, even—have retained that same level of clout for so many years? (Internationally, of course, Cannes, but I’m thinking about the U.S.).

While a decision to race a film’s post to make the Sundance deadline can be deleterious to the films themselves, as Anthony writes, it can also be, depending on the composition of the financing and filmmaking team, a necessary business decision. As producer Rebecca Green said in an article of mine from six years ago, “So You Didn’t Get Into Sundance, Redux,” “As a producer, you can’t not submit to Sundance. It’s kind of the only place that people are buying movies in a way that investors can recoup, and that’s the biggest problem with our system right now. There are just not a lot of opportunities to [sell a finished film] for a decent MG, which is why so many filmmakers are making films for under $200,000.”

Indeed, the decision to race a film to get into Sundance is often a decision made before the film was even shot. Investors are incentivized to put money into films because they might go to Park City Telling the team that a film is not ready is a tough conversation, but it’s also not one always driven by the business side. Sometimes it’s the director pushing and the business people holding back. In fact, I’ve seen many times financiers take a back seat to the process and say, “Okay, we’ll try Sundance, but if you don’t get in it’s time to bring on a new editor.”

But this talk about whether or not to submit to Sundance is ultimately about something more. As I wrote in that same piece linked above, “The very real issue of not getting into one festival, Sundance, is ultimately a proxy for the larger existential issue facing independent film in general: the absence of a viable, self-sustaining marketplace for finished films.” Six years later that statement, along with Green’s, still rings true too, it seems.

For those of us making independent work, the quest to build a better mousetrap—to rearrange the elements of production, marketing, sales and distribution in some new way—remains. As Brian Newman wrote today in his newsletter, Sundance, among many other things, is a place to commune and discuss such things. And to get inspired by movies. My embargoed voice can confidently say that there is some mindblowing work to be seen there. Hope to see you some of you in Park City.

Best,

Scott Macaulay

Editor-in-Chief

Stage 32 is excited to welcome Kristin for her upcoming class. In this exclusive 2-part Stage 32 class, you will learn everything you need to know about distribution deals, from working with sale agents to closing deals with global streamers. This is your definitive guide to distribution deals for t...

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Sam Rivera

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2 people like this
- Benjamin Elliott
- Maurice Vaughan
4 months ago

What great news for Stage 32 and United! If you're at Sundance don't miss this opportunity!

Emily J

Gonna be such a cool event!

Sam Sokolow

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4 people like this
4 months ago

There's been a lot discussed about the stresses in the UK production world but this is AWESOME news!

What fantastic news for the Irish box office! So much great talent has been coming out from Ireland!

Wamiq Jawaid

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3 people like this
4 months ago

Yes. I’ve had clients who’ve often complained about the delays. But it’s because of the number of requests they receive. Hang in there. :)

Stephen Folker

Debbie Elicksen Do you know if they have any premiere status.

Debbie Elicksen

Stephen Folker I'm not sure, sorry Stephen.

What a great share, boosting this for you!

So cool!

Sam is the best!

Thanks, Debbie Elicksen - easy to look good when surrounded by amazing people and Elizabeth, Tom and Stacey are just that. It was a great discussion and real honor to represent Stage 32 there....

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Ashley Renee Smith

I'm sure it was a fun event, Sam Sokolow!

What a great feature Sam Sokolow !

Vincent Turner

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2 people like this
- Benjamin Elliott
- Geoff Hall
4 months ago

if it gets to him great your name is in the lucky charms hat,

you either got a film that can get in or you don't...

I didn't get accept this year, its unfortunate either way because I have a film now t...

Geoff Hall

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1 person likes this
- Benjamin Elliott
4 months ago

Vincent Turner I’m glad that this process has led to you having a better film. What are your plans for submitting it to other festivals?

Kristin Harris

Looking forward to speaking with everyone soon! Hopefully I'll see some of you in Sundance this week as well!

Thanks so much sharing your knowledge with the community, Kristin Harris!

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Amanda Toney

Stock prices are always telling Jack Binder! Thanks for the share @sam and @debbie!

No, I haven't heard any updates.

Shadow Dragu-Mihai, Esq., Ipg

Part of the inevitable collapse of the industry. Late 2022 Disney floats selling to Apple... isn't expected to be able to recover it's losses until well into 2025... ~$5B or NetFlix's near $15B debt c...

They continue to have strong properties and I am not just talking about their IP or Studios but rather their streaming apps and global equity interests as well. And eventhough the success of Taylor Sh...

Okay. 24hrs after I post the above, this happens (https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2023/12/20/warner-bros-paramount-me...). Fun!!!!...

2
2 people like this
- Debbie Elicksen
- Maurice Vaughan
4 months ago

I recommend this Stage 32 webinar on working with sales agents. It's focused on feature films but the fundamentals are similar and I think it's useful. Here's a link so you can check it out: https://w...

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1 person likes this
- Maurice Vaughan
4 months ago

Not sure about a sales agent, but I did recently interview the founder of BlackOakTV. They are looking for a variety of stories.

https://www.blackoak.tv/

Maurice Vaughan

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1 person likes this
- Debbie Elicksen
5 months ago

I've never heard of a studio doing a spin off, Debbie Elicksen. I'm looking forward to seeing what genres the studio makes.

Maurice Vaughan Happens a lot actually. Sometimes it's to lop off anticipated losing departments, sometimes to grow a new profit center without increasing taxation in the main......

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3 people like this
5 months ago

Doing proper due diligence is so important. I made an indie film years ago and got caught up in the excitement and came so close to signing with a few distributors I learned later were predators like...

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1 person likes this
- Suzanne Bronson
5 months ago

I agree, Sam Sokolow. Doing proper due diligence is crucial. Glad you didn't sign with those distributors. Thanks for sharing the tips.

Mike Boas

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1 person likes this
- Maurice Vaughan
5 months ago

I have nothing negative to say about Gravitas, although is disheartening to hear about anyone’s bad experiences.

It’s been hard to make profit on our film, but I attribute that more to its budget and its saleability, not any bad practices.

Alessio Bergamo

thanks Maurice Vaughan , this is GOLD!

4 months ago

You're welcome, Alessio Bergamo.

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