The indies have emerged from a time warp into a strange new place, one thats still evolving.
Overall, buyers are circumspect, with spending constraints and product in the pipeline already.
And much of the Sundance mystique lies in the search for hidden gems layered around marquee titles.
Among those hot titles up for grabs at Sundance 2023: ‘Cat Person,’ ‘Bad Behaviour,’ ‘Magazine Dreams,’ ‘Eileen,’ ‘Flora and Son’ and ‘The Pod Generation’David Becker/Getty Images/Courtesy of Sundance Institute
Only the Chase Sapphire lounge and Deadline sister brands Variety and Indiewirewere so emblazoned.
The festival will be an interesting barometer of where we are in the marketplace whether positive or negative.
Will cost cuts making headlines across media and entertainment depress dealmaking?
‘Sometimes I Think About Dying’MK2 Films
Coulda possible writers strikerev it up?
It should be an interesting year at Sundance.
Youve got great films in the marketplace, he said.
One seller predicts an overall slower market with overnight sales situations fewer and farther in between.
Were mentally prepared for Sundance to unfold more slowly, they add.
No one ever wants to make a bad buy, but particularly not now.
If theres something they want, they will go for it, he said of the big streamers.
But its not a feeding frenzy.
Still, at Sundance, frosh directors are a screening room away from career liftoff.
Its a festival of discovery.
Its a great festival to see movies with other people.
To discover movies that you didnt know anything about before seeing them, said Erik Feig of Picturestart.
He scored the biggest deal of last years festival, sellingCha Cha Real Smoothto Apple for $15M.
This year, hes bringing Molly Gordon and Nick LiebermansTheater Campin competition along with its worldwide distribution rights.
The title is South Koreas entry for this years Oscars.
Among streamers, Apple remains the alpha, able to snatch any title off the table.
The question is whether or not filmmakers want a full-windowed theatrical release.
The question this year is, with MGM in the fold, how much does Amazon need?
Between the streamer and the lion theatrical label, it currently counts at least 13 titles slated for 2023.
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It can buy for Prime Video or for MGM theatrical.
Last year, Amazon and Blumhouse picked up genre titleThe Nannyfor $7M from first-time feature writer-director Nikyatu Jusu.
At the same time, Netflix is known to crave worldwide rights on big, starry movies.
Sundance has plenty of those this year in CAA Media Finances Jonathan Majors amateur bodybuilder movieMagazine Dreamsin the U.S. Its not like they are brand new, on the market for the first time.
They are educated as buyers.
They have been at it for a while.
They have a better handle of what works on their platform and what doesnt, said one industry executive.
They can be much more targeted, shopping for what they need, what they want.
Among theatrical distributors potentially returning to form is Searchlight.
Searchlight is coming to Sundance with the romantic dramaRye Lanefrom Raine Allen Miller in the Premieres section.
Theatrical is better but still shaky after cycles of disruption.
Its just hard to pry some audiences off the couch.
However, thats a $50M movie with a major studio marketing spend.
Its not equal footing exactly streamers cant be matched in terms of upfront fees.
But theres a lot more optionality on approaching deals.
However, not many imitators of edgy, fun arthouse fare have followed.
A takeaway lesson as to what may work indie-wise at the box office?
Stoke the 18-34 crowd, who showed up at close to 70% during that pics wide expansio).
Bocco is optimistic on theatrical but thinks it needs to be re-calibrated.
As generations get older and culture changes, what people want to see changes.
We cant expect that it will remain the same, she said.
Its kind of exciting to figure that out.
Its clearly a transitional market.
