I never told Robert Redford to suck it

I want to expand, redirect and challenge some of the discussion on my earlier post about Sundance, The Nines, and the death of independent film.

For starters, many in the P2P world were all too happy to declare victory over, well, logic. (The Nines Director: Forget Sundance, Use P2P Instead). That’s incorrect on a lot of levels.

In the article, I said that leaking a copy online at the right moment would have certainly increased awareness, and might have helped sales of tickets, DVDs and paid downloads. Notice that I really am talking about sales — that antiquated notion where people pay for things. My thesis is that if you make it at least as easy to obtain something legally as illegally, a fair number of potential users are happy to pay for it.

And I said nothing approaching, “Forget Sundance.” I said that Sundance buzz is annoying and meaningless, but that doesn’t mean the festival is irrelevant. Quite the contrary. Film festivals are public events in which thousands of people come together to watch challenging, independent film. The failure of arthouse distribution for indies makes festivals even more essential, because without film festivals, most of these movies would never screen before an audience.

Sundance is the Grauman’s Chinese Theater of festivals — you really do want to premiere there, to reach the biggest number of eyeballs at once. For two weeks each year, the American media pretends to give a shit about non-blockbusters. People stand in line to see documentaries, and Parker Posey is considered a star. It’s Fantasyland. So you trudge up and down the snow-covered streets, visiting all the different outlets and pimping your movie.

But wait. Didn’t I say the buzz is useless?

I think it is, at least as a component of the traditional bought-at-Sundance, released-six-months-later cycle. But if you could shorten that, and get those buzz-worthy movies from Park City in front of audiences worldwide in two weeks, I think you’d find some real success. Studios do this all the time with their quasi-indies, premiering them at a festival as a launch pad. We did it with Go in 1999.

Would it be difficult to go from Sundance to worldwide in two weeks? Absolutely. The lead time on a commercial DVD is still six weeks or more. But pay-per-view, iTunes and Netflix online have a lot more flexibility. All the legal work (clearances and contracts) would be a scramble. But we absolutely could have done it with The Nines.

Where does that leave theatrical?

I don’t know. My hunch is that for indies, the arthouse circuit is best left to special events and filmmaker Q&A’s. The Academy has rules about how long a film has to play in theaters in order to be eligible for awards, so for certain films, that may be a factor. But what readers outside Los Angeles may not realize is that many of the award-contender movies are sent to voters on DVD before they’re playing theaters.

Other small notes:

• You can disagree with me about whether Once tanked. I loved the movie, and felt it could have and should have made a lot more. Its low budget is ultimately irrelevant, because the real money was spent on marketing.

• A Sundance award-winner from this year, Ballast, dropped its deal with IFC and will self-distribute. The director gives a lot of good insight about why, and just how low the dollar figures are. If I were in his shoes, I might have done the same thing. With The Nines, we had Ryan Reynolds and Hope Davis, who were big enough names to generate some minimums. Without any stars, it’s tough to shake out more money.

• Also notable is that Ballast was to be distributed through IFC’s First Take program, which debuts movies simultaneously in theaters and by video-on-demand, much like 2929’s HDNet Films program. It seems like the right idea, so I’m curious whether the business model will work.

• The Sundance folks are adamant that it’s a festival, not a market. Redford himself has said, “We have to remind people of who we are and what we’re about…[W]hen buyers are coming in and looking at the guide (for commercial product), I don’t care about what’s commercial. I think we should leave that to the mainstream.”

Coming back to one of the key ideas in the original article, I’d stress that the real measure of success for an indie film’s release is how many people saw it. Festivals let people see your movie. So do theatrical, DVD, pay-per-view, TV and yes, piracy. Finding the right combination these elements is the challenge. I don’t think I have the answer, but I can safely say it’s not what we did on The Nines.

(Spanish)

Deseo ampliar, volver a dirigir y desafiar algo de la discusión sobre
mi poste anterior sobre Sundance, el Nines, y la muerte de la
película independiente. Para los arrancadores, muchos en el mundo del
P2P eran todos demasiado felices declarar la victoria encima, bien,
lógica. (El Director De Nines: Olvídese De Sundance, Utilice el P2p
En lugar de otro). That’s incorrecto en muchos de niveles. En el
artículo, dije que escaparse una copia en línea en el momento
derecho habría aumentado ciertamente conocimiento, y puede ser que
haya ayudado a ventas de boletos, de DVDs y de transferencias directas
pagadas. Note que yo realmente las ventas que hablan — de la; esa
noción anticuada donde la gente paga cosas. Mi tesis es que si usted
hace por lo menos tan fácil obtener algo legalmente como ilegal, un
número justo de usuarios potenciales es feliz pagar él. Y no dije
nada que se acercaba, “Forget Sundance.” Dije que el
zumbido de Sundance es molesto y sin setido, pero que el medio de
doesn’t el festival es inaplicable. Absolutamente el contrario.
Los festivales de la película son los acontecimientos públicos en
los cuales los millares de gente vienen juntos al reloj desafiador,
película independiente. La falta de la distribución del arthouse para
los festivales de las marcas de Indias aún más esenciales, porque
sin festivales de la película, la mayoría de estas películas nunca
defenderían ante una audiencia. Sundance es el teatro chino de
Grauman’s de los festivales — usted realmente desea
premiere allí, alcanzar el número más grande de globos oculares
inmediatamente. Por dos semanas cada año, los medios americanos
fingen dar una mierda sobre las no-bombas de superdemolicio'n. Pueble
el soporte en línea para ver los documentaries, y Parker Posey se
considera una estrella. It’s Fantasyland. Usted camina
penosamente tan arriba y abajo de las calles nieve-cubiertas,
visitando todos los enchufes diferentes y pimping su película. Pero
espera. ¿La opinión de Didn’t I el zumbido es inútil? Pienso
que está, por lo menos como componente del tradicional
comprar-en-Sundance,

(French)
Je n'ai jamais dit Robert Redford de le sucer
Je veux augmenter, réorienter et défier une partie de la discussion
sur mon poteau plus tôt au sujet de Sundance, le Nines, et la mort du
film indépendant. Pour des démarreurs, beaucoup dans le monde de P2P
étaient tous trop heureux de déclarer la victoire plus de, bien,
logique. (Le Directeur De Nines : Oubliez Sundance, Employez le P2P À
la place). That’s incorrect sur beaucoup de niveaux. Dans
l'article, j'ai dit que la fuite d'une copie en ligne au bon moment
aurait certainement augmenté la conscience, et pourrais avoir aidé
des ventes des billets, du DVDs et des téléchargements payés. Notez
que je vraiment les ventes parlantes — de AM ; cette notion
désuète où les gens payent des choses. Ma thèse est que si vous le
rendez au moins aussi facile d'obtenir quelque chose légalement en
tant qu'illégalement, un nombre juste d'utilisateurs potentiels sont
heureux de payer lui. Et je n'ai dit rien s'approchant, “Forget
Sundance.” ; J'ai dit que le bourdonnement de Sundance est
ennuyant et sans signification, mais que le moyen de doesn’t le
festival est non pertinent. Tout à fait le contraire. Les festivals
de film sont des événements publics dans lesquels les milliers de
personnes viennent ensemble à la montre provocante, film
indépendant. L'échec de la distribution d'arthouse pour des
festivals de marques des Indes bien plus essentiels, parce que sans
festivals de film, la plupart de ces films n'examineraient jamais
devant une assistance. Sundance est le théâtre chinois de
Grauman’s des festivals — ; vous vraiment voulez présenter
en première là, pour atteindre le plus grand nombre de globes
oculaires immédiatement. Pendant deux semaines tous les ans, les
médias américains feint pour donner une merde au sujet des
non-bombes de grosse calibre. Peuplez le stand dans la ligne pour voir
des documentaires, et Parker Posey est considéré un tenir le premier rôle.
It’s Fantasyland. Ainsi vous marchez lourdement à travers les
rues neige-couvertes, visitant toutes les différentes sorties et
étant souteneurs votre film. Mais attente. La parole de Didn’t
I le bourdonnement est inutile ? Je pense qu'elle est, au moins comme
composant du traditionnel acheter-à -Sundance,