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Monday, January 25, 2010

At Sundance, some new thinking about distribution

I was really encouraged to see this piece in the New York Times today, 'At Sundance, New Routes to Finding an Audience,' Brooks Barnes. It suggests that at least a few filmmakers who've gained entrance to one of the most prestigious indie film fests are thinking about using it as a launchpad for their distribution strategy.

From the piece:

    “We just want to encourage people to throw the traditional model out the window,” said Michael Mohan, the writer-director of “One Too Many Mornings,” a coming-of-age comedy that had its premiere here on Friday.

    Simultaneously, Mr. Mohan let users at OneTooManyMornings.com download the movie for $10 and started selling DVDs for $20. For $35, customers get a DVD, a poster and a piece of the sofa featured in the film. Mr. Mohan is also selling the theatrical rights via the Web site for $100,000. “Forget a bidding war,” he said. “Whoever gets to their laptop the fastest gets it.”

    YouTube introduced its long-awaited movie rental option at this year’s festival by offering five Sundance films as soon as they had their premieres. The rentals — including “One Too Many Mornings” and “Bass Ackwards,” another film that bypassed the theatrical window — will cost $3.99.

    And for the first time, Sundance will make films available in about 40 million homes through cable and satellite on-demand services simultaneously with premieres. The program, Sundance Selects, includes “Daddy Longlegs,” about being torn between adulthood and childhood.

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3 Comments:

  • I know about the many new options of online distribution, but I have yet to see (beyond selling DVDs) one that is viable. Both Bass Ackwards and Children of Invention (two fine films) have registered under 400 views on YouTube's new VOD program.

    By Blogger GBH, at 4:34 PM  

  • This comment has been removed by the author.

    By Blogger wellywood woman, at 5:50 PM  

  • I totally agree. Whereas people used to use Sundance to find distribution, a lot of artists are taking it into their own hands.

    We wonder what twitter's effects on film festivals will be?

    By Blogger Vince, at 3:21 AM  

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