Two years ago, filmmakers would roll into the Sundance Film Festival confident that buyers would be willing to shell out $5 million to acquire their arty works, complete with a promise of a theatrical release.
A lot has changed since then. The economy cratered, and dozens of independent films --including Sundance alumni "Hamlet 2" and "The Wackness" -- tanked. It was inevitable that this year's festival would be soft.
While a surprisingly large number of new works have sold at Sundance so far, the top sales prices have been dramatically lower than the largest transactions at recent gatherings. And several movies will first play not in theaters but on pay-per-view television or premium cable channels.
Typical of 2009's Sundance transactions was the deal Magnolia Pictures struck for "Humpday," a comedy about two college buddies testing their friendship. Magnolia didn't pay a hefty price for the film's domestic rights, offering only $100,000. And as part of its "Humpday" purchase, Magnolia will introduce the film first through pay-per-view outlets, then bring it to a dozen or so theaters a month later.
"I don't really understand video on demand, but I implicitly trust them," "Humpday" writer-producer-director Lynn Shelton says of Magnolia. "I do understand the difficulties of a theatrical release, though. It's easy to dig yourself a hole and lose money."
The volume of Sundance features -- 118 films, culled from an overwhelming 3,661 submissions -- makes obvious the problems facing buyers and sellers.
With so many movies competing for attention from fewer moviegoers (box office admissions were down about 5% last year), distributors are spending less money to buy Sundance movies because they know (A) it will take a lot of marketing money to create awareness in the crowded marketplace, and (B) once in theaters, their movies may not last more than a few weekends.
At the 2006 festival, Fox Searchlight spent a Sundance record $10.5 million acquiring "Little Miss Sunshine," which went on to win two Oscars and gross more than $100 million worldwide. At this year's festival, Fox Searchlight was smitten with "Adam," a love story about two young people. But the sales price was a 10th of "Little Miss Sunshine's" minimum guarantee: $1.5 million.
"It's a really rich story, very real, and the performances are great," says Fox Searchlight's Peter Rice. "And it's very funny at times. We loved it, and the audience loved it too."
