Why ‘the chatter is positive’ at Sundance, even though art house box office is not
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Today’s forecast
What to expect at the fest for Friday, Jan. 20
Greetings from the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, where non-skiing Angelenos are reminded of their abject ill-preparedness for cold weather.
Though existential questions abound when it comes to the future of indie film and the festival circuit, the vibe on the ground is one of excitement after two years of virtual or hybrid Sundance — whatever we’re calling various tech-enabled adaptations to the ongoing pandemic.
My colleague Mark Olsen, in previewing the festival earlier this week, put his finger on the big-picture thing everyone’s trying to divine: At this junction for the movie business, what is Sundance for, exactly?
The simple answer is that the festival exists to promote film culture and to sell product. But of course it’s actually not that simple. It’s a fascinating time to be embarking on either of those missions, with the uncertain box office market for art house fare and streaming services pulling back on risky “niche” content. Until someone closes a big-money deal, it’s impossible to give a verdict on the market.
“We just don’t know who’s going to drop the hammer first,” said Ross Fremer, an executive at Cinetic Media, a talent management, content sales and strategic advisory company.
The competition for new narrative films looks promising. The Kristen Roupenian short story adaptation “Cat Person,” the big-screen version of Ottessa Moshfegh’s “Eileen,” Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman’s “Theater Camp,” Elijah Bynum’s “Magazine Dreams” and Anthony Chen’s English-language debut “Drift” are all expected to attract interest.
Feature documentaries are a tougher market, as many of the high-profile titles are coming with distribution in place. “Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields” is going to Hulu. Apple and A24 have the basketball doc “Steph Curry: Underrated.” Apple is also bringing “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie.”
But there are other indicators of how buyers and sellers are feeling after the long COVID absence — the intangible electricity of the dinners in Deer Valley and the mid-morning kombucha runs at the local market. “You can just tell, the chatter is positive, people are trading secrets and everybody’s got something to be proud of here,” Fremer said.
Sundance is also a place where new and emerging filmmakers get to strut their stuff on a big stage in front of their peers. Betting on those new voices rather than just the established names is, one hopes, the long game for experienced executives who want to build a healthy business for the future.
“We think it comes down to, ‘Are there exciting filmmakers to get behind from their first film to their 50th?’ And not everything is going to be a hit, but you bet on the filmmaker and their vision,” Fremer said. “It’s a 10-, 15- or 20-year journey. It’s not a private equity fund that’s in and out in eight to 10 years, or flipping Tesla options. And unfortunately, that’s what it’s been compared to too often.” — Ryan Faughnder
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The queue
The movies worth standing in line for
At the festival’s opening news conference on Thursday there was a surprise addition to the program for Friday, with the announcement of “Justice,” the debut documentary from director Doug Liman, best known for movies such as “Swingers,” “The Bourne Identity” and “Edge of Tomorrow.”
“Justice” looks at Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the allegations of sexual assault against him and how those allegations were investigated. The film will only be screened once for the public and once at a press and industry screening during the festival. Speaking at Thursday’s news conference, Kim Yutani, the festival’s director of programming, said, “It is a very powerful documentary that we felt was important to add. We saw it practically yesterday, and it’s a film that I think challenges existing narratives, I think it asks tough questions, and I think it provokes conversations.”
In a statement, Liman said, “It shouldn’t be this hard to have an open and honest conversation about whether or not a Justice on the Supreme Court assaulted numerous women as a young man. Thanks to this fantastic investigative team and the brave souls who trusted us with their stories, ‘Justice’ picks up where the FBI investigation into Brett Kavanaugh fell woefully short.” Liman added, “Sundance gave me and countless other independent filmmakers our big breaks, so it’s especially meaningful for me to return with my first documentary.” (Park Avenue Theatre, 8:30 p.m. MT) — Mark Olsen
It’s in the nature of inspirational dramas to be more conventionally formed than the paradigm-shattering heroes they often celebrate, and “Radical,” Christopher Zalla’s movie about a real-life Mexican schoolteacher who envisioned a bold, de-standardized approach to children’s education, is no exception. But its sturdy approach, reminiscent of “Stand and Deliver,” “Dead Poets Society” and numerous other pedagogical crowdpleasers, is no less charming or effective for being so straightforward. Eugenio Derbez, fresh off his turn as a music teacher in “CODA,” is unsurprisingly winning as the self-sacrificing educator, and the kids in the ensemble, especially Mia Fernanda Solis and Jennifer Trejo, are more than all right. (Eccles Theatre, 8:55 a.m. MT Saturday) — Justin Chang
READ MORE: Our film critic picks 6 movies to make time for at this year’s Sundance Film Festival
Working lunch
Catch up with movers and shakers from around the fest
Independent movie producer Erik Feig did about as well at last year’s virtual Sundance as one could hope to. He had one of the most headline-grabbing sales of the festival with Cooper Raiff’s coming-of-age tale “Cha Cha Real Smooth,” which went to Apple for $15 million and later premiered in limited theatrical release and on Apple TV+. He also sold Tig Notaro and Stephanie Allynne’s “Am I OK?” to HBO Max, though the streamer still hasn’t announced a premiere date. (The producers remain confident that it will be released, despite the recent changes at parent company Warner Bros. Discovery).
Feig returns this year to tout “Theater Camp,” a comedy from first-time feature directing duo Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman. Starring Gordon, Jimmy Tatro, Ben Platt and Noah Galvin, the film tells the story of a group of eccentric educators on a mission to save their beloved theater camp, AdirondACTS. It was written by Gordon, Lieberman, Platt and Galvin, who ran wild with the concept they created with the 2020 short film of the same name. The movie premieres Saturday at 3:25 p.m. MT at Eccles Theatre. Sure to target fans of musical theater and improvisation, the film is hoping to reach a wider audience of comedy fans as well.
The Wide Shot’s Ryan Faughnder spoke with Feig earlier this week.
“Theater Camp” seems to fill a Sundance slot that I’m fond of — the quirky, character-driven comedy. What’s got you excited about bringing this film to market?
It’s a real feel-good movie. We were setting out to make a crowd-pleasing film, and I think we have it. But the best proof of that is going to be putting it in front of a crowd to see if it pleases them. Last year we took two major movies to Sundance: “Cha Cha Real Smooth” and “Am I OK?” And even when “Cha Cha Real Smooth” won the U.S. Dramatic Audience Award, I felt kind of like, “What does it mean to win an audience award for a virtual festival?” It’s kind of a theoretical puzzle. And so, with “Theater Camp,” we have a movie that is special and unique and has something to say. And also it’s engineered to be consumed by a theater-going audience.
How did you come to be involved in this film?
We made “Am I OK?” with Gloria Sanchez Productions (Jessica Elbaum’s offshoot from Gary Sanchez productions, which was founded by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay), and they had a relationship with Molly Gordon, who was in the short film of “Theater Camp” that inspired the movie that we ultimately made. This group of four — Molly Gordon, Ben Platt, Nick Lieberman and Noah Galvin — has been a creative troupe for a long time. And in the case of Ben and Molly, they’ve known each other and had gone to theater camp since they were, like, 7. Maybe 8? So these characters have been sort of shaping and “workshopping” for decades. They always wanted to turn it into a feature.
Last year, “Cha Cha Real Smooth” sold to Apple and was primarily a streaming release. What are your hopes for distribution with “Theater Camp?”
Apple was great, so I have nothing but compliments for everything that they did. We actually have another movie that is coming out with them in February (“Sharper,” starring Julianne Moore). And right now we’re in this place right this second where we have a movie coming out with Apple that A24’s going to release theatrically for one week before it hits Apple TV+. We just had a movie that was a big hit for Netflix (“Luckiest Girl Alive”). We have a movie that’s coming out theatrically this summer for Universal called “Strays.” We have every distribution platform and every release pattern out there. It’s all about what is the right course for that particular horse.
What’s really great about “Theater Camp” is that it has a passionate audience, and we kind of know who they are. And then it also has a broader audience. I never went to summer camp, and I don’t know that much about musical theater, but I am a comedy fan and I love stories about underdogs triumphing. That’s why I wanted to be involved with this movie. It checks all those boxes. So the best distribution partner for “Theater Camp” is going to be whoever loves it as much as we do and understands how to get it out there to the audience.
You have a track record with stories aimed at and featuring young adults. How has the mission of Picturestart evolved since you founded it in 2019?
At the moment we built the company, the whole kind of the motto was what we called “discovery of voice.” It wasn’t really defined by the age of the protagonist. It was about finding stories about people figuring out who they are, what they’re about, where they fit in and what they stand for. And is this a filmmaker who is, in their own way, trying something new or using their art for the first time? And “Theater Camp” is actually a perfect encapsulation of literally all of those touch points of what the company is about.
Happy hour
The panels, talks, parties and more where you’ll find us in Park City today
If you’re anything like me, you arrived in Park City on Thursday still trying to get a grip on the festival schedule, work obligations, plans to meet up with friends and colleagues, not to mention the altitude and the temperatures — and skipped out on the star wattage of Opening Night: A Taste of Sundance to rest up for the coming weekend. (That very early morning flight out of LAX may have had something to do with it.) So I’m planning to pass through the Acura Festival Village (480 Swede Alley, noon - 10 p.m. MT) on the one night it’s open past the dinner hour to get my bearings: Today through Tuesday, the presenting sponsor’s Energy Stage, Lounge and Lab (364 Main St.) feature live music and panels, charging stations, complimentary warm beverages and even daily White Claws among their combined offerings. Just one word of warning from someone who has tailgated his fair share of snowbound New England Patriots games in his times: If you plan to partake, don’t forget your gloves.
And if you’re more early bird than night owl, get up and at ‘em with a blessing of IllumiNative’s Indigenous House (227 Main Street, 9 a.m. MT Saturday), featuring singers from the Northern Ute Tribe, to kick off a full weekend of panels, luncheons and receptions.
“This is their traditional land before they were removed,” says Crystal Echo Hawk, founder and executive director of the racial and social justice organization, about the importance of launching the inaugural Indigenous House in this way. “They might not live right here in Park City [now], but they have this connection here, and they always will.”
In addition to offering a song, the blessing will feature a land acknowledgment by Bart Powaukee, educating attendees about the Northern Utes’ deep history in the Uintah Basin — a theme Sundance moviegoers will recognize from the short film land acknowledgment that precedes each festival screening.
“As Native peoples we are constantly fighting against erasure and invisibility here in the United States,” says Echo Hawk — and this reminder of their ongoing presence is essential preparation for a weekend of “advancing Native American representation and rights and justice.” Check out the full Indigenous House schedule here. —Matt Brennan
Photo booth
Our favorite photo of the day from The Times’ studio on Main Street
The Times’ Sundance studio is humming along once again at this year’s fest, and starting Saturday, we’ll feature a standout image in each edition of the Sundance Daily. Plus, we’ll share the latest updates to our Sundance portrait gallery, launching Friday.
The Wide Shot is going to Sundance!
We’re sending daily dispatches from Park City throughout the festival’s first weekend. Sign up here for all things Sundance, plus a regular diet of news, analysis and insights on the business of Hollywood, from streaming wars to production.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
