Comments on: Distributors Pay Top Dollar at Sundance, Has Indie Film Recovered? Plus a Complete List of Acquisitions

By: Adam

Adam — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 16:12:51 +0000

I’d love a follow up article on a summary of acquisitions from SXSW 2013.

So far I’ve heard of the following:
The Punk Syndrome – Doc
http://www.indiewire.com/article/godigital-acquires-sxsw-finnish-punk-rock-documentary-the-punk-syndrome

A Band Called Death – Doc
http://www.indiewire.com/article/drafthouse-films-picks-up-sxsw-punk-doc-a-band-called-death

Cheap Thrills – Narrative
http://www.deadline.com/2013/03/sxsw-2013-drafthouse-films-cheap-thrills-first-deal/

Haunter – Narrative
http://variety.com/2013/film/news/sxsw-ifc-midnight-near-deal-for-haunter-1200007049/

By: Tyrannosaur

Tyrannosaur — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 06:51:56 +0000

Did you guys get an exclusive interview or something? Didn’t he say he didn’t want the info to get out? (I would love to know more about the production of the film).

By: Travis Jones

Travis Jones — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 21:34:18 +0000

Thanks Joe.

By: Sundance 2013 Winners Announced, ‘Fruitvale’ and ‘Blood Brother’ Grab Top Prizes - NoFilmSchool

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 04:15:45 +0000

[...] has come and gone, and it was a tremendous year for acquisitions, with the rights to at least a dozen films sold for over $1 million dollars. We’ve had a few great conversations with some of the filmmakers from this year’s [...]

By: Joe Marine

Joe Marine — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 16:03:23 +0000

Slamdance had at least three acquisitions from Gravitas according to this: http://www.thewrap.com/movies/column-post/sundance-2013-gravitas-ventures-acquires-three-films-slamdance-74021

By: Travis Jones

Travis Jones — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 15:26:11 +0000

Joe and Guys:

Does anyone know about the deals that are made at smaller festivals like Slamdance?

By: john jeffreys

john jeffreys — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 08:15:37 +0000

It’s actually saying a lot, because most Criterion distributed films are a) not “terrible” and b) certainly not low-budget indie films shot on DSLRs

By: Marklondon

Marklondon — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 03:21:47 +0000

The selling figure is only for part of the rights within a certain territory. So when a film sells at Sundance for say 3m, that would be for the rights to Nth America for an X period. The producers would also still retain an interest up to 33% of income within that territory.
So a film may recoup up to say 50% of its initial budget through these territorial sales. If the star power is right they can recover all of the production monies from Nth America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Sometimes a distributor will but a pic for the world, but this is unusual.
The rest will come from profit. This is not studio net profit but distributor profit – rip offs still happen but more rarely.
As to the investors, the federal tax credit for films under 25m was just renewed. If you then apply local tax credits it is feasible to make a return before the film is finished. Worse case they aren’t actually out a cent.
That’s how most films are funded.
So to sum up: while most films ‘fail’, the reason people keep writing checks to make them is that the downside for high income people is low.

By: andy

andy — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 03:12:18 +0000

like crazy- shot on 7d, sold for 4 mill in 2011, remains the most significant dslr film imo.

By: Robert

Robert — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 02:32:51 +0000

I’d like to see Fruitvale, acquired by Weinstein.

It was shot on 16mm, BTW.

By: ModernDemagogue

ModernDemagogue — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 01:03:08 +0000

Tiny Furniture was terrible, so that’s not saying much.

By: Joe Marine

Joe Marine — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 21:34:19 +0000

Yeah I wasn’t thinking clearly, just a typo.

By: francis

francis — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 19:06:58 +0000

yeah dude, primer’s pretty awesome. if the story behind that film isn’t inspirational then idk what is.

By: Shenan

Shenan — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 16:41:59 +0000

Yeah, I wondered the same thing. Perhaps the undisclosed ones are rumored to be in the seven figures?

By: Dave Mueller

Dave Mueller — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 16:31:48 +0000

I was just reading about that the other day: how a lot of these films purchased with $2-$3 million all rights deals are probably losing money (and I think of the upcoming film ‘The Place Beyond the Pines’ which stars Bradley Cooper and Ryan Gosling-and sold for $2.1M at Toronto). I don’t think its Hollywood accounting as suggested-especially with an all rights deal. It really hammers in the point from the recent post about the importance of keeping your budget down. That $1M mark seems to be the magic number for long term viability.

By: Mike

Mike — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 15:34:13 +0000

Well. Looks like he doesn’t want to talk about it. You’re secret is safe.

“There are a few things I’m trying my best not to talk about,” said Carruth, “and that’s the tech specs on the camera and the workflow and the budget. Last time around, I was grateful to have some praise for ‘Primer’ but they would say, ‘it’s a great movie for the budget.’ And I don’t ever want to hear that phrase again. It would be shocking I think, if people knew, but I’m not going to tout it and I hope it doesn’t ever get out.”

By: Mike

Mike — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 15:30:15 +0000

“and that includes four documentaries hitting seven figures, compared to only one doc hitting that number at the 2012 festival. ” — but according to the list all docs were less than $1000000?

By: DIYFilmSchool.net

DIYFilmSchool.net — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 14:59:38 +0000

I’m not an economist, so I can’t comment on the potential of Hollywood carrying these kinds of acquisitions. I was somewhat offended by the use of “chum” to describer the purchases of one company. It’s clearly indicative of one facet of the mentality pf these companies. It’s not that they may dislike the film or something, but the language suggests that they are out to keep their own interests afloat, which isn’t necessarily bad; just telling (and not new).

By: DMW

DMW — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 14:58:10 +0000

Whats interesting is the 3/4 of the films listed above originated on FILM!

By: Fresno Bob

Fresno Bob — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 12:03:18 +0000

Nooo!!!!

We’re trying to keep the GH2 our little secret for as long as we can.