sundance film festivalA bit of time has passed since I posted about a record number of acquisitions taking place at this year's Sundance Film Festival. Without attending the festival myself -- and as someone who hopes to play Sundance with one of my own films in the future -- I've found myself wondering in the days since, "why?" What made Sundance 2011 so different from Sundance 2010? At Hammer to Nail, producer Mike S. Ryan has asked the same question, and he's much more qualified to provide answers:

Sundance 2011 was a success not because new distribution models were created or the feature form was reinvented via cell phones, it was successful for the reasons that I predicted in my Filmmaker Magazine article last year. The profit driven faux producers and filmmakers left the room when the market collapsed and what was left were producers and filmmakers who made films for the right reasons.


Check out the full article by Ryan below. Hammer to Nail is a terrific indie film site run by filmmaker Michael Tully -- whose own film, Septien, played the festival. He's written a nice recap of his own, and has also compiled a great set of post-fest reactions from other filmmakers and industry insiders, which collectively give a sense of how this year's Sundance differed from previous year's -- not just in terms of awards and acquisitions, but from the perspective of those lucky enough to be in attendance.

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[via Mynette Louie]