Sundance and BrandStorytelling quick takes.
Park City in January. Again. This was my 21st year attending Sundance/Slamdance, so I was old enough to drink...damn that Dry-January though! And for the past several years, I've also been attending Brand Storytelling, up in Deer Valley, which has become a must-attend event for those who dabble in anything to do with brands and content. Many in the industry complain about attending Sundance each year, or express joy when they can skip it, but I consider it a privilege to be so lucky as to be able to work in an industry that allows me to attend, even if it can be ridiculous at times. Anyway, here's my quick takeaway's (QuiTa's in Quibi speak) from Park City 2020 (no film reviews here, as I didn't see enough films to comment):
1. Buyers had money to spend, and they did. New records were set for sales (by .69 cents), and lots of folks seemed to be overpaying for films. IndieWire has a good break-down of all the sales, and this link has all their reviews and news. We won't see the real results til after the fest, and when things hit the market, but all signs were positive.
2. And a lot of deals were hybrids- look into the deals and you see a lot of shared buys - Neon with Hulu for that extra $.69 being the most famous. But smart buyers were combining forces to give the best offers, a real theatrical, an SVOD home and likely awards runs (and to deepen the buyer's pockets).
3. Talk on the town, however, was that it was a slow Sundance - in attendance and things worth buying. On the one hand, I'd point out that people say this every year, but...this was the first year that I rode on an empty bus, and I was able to get into two P&I screenings at the last second with no line, and plenty of room (very rare).
4. Change is everywhere. Cooper - the head of the fest - had his last full programming year, and rumors are out of a very smart pick for his replacement. Anne Lai left Sundance to take over San Francisco (which has more changes to be announced soon, I hear). Kamal Sinclair leaves New Frontier for the Guild of Future Architects. These are just a few of the many changes announced or known, and I'm sure I'm forgetting more important ones.
5. Quibi and Ficto made a splash. Quibi's was bigger because they have more money. Ficto made a splash with...MarTech Advisor, apparently. Actually, Ficto held an upfront at BrandStorytelling, and their tech looked more interesting to play with than Quibi's in spite of the budget differences. But my money still says both will be bought by some conglomerate within a year or two, maybe as an acquihire, and definitely with rebranding.
6. Brand Storytelling launched their inaugural Honor Roll this year, and while I am biased with one being a client and others being acquaintances, I'd say they did pick the best in the business for their first group. Take note that three of them are actively funding feature length films (at least), and all are committing serious resources towards authentic content that matters - they aren't dipping their toes. A lot to learn from this group.
7. Brands and content are reaching a maturity and inflection point - more on this soon, but the conversation behind the scenes at Brand Storytelling and in talks with clients took an interesting turn. On the one hand, more brands are making content, filmmakers seem more open to working with brands (but are decidedly unsure of how much they trust most brands), the platforms were openly courting brands, and studios were looking for branded content deals, and I didn't get shocked looks whenever I mentioned what I do for a living to people on Main Street. On the other hand, one can sense a lot of frustration as well - some brands are "content" to make "branded content" and others are decidedly making Films (capital F). Many want to see bigger ideas, step outside the mold and explore new models. Others are frustrated with the distribution options being presented (and the way festivals work), and still others are thinking even bigger - into systemic change. I've got to think on this some more, but the shift in thinking amongst my friends in this space and newcomers I met was noticeable.
8. This was a #metoo festival. Not only did we have people reacting to Weinstein in real-time, but we also had the backlash to the reaction, and then there was The Assistant in the program, and of course, the Russel Simmons doc-debacle (reports were very positive, and most reiterated the film's importance to the discussion). There was more, but that's enough to report on now.
9. Friends who know me, know that I swim laps most mornings - outdoors mind you (ok, it's a heated pool) - before meetings and/or films. And this year, they helped point me to VR in a pool, which quickly made my must-do list. That's right, among the many New Frontier offerings was a VR experience where you wore waterproof VR goggles, a snorkel, hopefully a bathing suit (they bought 600 apparently, just in case you didn't have one) and were tethered to a weight so you wouldn't float into a wall and split your head open. Then you experienced a trip to outer space while approximating weightlessness while floating in the Sheraton's pool.
The system was built by BallastVR, who makes the set-up available for swim-parks as an (apparently) strong revenue generator, that also includes a system for viewing content while going down a water-slide, or holding onto a wall-mounted, haptic and bubble-blowing system for added effect.
The Sundance-version didn't have the water-slide or the bubbles, but it was cool. I find most VR to be decidedly less interesting than the hype, and that was the case here to some extent. I didn't think I was going to outer-space at any point, and the graphics remain pretty basic. But this was the first time, out of many experiences, where my senses and my brain got pretty scrambled - when the images rushed forward to simulate landing, I felt like I was sinking, and when we blasted off again, I felt like I was floating upwards. It was hard to stay still when you wanted to dive into a scene, or float/turn to see a different view. And if I wasn't tethered, I definitely would have gone spinning into a wall. You could just start to see the possibilities. On the other hand, given the water-park reality of their business model, it also makes you wonder if this stuff will ever rise above novelty theme park rides, or educational uses. I also continue to wonder why film fests think this is their future, and why VR practitioners don't create a better exhibition format. but that's another column.
10. I guess I should have ten take-aways to make this a proper list, right? But most of what you learn from Sundance comes in the weeks after the fest, when the dust settles and we can look back and make sense of it all. And there's technically still a few days left for a bunch of people still out there, waiting to see who wins. So I'll hold those take-aways for a future newsletter, and just say that Park City remains the place to be in January for all things film and branded content, and what it all might become.
Stuff I'm Reading
Film
Why the New York Times Is Getting Into the Documentary Films Business - the NYT was out in force at Sundance, talking up their "new" doc film business, holding parties, pitching to brands (while saying they won't work with them at the same time), and premiering some films. Odd that they are calling this a new side of the business when I helped them launch their "first" non-Op-Docs documentary film back in 2016. But glad to see them expand what they're doing. Variety reports.
‘Upstream Color’ Director Shane Carruth Says He’s Done With The Film Industry After His Next Project: And the film world groans as another auteur gives up on the business/artform. I'm a fan of everything Shane does and hate to see him go, but maybe this is just another Soderbergh semi-retirement?
Care about Impact? Well, Media Impact Funders just published a report for media funders - Decoding Media Impact, which you can get for free on their website. And over at PictureMotion, they published their year-end Impact Report, where they cover their 40 impact campaigns - which is a good place to look for lessons learned and hints for your own projects. That's a screenshot of their report above.
Streaming
Netflix's Data Reveals are as important for what they don't say, as what they do - according to a great analysis from Entertainment Strategy Guy. The devil's in the details of their public statements, and the ESG breaks it all down.
Could Netflix or Apple buy MGM? Maybe, says SlashFilm: "Netflix and Apple have already had preliminary talks about purchasing MGM, which isn’t just a content library, but an entire studio and entertainment company. They’ve produced hit shows like The Handmaid’s Tale, and they also own the cable channel Epix. So an acquisition by any of the streaming companies out there that can afford MGM would be a hefty purchase, and the fact that this is more than a library acquisition could end up keeping Netflix from following through, since they’ve never made a purchase like that before. Apple hasn’t made a purchase like that either, with their largest deal ever being the $3 billion purchase of Beats by Dre in 2014."
Netflix will nearly double the number of French Language Originals - as Europe starts to enforce rules dictating that 30% of your spend on content must be produced in the region, Netflix is increasing its local hubs. Not to belittle regulation, but Netflix is also finding that locals like local content. That's why you're seeing more productions not just in France, but in Germany, Italy, Mexico City, Colombia, England, the Netherlands, and Spain.
Consumers are spending more time on TikTok now than Amazon Prime - according to AdAge, proving once again that folks have plenty of fun stuff to watch - not being made by Hollywood either - and don't need Quibi.
Branded Content
TikTok is full of Sephora and Chipotle employees spilling secrets. That can get complicated. Vox breaks-down the trend of employees becoming unofficial ambassadors on TikTok - sometimes to great success (when they create an unofficial and wildly popular TikTok drink at Starbucks) and sometimes to their chagrin (when a Panera employee discloses to 75M+ that the mac & cheese is frozen). Chipotle seems to be doing it well. Here's an example of popular creator and former Chipotle employee Zahra, username @Muslimthicc, who "gushes about how to make the perfect burrito bowl."
Gaming/VR/AR/AI/Social
What's the carbon footprint of AI, streaming, gaming, and cloud storage? Combined? Wired takes a look at part of this equation in AI Can Do Great Things, if it doesn't burn the Planet. - I've been meaning to write an article about this lately, and need to do some more research, but Wired's article points out how a recent AI experiment used as much energy as the "output of three nuclear power plants for an hour." As we move our entire lives to the cloud, and shift from theaters and DVDs to streaming, how much more power will we consume?
Wired reports: "The Department of Energy estimates that data centers account for about 2 percent of total US electricity usage. Worldwide, data centers consume about 200 terawatt hours of power per year—more than some countries. And the forecast is for significant growth over the next decade, with some predicting that by 2030, computing and communications technology will consume between 8 percent and 20 percent of the world’s electricity, with data centers accounting for a third of that."
More on this soon, but my vision for the future - AI/robots realize quickly that the carbon footprint needed to keep growing will kill humanity, and that's a small price for them to pay for more power...and that's the end of us.
Disney’s Myth: A Frozen Tale should be a case study for anyone filmmaking in VR: For Disney Animation studios, the trick is maintaining the relationship between interactivity and cinematic, "...we make cinema, we make films and we wanted to make sure it felt like that.” - Producer Nicholas Russel.
Instagrammers rejoice: A face filter for your clothes is here - There's a new AR t-shirt and app that lets you switch filters and see a different design/graphic any time you'd like. Nice future of fashion idea, that once again should be hacked, so I can replace logos in my feed with better art.
Leave a comment