Nov 24, 2021
It’s that time of year again, when a small group of filmmakers gets to be thankful for having been selected to have their film play at the Sundance Film Festival. Almost every year, the programming team notifies those selected during the Thanksgiving holiday week/end. This year, they seemed to be notifying a lot of people early, including some of those who came close but didn’t make the cut; so some folks are already celebrating and others are ready to drown themselves in the gravy boat (but don’t! More on that below). We’ll all be learning who was selected within the next week. Kudos to those selected, and Onwards! to those who were not.
I’m thankful to be planning a return to Park City this year, and honestly can’t wait to see a ton of good films, and meet up with friends I haven’t seen in two years. But I also know that among the many films chosen, I’ll see quite a few turkeys that shouldn’t have made the cut. It’s sometimes mind-boggling when you know of films that didn’t get in that were 100 times better than a lot of what you see, and every fest veteran can attest to this experience.
Cold comfort for those being rejected right now, but know that the programmers make mistakes. Every year. And they turn down a lot of films they wish they could program, because you can only program so many films. So if you submitted and don’t make the cut this year, rest assured that it is not the final stamp of approval or rejection on your film. I’ve seen many films go on to great success without those Sundance laurels.
That said, it’s such a crap system. No offense to Sundance, because they didn’t devise it, and it’s a problem of too much supply more than anything. But the US industry in particular, has come to rely on Sundance as its curator of choice for its buying decisions more than any other domestic film festival. Whenever I look at the current state of film fests and how they influence what gets bought, and how it gets brought to the public, I can’t help but wish that someone/some group of folks would sit down and devise something entirely new.
My dream would be that we would reverse the system. Instead of applying to thousands of film fests through a system like Film Freeway, why not have every film in such a system, but make the festivals apply to be honored with programming your film. They’d have to compete, based on where your film is positioned, how it’s programmed and when, and what they offer in return – and importantly, in the best cases, compete vs. other festivals for that premiere. Or remove the fests from the process entirely, and just have this in an app, and let the buyers compete over the course of 48 hours, and then just use festivals for premieres instead of discovery.
I could dream up 20 more ideas if I had twenty more minutes to spare for this post, but you get my drift – anything would be better than the system we have. But… it’s what we have. It’s not a perfect science, but in spite of the near-misses and mistakes, and for better or worse, Sundance does a decent job of curating some of the best new films you’ll see each year. That’s why we all go there, and why I’ll be there again this year. And as I watch some great new films, I’ll be thinking of the equal number or more that shoulda been there, but that didn’t make the cut this week. If you are in that latter group – keep your spirits up, and I hope to see your films somewhere else soon.
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Film
Here's Where Americans are Back at the Movies: The WSJ has one of the only good box office/movie-going pieces I've seen in over a year- better than any of the trades, and based on real data (done with ComScore, and yes, there's a paywall). Sure, some of this will be obvious, but they've actually dug into the numbers to show which states are recovering in terms of movie-going, and which are slower, and proved the anecdotes - guess what? Folks aren't back in the most important states, and they tend to only be back in the more conservative ones. Two charts to look at, since this article is behind a paywall. A correlation between movie-going and how people voted:
and one tracking which states are recovering best:
We've got a long way to go to recovery - if it ever occurs. (BN)
Time Studios Plans to Expand Documentary and Family Programming: Time Studios is a force to be reckoned: Variety’s Rebecca Rubin points out that “it has surpassed $70 million in revenue since launching in early 2020… [and] has sold more than “20 projects to Netflix, Amazon, Paramount Plus, as well as HBO, Showtime, Nickelodeon and CNN Films.” And now, Time Studios is growing their team of creators to expand its library of documentaries and family programming. They’ve also announced a commitment to produce original documentaries and fund external works. Check out the article for some of the films that are in the works for 2022 and beyond. (GSH) I was also happy to learn that two friends and known doc lovers/supporters with excellent taste will be in charge, as both Alexandra Johnes and Loren Hammonds were named as co-heads of the division. (BN)
Amazon, Netflix team up on Alexa-powered recommendations: You ever sit down on the couch, turn on Netflix and sit there browsing for way too long, just trying to find something to watch (and then maybe you don’t end up watching anything at all)? Well, Amazon Fire TV and Netflix have teamed up to create a feature that uses Alexa voice controls that will direct us to a show/movie we might like based on our watch history. All we have to do is say “Alexa, Play Something on Netflix” and Netflix will eliminate that browsing experience for us altogether. From a business perspective, apparently the feature works: People who use the feature are twice as likely to engage with content than those who don’t. I am, however, a bit skeptical. When has the “recommended for you” category ever been that helpful? And how is this product really any different? Ben Munson, writer for Fierce Video has the story. (GSH)
Chernin Entertainment Exploring Sales/Investment Options: Chernin is brining in the bankers, joining the many others who are taking advantage of this crazy, frothy market and either selling the company and/or raising money, which is often about the same thing. The WSJ reports, but take this as another sign that the market is getting very near its peak. When you see a lot of For Sale signs near your Summer vacation spot, it's always a sign that everyone knows the end of the good times are near - get out while the gettin's good; and this is true for the film business as well. (BN)
TBI Weekly: Why US SVOD saturation matters for global production: While COVID-19 has kept so many Americans at home and in front of their TVs, the latest numbers indicate that U.S. consumers are done subscribing to new SVOD services. Richard Middleton for Television Business International breaks it down for us: HBO Max only added half a million US subscribers in the past three months, Netflix took only 70,000 new North American subscribers, and the latest numbers from Disney+ show “around eight million less [users] than had been predicted by Wall Street analysts.” Americans seem to be maxed out — most are probably subscribed to multiple SVOD services and have reached their spending limit. Middleton explains that “With US subscriber numbers seemingly not budging… streamers will either have to substantially increase their non-US subscriber bases to make up for the difference in per user revenues, or adjust what [US consumers] pay for programming.” (GSH)
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Branded Content
What McDonald’s Sees When It Looks At Gamers: McDonalds is trying to stay trendy and with the times. We saw it with the Travis Scott meal deal and then with the BTS meal, merch, and exclusive 4-week video content featuring the band. Most recently, they’ve expanded into the virtual arena through their partnership with Faze Clan, an esports organization. Check out this piece to learn about what this relationship means from McDonald’s senior director of marketing and cultural engagement. Jon Springer for AdAge has the story. (GSH)
Chipotle supports young farmers with Kacey Musgraves, Carhartt collaborations: Chipotle calls attention to an U.S. agriculture industry in need of saving with a short animated piece released last week called “A Future Begins”. The stop-motion film is based on the true story of a Chipotle farmer whose child returned from college to save the family farm by introducing new technology and sustainable growing techniques,” explains Chris Kelly, reporter for MarketingDive. Grammy Award-winner, Kacey Musgraves serenades the viewer as they watch the stop-motion farmers revitalize the land. In addition to raising awareness on some of the issues facing modern farming, Chipotle is “working with the NYFC to push Congress to invest $2.5 billion toward securing access to up to 1 million acres for young farmers.” The brand is also collaborating with Carhartt (an apparel company) to create clothing based on characters in the film. (GSH)
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Miscellany:
Gaming in 2022: Key Trends: Gaming is a $159.3 billion industry and is only growing. TechGuide outlines some key trends in gaming that we can expect for the year 2022:
- “2022 will see developers commit to creating console-worthy gaming experiences on mobile”
- US iGaming (online gambling/ esports betting) “could reach as much as $1 trillion in 2022. By 2025, the vertical will grow at a CAGR of 12% and tip $112 billion in market value.
- While consumers are increasingly interested in “cloud gaming and the integration of advanced tech like VR into gaming experiences… The focus for 2022, however, lies in creating genuinely immersive [console] games.” (GSH)
Meta showcases prototype haptic glove to feel things in AR/VR: Last Tuesday Meta (Facebook) showcased a prototype of a glove that will enable us to feel in VR, rather than just see. Campbell Kwan, writer for ZDNet breaks it down for us: “A fully developed haptic glove would try to convince the wearer that they are feeling an object's weight by gently pulling on the skin of the wearer's fingers with the actuators to mimic the tug of gravity on a held object in real time.” It’s only a matter of time ‘till we’re all experiencing games, movies, and TV through VR headsets and gloves. What’s next, smelling in VR? (GSH)
GSH = Articles written by Sub-Genre's Gabriel Schillinger-Hyman, not Brian Newman (BN)
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