February 6, 2025
 I know what you want – a report on how good or bad Sundance was this year, especially considering what I wrote in the last newsletter about their possible irrelevance (which turned out to be the first of thousands of such reports this year), but I’ll not bury the lede here – it’s too soon to reliably report on Sundance 2025, even if everyone else has written their take (here's THR for example).
I feel like what I got was a lot of spin. From the fest itself, from the sales agents and buyers, from the industry, from the attendees I met in line. Everyone had a theory of what was working, what was broken, where they’d move, whether this was the worst year for narratives or a refreshing change (ok, no one said that last one), and I think the only thing we can safely say is that closing Main Street to traffic was the most brilliant thing Sundance has done… and in classic Sundance fashion it’s just before they leave town. (Photo of Main St here via me - maybe my first Main Street photo because, heck, it was a great thing).
I think the overwhelming sentiment was nostalgia for a Sundance that once was. I know that every time I took a ride up into the Hills for some event (my photo above from one such drive), I would look at the views and just marvel at how lucky we’ve been to spend time there, and how crazy it is that we only have one more year of this journey (that much is not being seriously debated). I saw less films than I’ve ever seen in-person during Sundance this year, but did finally get to 23 films watched thanks to the online fest. Regardless, I can tell you this much - our clients loved what they saw of Sundance and will be back in force next year, and... so long as they move to another the (only) destination option, they’ll do the same thing there as well - but only in the right location. If that decision hasn't been made, and it's not focused on the only location that is a destination, they're making the wrong move. But I hope smart minds will prevail. Enough on that.
There were some trends to note. The most obvious being that Creators were the cool kids in town. The BrandStorytelling Conference up in Deer Valley had an entire day dedicated to creators, which sold out so quickly that the organizers probably could have doubled their space and attendance overnight if that weren’t impossible to do in Park City these days. In addition to the Creator Day, there were also panels dedicated to Creators at just about every “House” on Main Street, and many of them filming and reporting from Main Street. And last, as Richard Rushfield pointed out, the Letterboxd girls (more influencers than creators?) also took over certain screenings in town, showing that the creator economy has already taken over the conversation about film, even if the film world barely notices yet.
And while there was a palpable sense of energy in these conversations, it was clearly going to be on the creator’s terms. Which is how it should be – there have been a lot of failed attempts at merging creators into the Hollywood (or Indiewood) paradigm, and they haven’t worked. That’s because Hollywood keeps trying to break their model and fit it into the old one, instead of letting the new model take over – which it is gonna do (has done). I had a conversation later this week with some leading creators in this space, and two things were clear - they'd love to be accepted into the Sundance world, but they're also not going to wait around on the system to acknowledge that the next gen of talent is emerging now, with or without the industry's help. They're often skipping film school and the usual gatekeepers, so they've gone the online route, but their aspirations are not small. This year, the energy finally seems to be swinging in their favor, and I suspect we'll see some big success stories coming from this space very soon.
And that was the other continual conversation around town – that the old model, in almost every sector of the business, was gone, and we need to let the new models emerge. I’ve been writing about that for a long time now, so it’s good to see everyone has arrived and is now ready to move forward instead of looking backwards. That’s all great in theory, but in more than a dozen conversations (both onstage and off), I heard the same thing – “necessity is the mother of invention.” Well, that’s true, but that’s our problem as a field – we only get entrepreneurial when forced to do so, instead of looking ahead and being proactive. It should not have taken Covid for us to embrace more virtual aspects of film fests, for example. We should not have waited for Netflix and the big streamers to stop buying little indie films and docs before we turned to creating new solutions. In fact, I wrote many years ago that if Sundance had understood where digital was going, they would have invented YouTube. For real. Why do we have to wait until the gun is at our temple to make change? I’m glad we’re doing it now, but I hope more than a few of us look at what we will need ten years from ahead of now, not just what we need today.
While I've written about this before, the other unavoidable major topic of conversation was what’s going to happen to public media and any public/private support for the arts during the current administration. The public media leaders on hand were not burying their heads in the sand, and are well prepared for the job. But while these calls to action received the requisite applause from those assembled, I don’t think the field is thinking far enough ahead on the types of action and reinvention we’re going to need soon. As I returned from Sundance, the FCC was taking a novel approach and were attacking PBS and NPR for their tradition of accepting underwriting, but in the letter from the FCC chair announcing this attack, he makes it clear that the attack will go broader and will soon strike at their very need/right to exist.
With the current attacks on all things DEI related, I am most concerned for the groups in the National Multicultural Alliance, who don’t get enough support from CPB to begin with, and who will have a harder time shifting to new models than places like Frontline, ITVS or POV. The one good thing for these groups – there is demand for their work, and a sizable unaddressed audience. Society is changing regardless of the regime in charge (in fact, that’s part of the reason they got there – fear of this change), and audiences clearly want these films, so while their current funding might be in danger, the need is just as great as before, and building new models will be more important than ever.
In addition, as A. Rima Dael, (the ceo of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters) – writes in Current, “The real risk of defunding CPB lies elsewhere — in the smaller, often overlooked stations that make up the heart of public media’s infrastructure. These include Tribal stations, community radio stations, low-power FM broadcasters, Spanish-language stations, public access TV, and even religious nonprofit radio stations. These are the communication hubs for rural and underserved communities, providing essential local news, cultural programming and public safety information. Many of these stations are in red states, where they are lifelines for communities that have few other media options.”
In one good sign, there were a few conversations behind the scenes, which will become more public soon, focused on advocacy for the field. Not just for public media, but also for better support for indie film, against media consolidation, for more support of the arts broadly, and for better data and solutions for all of us. As Sundance was ending, we learned that Trump was disbanding the President’s Committee on the Arts & Humanities, a small but telling gesture in the grand scheme of things. I also started seeing emails from people concerned that any grant funds not yet disbursed from the NEA and NEH might not see the light of day – and given that’s exactly what’s happening in other sectors (like the NIH), one can only guess the extent of the damage to come. When an entire global agency like the USAID is dismantled overnight, illegally, the extent of the damage to arts and culture once they get around to them, will be pretty severe. And with the attacks going to the funders of such endeavors, we'l see just how brave our philanthropists really are pretty soon. I suspect these advocacy efforts are going to need to move into urgent mode pretty soon, and start building broad bases of allies across sectors.
But don’t worry – brands are coming to the rescue. Or so everyone says. Except me – I work in this sector, and while I see a lot of good coming from the increase in brand funding for films and media, they won’t be taking the place of public media funding for your passion project, or “truth to power” film anytime soon. I also suspect many brands are lining up to get fleeced, as more Hollywood players move into the space, expand what they’re doing and move brands further away from the brand’s true mission, and towards what Hollywood wants, which is just a replacement source of funds from those who often don’t know enough to ask the right questions. Or the brand is moving into this space because a CMO wants to walk the red carpet, or because they really want to be a director. The smart brands should look to fill gaps in the market which overlap with their goals – the sweet spot for success in this space. Another smart move? Focusing on those creators already focused on better storytelling. Another? Focusing on those large underserved audiences mentioned above. That all being said, having worked in this arena for a long time, it’s good to see some smoother sailing for brands in these waters than just a few years ago, and when values and interests align, the impact can be grand.
Weirdly, as I mentioned in my last newsletter, the things that will most impact the future of film, namely AI and all things "Web3" were barely mentioned in Park City, or at least not in the rooms I visited. I saw one forward-facing company making the rounds, and also letting AI make all of their dinner reservations (!), but that was it. Sure, there were some panels here and there and everyone would add AI to the existential threats we face, like fires in LA. But I attended more than one "future of film" panel where these topics never came up. Howdy doody folks, but whether Sundance goes to Ohio or Colorado will have less impact on our future than almost any topic under the sun, and definitely less than what happens this coming year and a half from AI, Crypto, participatory culture...and things like deregulation and mergers fueled by the same trends. I fear that once again, we are destined to get entrepreneurial after the fact, instead of taking the lead here. But, I for one, will be pushing this (fake) rock up the hill if anyone wants to join me.
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Film
EU Film Industry For Regulation Against Tech Giants: On Jan 24, some of the biggest names in the European film industry signed an online petition titled “Defend Our Democracies Against Tech Giants.” The petition, which has since gathered thousands of signatures, decries what it calls an unprecedented offensive against European digital regulations being waged by tech giants [Meta, TikTok, and Telegram] with “only one goal: To allow the unrestricted spread of disinformation, the most dangerous hate speech, calls for violence and the most deceitful conspiracy theories.” The petition concludes, “Only massive civic mobilization will ensure fair, balanced and protective digital regulation for all European citizens…. Together, let’s demand a digital space that aligns with our values and rights.” Learn more at Scott Roxborough’s article for Variety or head right to the petition. (GSH)
Netflix Is The Future Of Entertainment… And It Looks A Lot Like Cable: The Verge’s David Pierce declares Netflix the winner of the streaming wars. Netflix is able to get away with raising its prices (from $7.99 to $17.99 over the course of 13 years), and you know why? Because it can: “Over the last couple of years in particular, Netflix has gone from a solid streaming service to a practically unavoidable, virtually uncancellable part of mainstream culture,” Pierce writes. In addition to developing a slate of hit originals, building a massive library of reality shows and cooking contests, and dipping its toes in the video game industry, Netflix “has proven, through things like the Paul / Tyson fight and the Tom Brady roast, that it can manufacture cultural events more or less out of nothing.” And guess what? It’s all in one place. “You don’t want it all, but you pay for it anyway. That, my friends, is called a cable bundle. And it’s still the best business the entertainment industry has ever devised.” Read on for the details. (GSH)
Sundance Panel Discussions: Being An Indie Filmmaker In 2025 and How To Use AI in Film Ethically and Artistically: At Sundance, IndieWire hosted the “Shaping the Future – Voices of Next-Gen Filmmakers” panel, featuring young filmmakers who have been supported by the Adobe Film & TV Fund, an initiative dedicated to helping underrepresented creators and filmmakers find career opportunities. Check out Chris O’Falt’s IndieWire article to watch the conversation and/or for his summary. Also at Sundance was IndieWire/Dropbox’s panel on “How Filmmakers Can Ethically and Artistically Use AI.” You can view that discussion here. One of their major takeaways was that “AI” has almost become a “dirty word.” “The lack of open discussion about the use of AI during this early adaptation phase of the technology was something each panelist felt was only exasperating problems.” (GSH)
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Branded Content
See above for my current thoughts on this space.
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Miscellany:
Brooklyn Coffee Shop, new show, and how brands can follow their lead: My friend Diana Williams clued me into this online show, Brooklyn Coffee Shop, which is pretty damned clever and funny. It's "social show" and with only 27 posts, they've already hit 47K+ followers, and lots of views, all while making a simple show skewering (Brooklyn) coffee culture. And there's also a great video here on how brands can "copy" what they're doing, and some tips on what makes it work. (BN)
Creators Grapple With Mistrust In TikTok And The Need For Income: TikTok was shut down and then was suddenly back up with this welcome message: “As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.!” The message was unsettling to many creators and sparked dozens of videos where creators voiced their changed view and distrust in the platform. Lindsey Lugrin, founder and CEO of creator pay transparency platform F*** You Pay Me (FYPM) states that creators “don’t trust that the new president or the [social] platforms care about them or respect them. But the problem is they don’t have anywhere else to go. Because most creators monetize via brand deals, and they have to go where the advertisers are going.” So what are the alternatives? Meta is offering cash incentives for TikTok creators to switch over to Instagram Reels which looks and feels similar to TikTok, but Meta, too, has lost a lot of creators’ trust after the company scaled back its content moderation policies and ended its DEI programs. Lugrin believes that “the safest bet for creators is going to be to invest in building up subscribers on YouTube, because YouTube is the only [platform] that’s been even remotely consistent this whole time,” and Rahul Titus, global head of influence at Ogilvy says that while “creators have defined themselves as “YouTubers” or “TikTokers” for years, “that’s no longer going to be a thing” in 2025.” Titus concludes that while it’s too early to tell whether brands shift their budgets to or away from TikTok, what’s clear is that wherever creators and their audiences congregate, marketers are sure to follow. Gillian Follett for Adage has the news (link is paywalled, this should be free). (GSH)
GSH = Articles written by Sub-Genre's Gabriel Schillinger-Hyman, not Brian Newman (BN)
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The Pool at the Silver Mountain Sports Club, Park City, as photographed by me.
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Every month, I try to write a little bit about one of my favorite pools, and for this month my focus is on the pool where I swim (almost) every morning during the Sundance Film Festival - the Silver Mountain Sports Club pool in Park City, Utah. This pool is located right next door to what was the Prospector Theater in Prospector Square. Sundance used that as a major venue for many years (forever?), but this year they abandoned it, and it became the very well-run Impact Lounge. Regardless, it's the most convenient pool I've found for a morning swim before hitting the Sundance madness.
It's a 25 yard outdoor, heated pool - yes, that means you have to run through the frigid air and usually snow and ice, to get into and out of the pool. But once you're in, the pool is warm (my guess is somewhere between 77-80 degrees F) and it's simply majestic. I tend to swim around 6am most mornings - on the weekend it doesn't open until 7am - and if you get there early, you can usually have an entire lane to yourself and on every return you get an amazing view of the sunrise. You have the mountains surrounding you, and some years, you even get snow falling on your back while you swim. Never fear, when you get out of the pool and run inside, it's a quick walk to the indoor jacuzzi for a warm-up (there's an outdoor one too, but I can't bear the cold another time). I've been going to this pool during Sundance for over 10 years, maybe 15+ of my 25+ years attending the festival, and I usually run into a few "regulars" who also swim the morning hours (locals... I've yet to knowingly swim with any Sundance visitors). I've also gone for swims in this pool during the Summer, and while less bracing, it's always great.
To be honest, the facilities at the gym have gone down a little bit lately - the suit spinner didn't work this year, and there was a lot of noticeable wear and tear indoors - but the pool itself remains great. I highly recommend a chilly morning swim the next time you visit Sundance, as it might be the last time you get a chance to swim with me in those hills...
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