The relevance of the Sundance Independent Film Festival to the commercialmaking community has taken on additional dimensions this year, as chronicled by reporter Sarah Woodward in a two-part story, the first installment of which is in this week’s issue (see p. 1).
Continuing are the traditional crossover dynamics: ad agencies looking to "discover" new filmmaking talent, production companies scouting for emerging directors, spot directors extending their reach into short films and feature-length fare, even commercial editorial and post houses seeking to make forays into longform.
But other elements have surfaced at Sundance and concurrently running festivals in Park City, Utah (i.e.—Slamdance, SlamDunk, DigiDance), including a significant dot-com presence. Though some of the dot-com applications being touted are nebulous hype, there are potentially significant implications down the road for aspiring filmmakers looking to gain exposure. Specialized entertainment sites contend they will provide a new distribution means, by serving as a clearinghouse for deserving product in search of an audience. Conceivably, commercial production house executives, as well as agency creatives and producers, would eventually be able to tap into these pipelines, finding up-and-coming directors in the process.
Also figuring into the talent mix are young filmmakers who, being strapped for funding, are shooting with digital cameras. Having developed a working familiarity with digital lensing, they may be able to bring a grab bag of tricks from that discipline that could enhance mainstream advertising.
There’s another bit of Sundance crossover that’s high on my personal wish list: increased female representation in directorial ranks. As earlier reported (SHOOT, 12/17/99, p. 8), the Directors Guild of America (DGA) released the results of its annual report on women and minority hiring. The study’s bottom-line finding was that the share of work for women and minority directors declined in calendar year ’98.
DGA women directors worked 10.2 percent of the total days worked by Guild directors during ’98, down from 10.7 percent in ’97. The ’98 figure is the lowest employment percentage for DGA women directors since ’90, and marks the third consecutive year that employment levels for female helmers have declined. (The DGA has been tracking percentages for women in film and tape since ’83 and ’86, respectively.)
The DGA report also found that women first assistant directors slipped from 20.8 percent in ’97 to 19.4 percent in ’98. Female unit production managers dropped from 19.9 to 19.2 percent.
"Hiring practices that yield the results indicated by these overall employment numbers are a grave disservice to the entire industry," stated DGA national executive director Jay D. Roth. "For many years, the DGA has held meetings with employers about the problem, but these results are an indication that the companies have an urgent need to do more."
The recently concluded Sundance Festival provided a stirring departure from the DGA numbers. According to festival organizers, 29 of the 113 feature films shown at Sundance were directed by women. That tally of 29 was a record high for Sundance. The news was welcomed by Women in Film, a group which honored one of the directors, Lisa Krueger, for being an industry pioneer. Krueger has a couple of Sundance films to her credit: Manny & Lo (’96), and this year’s Committed.
The Sundance showing at least represents a significant step in the right direction, providing others with the resolve to help rectify the situation. "The DGA has been working hard to bring to light the fact that women and minority directors, and directors’ team members, are terribly underrepresented," said DGA first VP Martha Coolidge. "We will continue this struggle for equality and do all that we can to provide more opportunities for our women and minority members to further their careers."
