I write about the festivals themselves and I leave the critique of the films to the experts (the nerds who sit in the theater all day and write big reviews that we cannot understand). Lets talk people and the mood of Sundance.
OK enough of the bitching that it’s all about Hollywood releases and not what it used to be. Sundance has become a huge success. This place is happening. Filmmakers from all over the world come here to look, talk, share and some actually learn. I felt that people were optimistic about the future. More young people here, except for me, and that’s a good thing. More room in the restaurants. Good for being able to talk to strangers about film, bad for the owners and the cabbies. Back to the bitching. It seems that if your film gets in, it’s a well run festival. And if not, it sucks. This festival works. It does what it was designed to do. It gives us a sense of the direction that movies, documentaries, shorts, indies are all going in both creativity and production. Is big in? Or is small? People or style? Reality or fantasy? Comedy or tragedy? Or maybe everything at once. This year I felt like it was everything at once.
The mood was a kind of cynical hope for the industry. The movies themselves also reflected this mood. “When all around us sucks, entertain me.” This festival also does what is most important. It brings filmmakers together in one town to actually talk and stop texting. Well not everyone. I sat next to one woman who was texting the entire movie under her cheap fur coat. Let’s outlaw bluetooths and texting for a 24-hour period and see who’s left standing. Less parties, money I guess. More real people dramas and documentaries. Better live music and the food is always good. The women at the box office are amazing. And the Ray-Ban ladies made my day, but not my night.
The weather was too hot. The skiing (don’t let Chris Cooney read this) was wet but fun. Not as many drunks, but I am going to bed earlier. Not a big ad presence week two. I may be in the minority but we need to be here. The lines between films and advertising are shrinking and because both reflect the mood of a country and a culture, we need to share more and not just when we have something showing here. My favorites: Humpday, about two straight guys making a porn (sounds like me and Ferg), Afghan Star, In the Loop, Pulse, Heart of Stone, and Helen.
We need to step outside our own whiney hiney ad world and see what’s going on. We keep talking about the new and nobody is doing it. We want to expand advertising. The only way to do that is to get out of advertising and go interact with other forms of entertainment: music, film, sports, sex. Yeah money’s tight in the film business just like in the ad world. But shooting tight with a good story is still a great formula for success. Movies about people. Tight shots of faces. No more than two or three people in a scene. Limited locations. Documentary-style cinematography. Smaller crews. Performance and story are driving the bus. Real life situations. I feel this is the direction we are also moving into in ad land. Enough texting and cross consultants. Think man, think.
The film business needs Sundance.
[Tom Mooney is president of N.Y.-based production house Moon.]
L.A. Location Lensing Declines In 2024 Despite Uptick In 4th Quarter
FilmLA, partner film office for the City and County of Los Angeles and other local jurisdictions, has issued an update regarding regional filming activity. Overall production in Greater Los Angeles increased 6.2 percent from October through December 2024 to 5,860 Shoot Days (SD) according to FilmLA’s latest report. Most production types tracked by FilmLA achieved gains in the fourth quarter, except for reality TV, which instead logged its ninth consecutive quarter of year-over-year decline.
The lift across all remaining categories came too late to rescue 2024 from the combined effects of runaway production, industry contraction and slower-than-hoped-for post- strike recovery. With just 23,480 SD filmed on-location in L.A. in 2024, overall annual production finished the year 5.6 percent below the prior year. That made 2024 the second least productive year observed by FilmLA; only 2020, disrupted by the global COVID-19 pandemic, saw lower levels of filming in area communities.
The continuing decline of reality TV production in Los Angeles was among the most disappointing developments of 2024. Down 45.7 percent for the fourth quarter (to 774 SD), the category also finished the year down 45.9 percent (to 3,905 SD), which placed
it 43.1 percent below its five-year category average.
The two brightest spots in FilmLA’s latest report appeared in the feature film and television drama categories. Feature film production increased 82.4 percent in the fourth quarter to 589 SD, a gain analysts attribute to independent film activity. The
California Film & Television Tax Credit Program also played a part, driving 19.2 percent of quarterly category activity. Overall, annual Feature production was up 18.8 percent in 2024, though the... Read More