Walk down Main Street in Park City during the Sundance Film Festival, and chances are you’ll come across a young wannabe filmmaker sporting a sign that says, "Will work for distribution." It’s an old ploy that probably doesn’t work. But this year, a new one seems to be catching on: "Will work with corporate America."
As reported last week, the 2001 Sundance Film Festival demonstrates an evolving relationship between big business and independent filmmaking, and how companies are exploring more subtle ways to reach consumers through branded entertainment. One example is Chris Smith’s documentary entry Home Movie, which was conceived by TBWA/Chiat/ Day, Los Angeles, for Homestore. com. Should the film find a distribution deal, it could mark the beginning of a new economic model for marketers (SHOOT, 2/2, p. 1).
Another example is Ford’s Focus in Film program in association with AtomFilms and Detroit agency J. Walter Thompson. Then there’s Stacy Peralta’s Dogtown and Z-Boys, winner of Sundance’s documentary directing award and the documentary audience award, as well as director Janet Galore’s Violence of the Lambs, an episode of the Web series Fishbar, which was part of the first Sundance Online Film Festival.
Dogtown, an autobiographical film about the first skateboard team to be sponsored by a major apparel company, Vans, was also paid for by Vans. Meanwhile, Fishbar, created by Seattle-based Honkworm, was conceived as a branding vehicle for clients such as Budweiser.
"With the increasing importance of the Internet to branding efforts, corporations find themselves having to think like media companies," said Honkworm CEO Johan Liedgren. "Offering major advertisers entertainment that builds brand equity and a loyal audience is the focus of our business."
Some Sundance attendees, however, expressed reluctance at the notion of corporate financing. "Anyone who wants to give us money and complete creative control, we’d consider," said Jacob Kornbluth, who, with his brother, Josh, directed Haiku Tunnel, which was part of Sundance’s American Spectrum showcase. "But it’s hard to imagine the types of things we want to do being commercially viable."
"There is a trend toward more branded content," agreed Trevor Macy, COO of bicoastal/international Propaganda Films, and formerly COO of Sundance. "But that intersection [of content and sponsorship] isn’t going to come from the maverick filmmakers at Sundance."
Documentarian Susan Froemke of New York-based Maysles Films also believes the connection between commerce and indie film has its limitations. Froemke was at Sundance with Lalee’s Kin: The Legacy of Cotton, which she co-directed with Albert Maysles and Deborah Dickson, and which explores the lasting effects of slavery on an impoverished Southern community. Shot by Maysles, the film won the excellence in cinematography award.
"I love doing corporate work," Froemke said. "Our clients like Fannie Mae have a great appreciation for our style of filmmaking. But in corporate work, casting is so critical. Generally they want it to be aspirational; they have an image to think about. Lalee [the main subject of our film] would never be filmed for a corporation."
Even given the likely sale of Smith’s Home Movie, executive producer Susanne Preissler, whose Los Angeles-based Independent Media reps the director in the commercial arena, cautions that recreating a similar branding scenario won’t be easy. "You can’t set it up in advance, promising the client that they’ll get some of their money back from a distribution deal, because there’s no guarantee the film will sell," she explained. Still, she expects that others will try, and she will continue to explore opportunities in branded entertainment. "It’s a very tricky process," she related. "But if another vendor is interested in something like this, I’d say, tell them to call me."
Beyond Branding
Beyond the apparent branding opportunities that have emerged at Sundance, several members of the advertising community found other reasons to travel to Park City. "It’s not so much to find the next director, as it is to see what’s current—and to enrich yourself," observed producer Henry Lu of Wieden+ Kennedy, Portland, Ore. Lu has attended Sundance several times, but this year he came with the competition short Miguel, which he produced and directed. "A few years ago we saw Run Lola Run, and we were all blown away by the amazing way that story was told." At this year’s festival, he continued, "I was taken by the strength of the documentaries. It reminds you that to find real people and real stories is important. I don’t think people get tired of that."
By contrast, Frank Scherma and Jon Kamen, co-proprietors of bicoastal/international @radical.media, were in Utah to meet filmmakers. "It’s smart for us because the right project needs the right director, and all filmmakers are looking for good projects," Scherma said.
Meanwhile, director Mike Bigelow of Hollywood-based Space Program is contemplating directing a short film of his own. He came to Sundance to see what films make it into the Festival, and to gauge audience reaction. "I’m mainly here to learn and absorb, to see both successful films and films that failed," he reported. "Because outside of film festivals, you rarely get to see those films that didn’t connect with an audience, because they don’t get picked up."
Director Michael Cuesta of bicoastal/international The A&R Group praised the opportunities open to helmers with films screening at the Festival. With a couple of distribution offers to contemplate, it seemed at press time that his feature debut, L.I.E, which he co-wrote with his brother Gerald, a copywriter at FCB, New York, and Stephen M. Ryder, was on the verge of being picked up. "Sundance is a market," said the director. "That’s why it’s great to have your film shown here, because it will be seen."
SHOOT’s coverage of the 2001 Sundance Film Festival will continue in next week’s issue.
