Some sobering news from Toronto:
If nobody knew anything before, they know even less now. The one sure thing is that moviemakers will now PAY to get their films released. The few remaining distributors can sit back and wait for movies to drop in their laps, often with P & A funds attached. All hopes of a hot sale at a festivals were dashed this year. Even Get Low, one of the hottest titles with Oscar-worthy performances on display, was still waiting at fest’s end for distributors to see it and place a reasonable bid. (As of Friday, Miramax, Sony Pictures Classics, Magnolia, Goldwyn were in the hunt.) Ex-ThinkFilm exec Mark Urman’s new service distribution company Paladin is well-positioned to take on releasing chores on high-quality films that can’t get arrested these days. There will be more than enough business to go around for the likes of Paladin and Abramorama Films (Anvil! The Story of Anvil) . Roadside Attractions and Apparition, with its relationship with Sony Worldwide Acquisitions Group, are also taking on service deals.
I saw one movie after another that was unreleasable in the current climate. As lovely as many of them were, they weren’t commercial enough. (Anthony Kaufman, Todd McCarthy and Karina Longworth weigh in.) It costs too much money these days to make a dent, a mark, an impression that will create enough urgency in filmgoers to make them go out and see a movie. While Ted Mundorff insists that business is up at indie-branded Landmark Cinemas around the country, and Apparition’s Bob Berney is hopeful that exec changes at Cinemark and AMC will bring a new awareness to booking the right movies in the right locations, the indie market needs help. “Movies that rise above like A Single Man or Bright Star will have a theatrical life for quite a while,” insists Berney. “For financial reasons, not enough good films were for sale for buyers. A lot of films were misses. If a film is not really special, there is no in between. It will not get a theatrical release. If it’s a half-way movie, audiences will skip it and watch it at home.”
Thompson on Hollywood
On the positive side, with fewer movies hitting theaters in the next year, there may be more room to move. That gives exhibitors an opportunity to push indie screens in their multi-plexes and supply some much-needed diversity.
[From Toronto Wrap: Indie Bloodbath - Thompson on Hollywood]