{"id":123893,"date":"2023-12-15T09:00:37","date_gmt":"2023-12-15T14:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/filmmakermagazine.com\/?p=123893"},"modified":"2024-01-18T19:39:05","modified_gmt":"2024-01-19T00:39:05","slug":"anthony-kaufman-hits-misses-sundance-2023-case-studies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmmakermagazine.com\/123893-anthony-kaufman-hits-misses-sundance-2023-case-studies\/","title":{"rendered":"Hits & Misses: How Six Sundance 2023 Titles Performed in Distribution"},"content":{"rendered":"

After nearly flatlining during the pandemic years, American independent film saw some signs of life in 2023. While optimists might call it a year of transition as the industry looks for new audiences and a new equilibrium, cynics see an unsustainable and contracting arthouse marketplace, with most producers and distributors increasingly unable to recoup. But, if you look at the fates of last year\u2019s Sundance titles, it wasn\u2019t as bad as it could have been.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For all the doom and gloom about the acquisitions market (\u201cNo one is buying films!\u201d), 10 out of 12 films in this year\u2019s Dramatic Competition eventually found U.S. distribution. (Two already had distributors, but it\u2019s still as good a record as any over the past decade.) However, apart from Netflix\u2019s exorbitant $20 million payout for Fair Play<\/i><\/a> and Searchlight\u2019s seven-figure deal for Theater Camp<\/i><\/a> (more below), sale prices were, in many cases, minimal, and box-office breakouts were rare. While some industry insiders blame the pandemic for irrevocably changing moviegoing habits, midsummer 2023 also brought a couple of other unforeseen obstacles for indies: the \u201cBarbenheimer\u201d effect, which sucked up all the press and screens, and the SAG-AFTRA strike, which prevented actors from promoting their cinematic labors-of-love.<\/p>\n

In terms of good news, Sundance provided a launchpad for two of this year\u2019s undisputed indie champions. With no stars and a first-time director, at press time Celine Song\u2019s Past Lives<\/i><\/a> had earned $10.9 million at the U.S. box office, another $9.4 million internationally, and is in line for major Academy Award recognition and a long tail on digital platforms. A24 distributed the film the old-fashioned way\u2014a word-of-mouth-style rollout over 16-plus weeks, slowly expanding from four to 906 theaters. A lot of companies have abandoned that approach altogether, betting on multi-hundred-screen launches. Particularly in the absence of virtual print fees, such wide releases are no longer cost prohibitive. It\u2019s easier, distributors say, to release films on a wider scale and maximize marketing and attention before more lucrative digital releases.<\/p>\n

A24 also had a very different kind of hit. Acquiring the Australian horror flick Talk to Me<\/i><\/a> (its directors\u2019 YouTube channel \u201cRackaRacka\u201d\u00a0has nearly 7 million subscribers) out of Sundance\u2019s Midnight section, it released the film across a broad 2,340 theaters in late July. After nearly three months in theatrical release, the movie eventually grossed more than $48 million in the United States, ranking among the top-grossing 50 titles of 2023 and staying in the \u201cTop Ten\u201d TVOD charts for weeks. A couple of Sundance success stories might not seem cause for celebration, but they are enough to keep hope alive.<\/p>\n

Most other filmmakers, however, faced an uncertain market. Benjamin Odell, producer of Christopher Zalla\u2019s Radical<\/i>, was delighted by the enthusiastic response to their film in Park City (where it won the Festival Favorite Award) but not by the deals they received from distributors. \u201cThe offers weren\u2019t really making business sense,\u201d he says. So, together with Pantelion Films, a division of TelevisaUnivision and Lionsgate, \u201cwe decided to take it out ourselves.\u201d The producers partnered with new marketing concern PaperAirplane (whose former Lionsgate executives had worked on Mexican superstar Eugenio Derbez\u2019s previous films) to tap into the Spanish-language demographic, and Participant to reach the arthouse market.\u00a0\u201cIt truly ended up being the best way to reach the different audiences that we believe this movie appeals to,\u201d says Odell. Results were solid, with an opening per-screen-average of around $6,000 on just over 420 theaters, and total box office set to exceed $8 million.<\/p>\n

Documentaries, however, have not seen any semblance of a rebound. It took months for acquisitions to trickle in, and the rare couple that were purchased and released\u2014Magnolia\u2019s CNN pick-up Little Richard: I Am Everything<\/i> (more below) and its NEXT section buy Kokomo City<\/i>\u2014both stalled with paltry theatrical sales of $131,490 and $77,278, respectively. Sundance\u2019s other big docs, such as The Deepest Breath<\/i><\/a> (Netflix), Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie<\/i><\/a> (Apple) and Judy Blume Forever<\/i><\/a> (Amazon) all went largely to their buyers\u2019 platforms, because, alas, that\u2019s where the industry believes they belong.<\/p>\n

Oscar-winning doc producer Diane Becker (Navalny<\/i>), who worked on Sundance documentary King Coal<\/i> (more below), believes that filmmakers need to \u201creset and redirect their expectations\u201d and raise funds for distribution early in their financing plans. \u201cWe all need to start thinking more outside the box and understand who our primary audience is and figure out meaningful and new ways to engage with them,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Fiction producer David Grove Churchill Viste (Birth\/Rebirth<\/i>) agrees. \u201cMore and more, it\u2019s getting harder to make a compelling argument to an investor to put money down when there are no buyers,\u201d he says. \u201cI think we\u2019re seeing a shift where there needs to be a distribution plan in place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Distributors also see a time to recalibrate. Roadside Attractions co-president Eric d\u2019Arbeloff believes the industry is never going back to the way it was. \u201cBecause the traditional older audience has been slow to come back\u201d and \u201cthe bread-and-butter movies for the arthouse aren\u2019t as steady,\u201d he says, producers and directors need to \u201cshift their mindset\u201d to cater to \u201cnew audiences\u201d primed for films that are \u201cmore commercial\u201d and \u201cgenre oriented.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe view \u2018specialty\u2019 film as evolving, and we think it\u2019s getting younger and more genre friendly,\u201d echoes Scott Shooman, head of AMC Networks Film Group, which oversees film companies IFC Films, Shudder and RLJE, as well as New York\u2019s IFC Center. \u201cIf you do the same thing you did five years ago, you\u2019re going to get schooled right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

How will these shifts impact another year of independent film? It\u2019s always difficult to say. Here are six case studies from this past year\u2019s Sundance (in order of release date) that indicate the current state, and potential future, of the marketplace.<\/p>\n

A Thousand and One\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/h1>\n

Release dates:<\/strong> March 31 (theaters), April 18 (TVOD), May 19 (SVOD, Peacock)<\/p>\n

Budget:<\/strong> Mid seven figures<\/p>\n

Domestic box office total:<\/strong> $3,400,020<\/p>\n

Widest release:<\/strong> 926 theaters<\/p>\n

Origins:<\/strong> Off the acclaim of her short film Feathers<\/i>, writer-director A.V. Rockwell begins taking meetings in 2018 with several production companies, including Lena Waithe\u2019s Hillman Grad, Sight Unseen and Brad Weston\u2019s Makeready, all of whom join forces to develop A Thousand and One<\/i><\/a>. Rockwell works on the project further while at the Sundance Directors and Screenwriters Labs in 2019 and continues to refine the project into the pandemic. \u201cShe was very meticulous with the script,\u201d says Sight Unseen\u2019s Julia Lebedev. The producers then bring the script to Focus Features. During COVID quarantine, Focus agrees to acquire the film as a negative pick-up. \u201cWe thought it was a thrilling piece of writing,\u201d says Kiska Higgs, Focus Features\u2019 president of production and acquisitions, acknowledging the project also fit into its annual slate of roughly five smaller budgeted films (in the range of mid-seven-figures).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Early on, the studio discusses casting someone \u201cwell-known\u201d in the title role, admits Higgs, \u201cbut A.V. was like, \u2018No, it has to be authentic.\u2019 And we were like, \u2018OK\u2019; she was right.\u201d In summer 2021, production wraps, but post takes longer than expected, as a new editor is brought in and Focus puts in more funds for music and grading \u201cto finish it at the level that we thought it deserved,\u201d says Higgs.<\/p>\n

Sales & Distribution:<\/strong> After A Thousand and One<\/i> wins the Sundance Dramatic Grand Jury Prize (\u201cIt\u2019s a great way to begin a campaign,\u201d says producer Eddie Vaisman), Focus releases the film aggressively on 926 screens on March 31 and earns a decent opening per-screen-average of $1,939 and total weekend grosses of about $1.8 million (boosted especially by New York City turnout). While reviews are fantastic\u2014scoring an 81 on Metacritic, with raves from the New York Times<\/i>, Los Angeles Times<\/i> and Washington Post<\/i> (\u201cA Thousand and One <\/i>isn\u2019t just worth seeing\u2014it\u2019s worth celebrating\u201d), the release isn\u2019t exactly orchestrated for theatrical longevity. Less than three weeks later, the film hits TVOD platforms on April 18 and then SVOD on\u00a0May 19 on Peacock (owned by Focus parent company NBCUniversal.) Total box office reaches $3.4 million.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Recoupment:<\/strong> According to Higgs, Focus is \u201cvery pleased with the performance\u201d and the theatrical release did what it needed to do: \u201cIt overperformed significantly in subsequent windows.\u201d Even months after the initial release, producer Lebedev says they\u2019re still getting emails from people affected by the movie. \u201cIt\u2019s obviously a challenging time to release dramas,\u201d she admits, \u201cbut the response has been tremendous.\u201d The film remains atop critic aggregation websites and is a frontrunner for indie-minded year-end accolades. \u201cWe look at it as a success,\u201d says Vaisman. \u201cNot every movie is a financial windfall, but for us, the real win is the reception of the movie, and we got to make the movie we wanted to make.\u201d Meanwhile, Rockwell\u2019s career continues to rise: She signs with commercial company Prettybird (which reps Daniels, among others) and directs a major spot for Visa and the National Football League while planning her next feature.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Little Richard:\u00a0<\/span><\/b>I Am Everything<\/b><\/h1>\n

Release dates:<\/strong> April 11 (one-night theatrical event), theatrical and TVOD (April 21), cable television (September 4), November 23 (SVOD, Max)<\/p>\n

Budget:<\/strong> Low seven figures<\/p>\n

Domestic box office total:<\/strong> $131,940<\/p>\n

Widest release:<\/strong> 560 theaters<\/p>\n

Origins:<\/strong> After music icon Little Richard dies in spring 2020, producer-director Lisa Cort\u00e9s (All In: The Fight for Democracy<\/i>) learns that Bungalow Media + Entertainment has been developing a project about the musician. Cort\u00e9s joins forces with Bungalow and develops a pitch. \u201cI really wanted to establish the interiority of this person, and that he was an instigator for change at certain points in American and queer history,\u201d says Cort\u00e9s. In spring 2021, CNN Films comes onboard to fully finance a low-seven-figures budget. \u201cMusic documentaries have always been a sweet spot for us,\u201d says CNN Worldwide EVP Amy Entelis.<\/p>\n

The team brings on additional producers, including Caryn Capotosto (Won\u2019t You Be My Neighbor?<\/i>) and archive producers Gideon Kennedy and Richard Remsberg to gather material and mobilize the project. For Cort\u00e9s, the film\u2019s glittering \u201cdreamscapes,\u201d enabled by visual effects supervisor Fons Schiedon, were particularly key\u2014\u201cand we stayed on budget,\u201d she adds. With the help of Jake Hostetter, editor Nyneve Laura Minnear finishes post on the film in 2022.<\/p>\n

Sales & Distribution:<\/strong> Following its Sundance world premiere, Magnolia Pictures acquires global rights from CNN with a planned April theatrical launch date. On April 11, Magnolia kicks off the release with a special one-night-only event across more than 500 theaters before a day-and-date TVOD and theatrical release on April 21. \u201cWe\u2019ve found that an eventized launch is usually a good strategy for music docs,\u201d says Neal Block, Magnolia Pictures head of distribution and marketing. \u201cWhen you have a known quantity like Little Richard\u2014a star, a legend\u2014we don\u2019t need to educate the general public about him. We can put the film in a lot of theaters, make audiences aware of it, then quickly move to VOD, drafting off the same advertising and messaging to get the at-home audience to transact.\u201d But theatrical ticket sales never catch fire alongside the VOD launch: Per-screen-averages barely exceed a few hundred dollars and piddle out to slightly less than $100 in the release\u2019s final few weeks. Block maintains that VOD sales have done \u201cvery well for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, CNN\u2019s early September broadcast of the film ranks in the top five cable shows in its timeslot, according to CNN, while Magnolia sells the film to more than 20 territories internationally. On November 23, the film launches on CNN parent company Warner Bros. Discovery\u2019s SVOD platform Max.<\/p>\n

Recoupment:<\/strong> Cort\u00e9s points to the range of releases and continued interest in the film (they\u2019re getting invites from international festivals into the winter) as evidence of the film\u2019s \u201crobust and expansive\u201d reach. \u201cI think people are looking for a continuum in the work that I do and the communities I\u2019m interested in shedding a light on,\u201d she continues. \u201cDuring a time when there are visible ways that the country wants to negate Black history, there is an urgency to the telling of these stories.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cort\u00e9s plans to announce her next project soon. It won\u2019t be with CNN Films\u2014which no longer commissions documentaries\u2014but she says the company continues to champion the film and support its awards ambitions.<\/p>\n

Block says observers shouldn\u2019t take away too much from the weak theatrical box office. \u201cThe whole ecosystem of the film\u2014from event cinema screenings to additional theatrical to VOD to CNN to Max\u2014is taken into consideration when we think about the success of the film,\u201d he says. \u201cThis one will also have a long tail. It\u2019ll be a cornerstone of our library for many years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Theater Camp<\/b><\/h1>\n

Release dates:<\/strong> July 14 (theatrical), September 14 (TVOD and SVOD, Hulu)<\/p>\n

Budget:<\/strong> Mid seven figures<\/p>\n

Domestic box office total:<\/strong> $4,009,945<\/p>\n

Widest release:<\/strong> 555 theaters<\/p>\n

Origins:<\/strong> In 2020, then-rising actors and longtime friends Ben Platt (who broke out in the stage production of Dear Evan Hansen<\/i>), Molly Gordon (Booksmart<\/i>), Noah Gavin and writer-director Nick Lieberman release a comedy short on YouTube called Theater Camp<\/i>, which serves as proof of concept for their debut feature. Will Ferrell and Adam McKay\u2019s Gloria Sanchez Productions sign on to produce alongside Picturestart\u2019s Erik Feig (Cha Cha Real Smooth<\/i>); they had all worked together on Am I OK?<\/i>, which co-starred Gordon. During the COVID summer of 2020, they commission a loose \u201cscript-ment\u201d for the semi-improvised feature and begin pitching it to other financiers as a comedy in the vein of Christopher Guest meets Wet Hot American Summer <\/i>meets School of Rock<\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After one financier pulls out of the project as a result of a casting change, the producers turn to Topic Studios, which completes financing for the mid-seven-figures budget. Shooting over just 19 days in the Catskills in summer 2022, says Feig, \u201cwas an ambitious schedule, with multiple performances, kids and improvisations. Although the above-the-line costs were relatively modest, we were as efficient as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sales & Distribution:<\/strong> On the first Saturday of Sundance, Theater Camp <\/i>premieres with much fanfare, complete with a live performance from the kids in the film. (\u201cIt was overwhelming,\u201d says Gloria Sanchez producer Jessica Elbaum). Says Feig, \u201cIf you asked us before Sundance what would happen with a feel-good movie that plays across audiences, we thought the streamers would eat it up.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But after the premiere, they wait. \u201cI think buyers were still looking to see what was out there and not wanting to get caught up in a bidding war,\u201d says Feig. The next day, according to the team, Searchlight\u2019s top executives stream the film on Sundance\u2019s digital viewing platform, meet in their condo and stay up into the wee hours of the morning to finalize a worldwide rights deal for a reported $8 million.<\/p>\n

On July 14, fittingly in midsummer, Searchlight opens the film across six theaters in New York and Los Angeles,\u00a0with a stellar per-screen average of\u00a0$50,203 (the company\u2019s\u00a0biggest per-screen average since Jojo Rabbit<\/i> in 2019). With an \u201cA\u201d CinemaScore and \u201cexcellent\u201d exit polls in major cities, according to Searchlight, the film expands in subsequent weeks across hundreds of screens. To promote the film, Searchlight partners with a wide mix of youth camps, college theater groups,
\nimprov groups and public theater groups to promote and sell tickets.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But there were a couple problems along the way. \u201cI don\u2019t think anyone realized how huge \u2018Barbenheimer\u2019 was going to be,\u201d says Feig, who blames the two films, in part, for hurting Theater Camp<\/i>\u2019s expansion, just eight days after Barbie<\/i> and Oppenheimer<\/i> opened. On top of the \u201cBarbenheimer\u201d squeeze, there was the SAG-AFTRA strike, which began right as it opened. \u201cWe had been booked on Good Morning America<\/i> with the four creatives and the kids, and suddenly, the cast all had to go dark,\u2019 says Feig. \u201cIt was exceptionally unlucky,\u201d adds Elbaum.<\/p>\n

On September 14, the film goes out simultaneously on TVOD and SVOD (via Searchlight parent company Walt Disney\u2019s platform Hulu).<\/p>\n

Recoupment:<\/strong> While theatrical ticket sales ultimately underperform, the producers consider their project a success. \u201cAs financiers, we made our money back, and that\u2019s a victory,\u201d says Feig. \u201cBut it would have been a sweeter victory if the theatrical release was successful.\u201d While Searchlight might take some time to recoup its $8 million deal, the film performed strongly on Hulu, according to Feig, and its original soundtrack also sold better than expected.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think people are watching it and discovering it, and it\u2019s going to have a cult following and a long life,\u201d says Elbaum. \u201cAnd I think it\u2019s done a lot for Molly and Nick as filmmakers.\u201d The producers also reserved live stage rights. Though nothing is set yet, says Feig, \u201cIt\u2019s a great idea for a touring show!\u201d<\/p>\n

Shortcomings\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/h1>\n

Release dates:<\/strong> August 4 (theatrical), September 12 (TVOD), TBD (SVOD, Netflix)<\/p>\n

Budget:<\/strong> Low seven figures<\/p>\n

Domestic box office total:<\/strong> $675,257<\/p>\n

Widest release:<\/strong> 404 theaters<\/p>\n

Origins:<\/strong> In 2019, Fresh Off the Boat<\/i> star Randall Park and his producing partner Hieu Ho start production company Imminent Collision and begin actively looking for a feature project to jumpstart the company. When they learn Roadside Attractions is developing a project with Adrian Tomine, author of the graphic novel Shortcomings<\/i>, Park pitches them on a feature. \u201cRandall was the perfect director to elevate the material,\u201d says Roadside\u2019s Eric d\u2019Arbeloff, who, together with Imminent Collision, develop the project and decide to seek outside financing. \u201cBut it was incredibly challenging, what we were trying to do,\u201d says Ho, \u201ctelling a story about multidimensional Asian characters. Financiers were not jumping up and down.\u201d Before funding is fully committed, the team secures rising star Justin Min (The Umbrella Academy<\/i>) in order to prove \u201cthis was real, and the train was leaving the station,\u201d says Ho. By fall 2021, Topic Studios comes on board, followed by Tango Entertainment, which agrees to co-finance the 24-day shoot on a low-seven-figures budget in summer 2022. \u201cThe goal was to take this to Sundance, and to see what happens with it,\u201d says d\u2019Arbeloff.<\/p>\n

Sales & Distribution:<\/strong> After the Sundance premiere, reviews are mostly solid, with many calling the film funny and insightful, if a bit formulaic. (Ho disputes the idea that audiences have seen this before. \u201cWhen was the last time people saw this kind of portrait of Asians?\u201d he says. \u201cBetter Luck Tomorrow<\/i> [from 2002] is one of the only examples.\u201d) In early March, Sony Pictures Classics announces the acquisition of worldwide rights; the producers are excited to work with a legacy company with a theatrical commitment. The film opens aggressively across 404 screens on August 4, earning $300,949 (and a mediocre per-theater average of $745). In subsequent weeks, theater counts and ticket sales continue to tumble. Even so, Ho says, \u201cTo have your film play in theaters across the country is an incredible honor, and we can\u2019t take that for granted.\u201d Ho also blames \u201cBarbenheimer,\u201d in part, for the film failing to gain momentum. \u201cAnd when you have a small film that was not being platformed, it becomes more difficult to sustain a shot.\u201d<\/p>\n

The film drops on TVOD platforms in mid-September and will eventually appear on Netflix via a Sony output deal with the streamer, reaching an even wider audience.<\/p>\n

Recoupment:<\/strong> The producers are optimistic that the film will eventually be profitable after all revenue streams are considered, but Ho ultimately feels a \u201csense of pride\u201d that the film was simply made and released at all. \u201cIt was meant to contribute to the spectrum of our humanity,\u201d he says. \u201cThere\u2019s an incredible amount of Asian talent out there, and there just needs to be more opportunities out there for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

King Coal<\/b><\/h1>\n

Release dates:<\/strong> August 11 (theatrical), 2024 (broadcast, POV<\/i>)<\/p>\n

Budget:<\/strong> High six figures to low seven figures<\/p>\n

Domestic box office total:<\/strong> around $50,000<\/p>\n

Widest release:<\/strong> 50+ theaters<\/p>\n

Origins:<\/strong> Nearly four years in the making, Elaine McMillion Sheldon<\/a>\u2019s poetic Appalachian elegy about the coal industry\u2019s grip on the region gets its first big supporter with Oscar-winning producer Shane Boris (Navalny<\/i>, Fire of Love<\/i>). Soon after, fellow Navalny<\/i> producer Diane Becker joins the team followed by author and producer Peggy Drexler. Through a wide range of grants (West Virginia Humanities Council, Tribeca Film Institute Gucci Fund, Sundance Institute Development Fund, Catapult Film Fund, Field of Vision, Creative Capital and the Guggenheim Foundation), the filmmakers raise $265,000, around 20% of the film\u2019s overall budget. The remaining budget is funded through equity, 90% of which comes from Drexler\u2019s Drexler Films (My Name is Pauli Murray<\/i>) and the remaining amount from new funder Heather Baldry at Narrow Vision Endeavours.<\/p>\n

Sales & Distribution:<\/strong> At Sundance, King Coal<\/i> is relegated, for better or worse, to the festival\u2019s more innovative NEXT section. Cinetic Media represents U.S. sales. Responses to the in-person screenings are strong, but somewhat muted outside the theater; none of the trades even review the film, apart from IndieWire, which offers a moderately positive evaluation. With few theatrical opportunities out of Sundance for most films, the filmmakers decide to mount a self-distribution campaign.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Working with Mia Bruno\u2019s Fourth Act Film, they originally plan out a release in 10 to 15 markets, kicking off with one-week \u201ceventized\u201d showings at New York\u2019s DCTV Firehouse Theater on August 11 (with live folk music) and Los Angeles\u2019s Laemmle on August 25. Much to their pleasant surprise, the film is held over in both venues and begins booking across the country, both in big cities and regional areas, scheduled all the way through spring 2024.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

MPRM publicist Sylvia Desrochers credits positive reviews in the New York Times<\/i> (\u201ca cumulative eulogy for a way of life\u201d), the Wall Street Journal<\/i> (\u201ca reverie for a time that is quickly passing\u201d) and a mention in Esquire<\/i>\u2019s \u201cBest Documentaries of 2023 (So Far)\u201d list, posted in September, in helping reach a wider audience. At The Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville, Penn., the film plays side by side with, and trailers run before, Killers of the Flower Moon<\/i>. Other notable sold-out screenings take place at The Granada Theater in Bluefield, W.Va, the Belcourt Theatre in Nashville, Tenn. and The Neon theater in Dayton, Ohio, with support from Dayton resident and American Factory<\/i> filmmaker Steve Bognar.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the factors is having filmmakers who are engaged and doing the work and excited about talking to people,\u201d says Bruno, adding that guests from the film were present for about half of the film\u2019s more than 80 screenings. (Sheldon was pregnant through much of the release and had to stop touring in mid-September.) \u201cIt has made real money. We are on track to make $50,000 gross revenue,\u201d Bruno notes, claiming they earned back their marketing budget and travel expenses.<\/p>\n

According to producer Shane Boris, the run generated more revenue directly for the producers than \u201cany other theatrical release I\u2019ve done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recoupment:<\/strong> While Boris admits the project is not profitable yet, the film closes a deal for PBS\u2019s POV<\/i> 2024 slate. \u201cWe had other interest, but POV<\/i> was our best opportunity,\u201d he says.\u00a0The producers continue to retain educational and foreign rights.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Regarding the film\u2019s independent release, Sheldon, whose previous documentaries Heroin(e)<\/i> and Recovery Boys <\/i>were Netflix\u00a0Originals, adds, \u201cI have to say, there is extraordinary power in connecting with audiences one-on-one. We often evaluate a film\u2019s success on money made and quantity of eyeballs reached, but this release has had a very valuable \u2018quality\u2019 of reach,\u201d she explains. \u201cWe feel a great sense of satisfaction knowing that groups of people have gathered to watch and discuss this film together while at the same time supporting the work of many independent cinemas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Birth\/Rebirth<\/b><\/h1>\n

Release dates:<\/strong> August 18 (theatrical), September 5 (TVOD), November 10 (SVOD, Shudder)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Budget:<\/strong> Low seven figures<\/p>\n

Domestic box office total:<\/strong> $138,617<\/p>\n

Widest release:<\/strong> 137 theaters<\/p>\n

Origins:<\/strong> Seven years ago, actor David Dastmalchian introduces producer Mali Elfman to writer-director Laura Moss<\/a>. Sharing an interest in female-driven horror films, they hit it off. They try to get a more ambitious project off the ground but are unable to raise financing, so they pivot to their Frankenstein<\/i>-inspired maternal horror flick. After originally setting it up in 2018 under the name After Birth<\/i>, Elfman eventually decides to part ways with with Fangoria, the magazine-turned-production company, over conflicting views on the budget. She maintains the need for a union crew, for example. \u201cIt\u2019s really hard to say \u2018no,\u2019\u201d she says, \u201cbut I thought, \u2018We\u2019re not going to be able to make the film that we want to make.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2020, Moss participates in the\u00a0Sundance\u00a0Screenwriters and\u00a0Directors Labs and begins to field further interest.\u00a0\u201cWe were excited about their creative vision,\u201d says Shudder executive Samuel Zimmerman, who, along with Emily Gotto, Shudder\u2019s VP of acquisitions, gets behind the project, but COVID stops the momentum. Then, in early 2022, they restart plans to shoot the film on a budget of low seven figures with Shudder, while Elfman brings on David Grove Churchill Viste (How to Blow Up a Pipeline<\/i>) as a producing partner. That summer, armed with years of preparation (\u201cWe had millions of conversations about it over the pandemic, and Laura knew what they wanted,\u201d says Elfman), they move lightning fast, shooting the film from August to September and submitting a cut to Sundance just three weeks later. \u201cI think that compressed deadline made for a better film,\u201d adds Viste. \u201cWe had to go so quickly and kill our darlings so soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sales & Distribution:<\/strong> Birth\/Rebirth<\/i> premieres in Sundance\u2019s Midnights section (even before color correction is finished), and trade reviews are mostly positive (Variety<\/i> calls it \u201csuperbly performed, enjoyably queasy\u201d). Shudder\u2019s sister company IFC Films commits to a theatrical release, while Focus Features acquires international rights. The film opens on more than 130 screens in August, earning a weak $333 per-theater average. According to Viste, the theatrical release was \u201cnot as wonderful as I would have hoped,\u201d with bookings in suburban areas that didn\u2019t connect with the film. But, he says, drive-ins and second-run theaters \u201creally drove our numbers up in an appreciable way.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Elfman, the SAG-AFTRA strike hurt the most. \u201cBecause we are an independent film without a P&A budget, we really rely on the talent.\u201d she says. \u201cWithout them, it\u2019s much harder to reach a broader audience.\u201d Total box office after five weeks hits just under $140,000. But Scott Shooman, head of AMC Networks Film Group, is satisfied with the results. \u201cWe were really happy with the reception of the film and what [the release] did to introduce it in a scalable way and set it up for Shudder\u2019s dedicated fanbase,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Recoupment:<\/strong> With a Rotten Tomatoes score in the high 90s, Birth\/Rebirth <\/i>ends up being the best reviewed American genre film of the year. \u201cOn a purely creative level, the investment has already been an outstanding success,\u201d says Shudder\u2019s Zimmerman. Financially, the producers are also pleased. \u201cWe made the project we set out to make in the way we wanted and showed that you can stick to your guns and say yes to the right money, even if you have to wait,\u201d says Elfman. \u201cI think we have precedent for what we want to do next.\u201d Now, Elfman and team are back to shopping around the project they set out to make together years ago, a more ambitious horror-comedy called Gordon<\/i>. And Shudder appears to be interested. \u201cWe look forward to continuing to do business with them,\u201d says Shooman.<\/p>\n

This piece was edited after publication to correct the quoted box-office amount for <\/em>King Coal and to clarify the film’s producing credits and equity financing splits. \u2014 Editor<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After nearly flatlining during the pandemic years, American independent film saw some signs of life in 2023. While optimists might call it a year of transition as the industry looks for new audiences and a new equilibrium, cynics see an unsustainable and contracting arthouse marketplace, with most producers and distributors increasingly unable to recoup. But, if you look at the fates of last year\u2019s Sundance titles, it wasn\u2019t as bad as it could have been.\u00a0 For all the doom and gloom about the acquisitions market (\u201cNo one is buying films!\u201d), 10 out of 12 films in this year\u2019s Dramatic Competition […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":115,"featured_media":123897,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_column":0},"categories":[3523,3407],"tags":[22129,23753,23777,24627,23840,23818,24626],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmmakermagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123893"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmmakermagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmmakermagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmmakermagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/115"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmmakermagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123893"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/filmmakermagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123893\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":124023,"href":"https:\/\/filmmakermagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123893\/revisions\/124023"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmmakermagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmmakermagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmmakermagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmmakermagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}