Low-Budget Films and the Distribution Crisis

What happens to the hundreds of films that get submitted to Sundance every year but don't make it into the Festival? What happens to those that do get in but never get theatrical distribution? What can our community do to increase access to films? What does the future hold in terms of distribution possibilities? What are the financial standards that measure success for an independent in today's market? How have these standards changed? Films like El Mariachi, Clerks, and sex, lies, and videotape were major indie "successes"; if they performed the same at today's box office, would they still be considered successful? Moderator Gary Meyer, cofounder of Landmark Theatres, currently heads Ideas, a motion-picture consulting group working with the Dockers Classically Independent Film Festival, a touring showcase of indie works without distribution. He is joined by a panel of filmmakers, distributors, and exhibitors. This panel is sponsored by the Los Angeles Times.

As you use our Online Archives, please understand that the information presented from Festivals, Labs, and other activities is taken directly from official publications from each year. While this information is limited and doesn't necessarily represent the full list of participants (e.g. actors and crew), it is the list given to us by the main film/play/project contact at the time, based on the space restrictions of our publications. Each entry in the Online Archives is meant as a historical record of a particular film, play, or project at the time of its involvement with Sundance Institute. For this reason, we can only amend an entry if a name is misspelled, or if the entry does not correctly reflect the original publication. If you have questions or comments, please email [email protected]