The commercialization of the Sundance Film Festival has been a favorite indie film topic for several years. That won't end at the 1998 edition, which begins today and runs through 25 January in Park City, Utah.
In the week preceding the Sundance Film Festival, it has become customary for rookie filmmakers (usually accompanied by business managers, agents, and lawyers) to take a tour of the leading distributors. Once there, they state their demands.
Tom Bernard, co-founder and co-president of Sony Pictures Classics, saw eight such groups this week. Each let him know the price range for its film and which Sundance screenings would be appropriate for negotiations.
"One of the things that has become distasteful about Sundance, yet is increasingly prevalent," said Bernard, "are filmmakers who talk about how they are going to win the lottery and get millions of dollars for their movie.
"For me, the festival for so many years has been about the art of movies, peers mingling and appreciating new talent. Each year, Sundance becomes more about commerce, but the Class of '98 really takes the cake."
Premiering a film at Sundance, the festival that launched the careers of Quentin Tarantino, Kevin Smith, Robert Rodriguez, and dozens of other indie stars, has become an increasingly high-profile and high-stakes venture. That is particularly true in the sections where prizes are awarded. The dramatic competition once primarily showcased new talent - first-time directors and producers, no-name casts, and micro-budgets. At the 1998 festival, stars including Anjelica Huston, William Macy, Ally Sheedy, Ted Danson, Charles Durning, and Joe Mantegna appear in films eligible for prizes.
Rather than wooing high-priced celebrities, some filmmakers have been using digital technology to add low-cost production value to their films. One of those is Lynn Hershman Leeson, who invented and patented a QuickTime and Photoshop-driven technology that allowed her to create low-cost digital sets. Her film, Conceiving Ada, which premieres at Sundance on 16 January, is an ode to Lord Byron's daughter Ada Lovelace, who is credited with creating the first computer program.
"Our cinematographer said his budget for the entire shoot was what his telephone budget would be on a studio film," Leeson said. "We were able to just click a button and get another set, instead of taking three to four days to build one."
Sundance's New Media Center, now in its third year, will demonstrate a number of digital technologies designed to help the independent filmmaker. Included at the center will be demonstrations of new gear from Adobe Systems, Avid Technologies, and Sony Electronics.
Other Sundance films steeped in new technologies include Pi, a low-budget technothriller which stars a giant homemade supercomputer; Modulations, Iara Lee's history of the rave scene; and the Canadian sci-fi/horror film Cube, in which a maze with artificial intelligence traps six unwitting victims.
