PARK CITY, Utah – Documentary filmmakers don't fear digital video; they know the best outlet for their work may be television. And shorts filmmakers, whose most frequent target is the DV-ready Internet, also have embraced DV.
But most feature filmmakers continue to dream of 35mm film. Why? Because theatrical release – the golden ring of independent filmmaking – still means having a 35mm print.
However, forces are at work to eradicate the DV-phobia that afflicts some feature filmmakers. Many of the DV advocates are using this week's Sundance Film Festival as a platform.
Among the numerous initiatives that intend to de-stigmatize digital feature filmmaking are InDigEnt, an Independent Film Channel project that puts digital filmmaking equipment into the hands of established directors.
InDigEnt films by Richard Linklater – best known for Dazed and Confused – and novelist/filmmaker Bruce Wagner are included in the Sundance program, with films by actor Ethan Hawke and Rodrigo Garcia (son of Gabriel Garcia-Marquez) on the way.
If getting brand-name talent behind the DV camera isn't enough, InDigEnt announced Friday that its entire slate of films will be acquired by Lions Gate Films, one of the continent's largest, most aggressive film distributors. The news of the Lions Gate/InDigEnt deal seems to underline a general feeling at Sundance: that it's OK to be digital.
And that's something new. A year ago, both Everything Put Together and Chuck and Buck, the only two digital features in competition at Sundance, were each transferred to 35mm for their festival screenings. The filmmakers, it seemed, were willing to shoot their films digitally, but not to project them that way.
"I'm sure last year there was concern among the producers that the movies wouldn't have the maximum amount of interest from distributors if they were seen (as) something other than a 'real' movie," said Peter Broderick, the president of the Independent Film Channel's Next Wave Films, which premieres the films Some Body and Manic at Sundance this week. "But this year, you have filmmakers who have made digital movies and who are not only willing but eager to have them presented digitally."
Thus begins what Broderick calls "stage two" – the acceptance of filmmakers using whichever format, from conception through exhibition, best suits their project. And stage three?
"That would be a situation where nobody worries anymore what film originated on or how it is being projected," Broderick said. "They go to the theater, they watch the movie and they respond to it or they don't.
"In stage three, distributors don't pay a lot of attention to what format the film originated on. If they need 35mm prints to distribute the film, they create them. If there are opportunities to show the films digitally, then they will do that. Essentially, the whole process becomes transparent."
John Bard Manulis, former president of Samuel Goldwyn Filmed Entertainment, believes it is more difficult to convince industry members to exhibit digital features than to convince audiences to watch them.
He's hoping his new venture, Visionbox Pictures, will encourage the production and distribution of digital films. Visonbox's Falling Like This screens at Slamdance this week. Its next film, Teddy Bears' Picnic, by Harry Shearer, is near completion.
"There are plenty of strong ideas and strong storytellers out there," Manulis said. "But by the time they fight their way through the hurdles that the normal financing process throws up, the elements that make these projects special can be endangered. What we are looking to do is to use digital filmmaking tools to bring the costs of independent film in line with the risks."
Manulis has produced numerous films within the Hollywood system, including The Basketball Diaries. And he thinks there is enough room for a range of films in movie theaters, and that audiences are eager to experience the spectrum in terms of aesthetics and content.
"We all want films that look wonderful, but the definition of what is wonderful changes from film to film," he said. "There are certain films that should be in 70mm. But what is happening is that the quality and accessibility of digital projection is increasing, so digital films can get more exposure.
"There's no question that these changes take time. If you look at Europe, distributors there still want films that not only were finished on 35mm, but originated on 35mm."
The party line among those producing digital works is that the audience doesn't care what format a movie originates on – they only want to get their money's worth at the multiplex. And, as Manulis points out, American movie viewing, as it is, rarely takes place under optimal conditions.
"Half the country is basically watching films on bed sheets – the screening quality is so low in so many commercial venues," he said.
The next step in the digital filmmaking revolution might depend on the film industry's embrace of new forms of exhibition. By installing high-quality digital projection in all of its theaters, Sundance may be accelerating that process – and also offering a challenge to commercial theaters and other festivals.
"Sundance offers a moment where you have full media and full industry coverage, along with lots of filmmakers," Broderick said. "The things that happen on this stage reverberate throughout the year. When Sundance offered digital projection, they legitimated it. And once you get to Sundance, it is just a question of time before the digital projection technology gets distributed widely through the other festivals....
"I think there is some residual skepticism on the part of filmmakers and producers. But before long, maybe next year at Sundance, we can be in a situation where questions about film or video are no longer asked. Then we will pay more attention to the quality and content of the movie."
