by Grace

The 7th season of the Terror Film Festival officially opened for submissions on March 1st, and being that I’m head of TFF marketing, well, I have to do some marketing (I hear it is an ongoing process, kind of like a re-write that never ends). 

Recently, I was trolling the web (which I do everyday), specifically looking for information on how this bleak economy has affected film festivals and the industry of independent filmmaking. I came across a few interesting articles, but two really grabbed my attention, and both happened to be about the Sundance Film Festival (one of my favorite festivals). Heck, Robert Redford is one of my personal favorites, from as far back as his Twilight Zone days.

The first article was about a recent lawsuit filed by independent filmmaker, Darryl Abbinante (2012 Abbinante vs. Sundance H12S00037). The lawsuit alleges that Sundance is committing fraud by not returning submission fees to filmmakers whose films were not viewed and evaluated by Sundance in the selection process. The lawsuit claims that Sundance received 11,700 films in 2012, and had a committee that could not possibly view all of them, and is therefore guilty of fraud for not returning the fees of unviewed films. The ruling was in favor of Sundance, stating that their legal obligation is to only watch 30 seconds of a film, which was a total shock to me. And, apparently, it’s in their submission agreement. Which brings up the question, “Why would a filmmaker agree to that?” 

In the article there are some interesting bits of information supporting Abbinante's claims, from former Sundance personnel giving some insight into the politics of festivals, to another filmmaker who for five consecutive years submitted a film on a tape that was basically blank, except for a few opening credits. The second filmmaker was sent rejection letters each year until Sundance eventually realized that his submission materials didn’t actually contain any films. There is a YouTube video on Sundance Film Festival Fraud and Scam that takes it all a little further. 

A second article I bumped into happened to be a thesis authored by Matt Dee Cottrell in 2009, from Utah State University, titled, “The Question Concerning the Cooptation of the Sundance Film Festival: An Analysis of the Commodification of Independent Cinema.” I found this to be interesting, because the same conclusions are made as the first article, without being polemic or overtly accusatory, and that is that Sundance has become an industry controlled by the Hollywood film market, and doesn't exist for smaller unknown independents. 

Now, I'm not writing this because I am concerned with how Sundance operates (although, maybe I should be, considering Sundance’s annual revenue intake). At TFF, we have our own model of operation and a unique selection process that we are very proud of, and that we designed ourselves and have perfected over the years. I am concerned with submitters’ perceptions of the selection process in general though, and while I can't reveal our process, I can tell you that we worked on this formula from day one when we opened in 2006, and since then, it has been honed to both a science and an art.  

Our process is academic and we worked hard on developing a system that was fair to every type of submitter, whether a novice or an expert. And, every film is watched, and every screenplay is read, from beginning to end, sometimes more than once. After that, we discuss each and every film in a roundtable type setting. It does take quite a bit of time, but we are in the business of making these types of decisions, so there are no complaints. Plus, we actually do enjoy the healthy debates on the projects. 

Each year of the festival is a very humbling experience for us. And, though we have grown to be experts in film and screenplay analysis, we understand all too well that we only exist because of our clients – the filmmakers and the screenwriters.  

Sundance is expecting over 13,000 submissions next year. WOW! That’s a lot of entries, and a lot of money! If they didn't have that many submitters, I wonder how much industry support they would receive? I mean, after all, how many films can Hollywood complete in a single year? Maybe 25, max?  

In the end, I wish the filmmaker would have won the lawsuit (because I’m a filmmaker), but on the other side of the coin, I’m also glad Sundance was able to win and “defend their honor” (being I’m also from a film festival). However, I hope this wasn’t a case of Goliath the bully beating down David. Not that Sundance is a bully. But, how do you explain cashing the check, watching for 30 seconds, and then not selecting it? Are you telling me that "A River Runs Through It" grabbed the reviewers within the first 30 seconds? Come on.

You see, it’s commendable to start a film festival. It’s also a given that you will be expected to view every project that you take a fee for. The bottom line is, if you can’t find a way to review the projects that you cashed a check for, then, maybe you shouldn’t be running a film festival. And, mix watching a film for 30 seconds with Redford’s whole ordeal on the film Downhill Racer, and I have to wonder whatever happened to the vision that started Sundance in the first place? Just my humble opinion. 

I would like to talk about distribution in my next blog and I am looking forward to what the future will bring to the world of indepedent filmmaking...and to indepedent filmmakers. Later, alligator!