By Kristen Santer
Courtesy of Flickr
The early months of the year are an important time for independent films. Some of the biggest film festivals occur from January to May, including the Sundance Film Festival, the Tribeca Film Festival and the Cannes Film Festival.
Once independent movies get chosen to screen at these festivals, filmmakers look for distribution companies to get their films out to the public.
Some films find themselves in the middle of a bidding war, in which multiple distribution companies vie for the rights to one movie. One of the most famous examples would be The Birth of a Nation from the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.
The film sold for $17.5 million by Fox Searchlight Pictures, one of the highest recorded deals in film festival history. However, other indie films get very limited distribution and are only shown in a couple hundred theaters.
At this year’s film festivals like the South by Southwest Film Festival and the True/False Film Festival, streaming services like Amazon and Netflix have taken their subscribers’ money and put it to good use. These companies have been buying the distribution rights to movies left and right.
If you haven’t noticed yet, several new indie films and documentaries are already available to stream. This gives well-deserving movies a chance to be viewed by a larger audience, not only by providing wider distribution but also because many people do not want to pay rising ticket prices. Now they can see them through subscription.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Amazon and Netflix bought six movies each at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. The streaming services’ slowly growing revenues allowed to compete with other studios.
While a couple of these films will receive a theatrical release, almost all of the rights were bought for streaming services only. Not only does this change in film distribution give indie movies another life and viewing channel, but it also hints at the beginning of a change in how we watch movies.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is doing very well in theaters, and seeing no downward trend in ticket sales. However, the popularity of streaming services may help to further stimulate the film market and support indie or low-budget movies.
Although ticket sales may not change, the amount and rate of movies watched may increase due to the simplicity of streaming online.
Either way, this is a brand new era for independent film that may lead to a new golden era of film, one which we can watch our big blockbusters in theaters but settle down at home and watch an avant garde indie.
Tallulah, Under the Shadow, Brahman Naman, Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You and Audrie & Daisy will all be available to stream on Netflix later this year. Love & Friendship, Complete Unknown, Wiener-Dog, Gleason and Author: The JT LeRoy Story will be released on Amazon.
Watch these films to take advantage of the money spent on them, and to get the most out of your streaming capabilities.
