R10| Monday, October 28, 2019 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
JOURNAL REPORTS | C-SUITE STRATEGIES
T
he way we watch movies is rapidly changing,
and that spells uncertainty for theSundance In-
stituteand the independent films it champions.
Amid the rise of streaming, theater attendance
is stagnant and increasingly driven by big-budget
“tentpole” features.NetflixInc.,Amazon.com
Inc. and other digital giants dominate film distribution and are
expanding into production. In so doing, they present new oppor-
tunities for independent filmmakers even as they threaten to
crowd out channels that once catered to them.Sundance is best known for
the annual film festival in Park
City, Utah, a marketplace
where independent filmmakers
and distributors can discover
each other, and a showcase for
anointing up-and-coming tal-
ent. The institute also runs
programs that mentor young
independent filmmakers.
The Sundance Institute’s ex-
ecutive director, Keri Putnam,BYTEDALCORNMs. Putnam says industry
consolidation poses a threat
to independent filmmakers.kind of impulse.
We’re selecting projects for
the festival based on what we
think is culturally resonant,
what we think is artistically
interesting, what we think is
going to break out in different
ways. We’re just as happy to
have a documentary that gen-
erates conversation around a
social issue or a topic as we
are to have a breakout box-of-
fice hit.WSJ:How would you describe
the Sundance Institute’s rela-
tionship to streaming services
like Netflix and Amazon, and
how might that evolve?
MS. PUTNAM:Our relationship
is really positive to the stream-
ers, the theatrical distributors,
and to any other platform that
gets independent work out
there to audiences that want to
see it. Our view is agnostic
about distribution. We want to
be in dialogue and in collabora-
tion with all of the companies
and artists who stand to bene-
fit from working with those
companies.WSJ:Are the streamers good
for independent filmmakers?
MS. PUTNAM:By and large, ex-
panding the places that people
can sell their films and get
their work seen has to be a
net positive thing. The risk is
that Netflix, Amazon and nowHulu and HBO Max and all the
other ones that will come up,
they’re buying a finite number
of films and documentaries.
And as the competition be-
tween these platforms grows
and as dollars get tighter, that
number may not grow. It is
going to be difficult for people
who don’t get a deal on one of
those platforms to figure out
how to break out outside
those dominant streamers.
So, the question is what en-
trepreneurial models are go-
ing to come up, and what al-
ternatives to those dominant
players will come up for the
independents.WSJ:Is the industry returningto the studio system of the
1930s, where a few companies
controlled all facets of film
production and distribution?
MS. PUTNAM:With five big
studios and three or four big
streamers, the chances look
pretty high that we’re return-
ing to a very consolidated me-
dia ecosystem.WSJ:Fewer independent films
are successful at the box of-
fice, and theatrical audiences
increasingly favor spectacular
tentpole films. Are you con-
cerned about the viability of
independent filmmaking?
MS. PUTNAM:For all films, the
bar for theatrical release is
higher. It has to feel like an
event. That does not mean it
has to have special effects and
superhero suits. An event can
feel like something you want
to experience with other peo-
ple, something that feels com-
pletely fresh and different. I
think it’s too early to write that
obituary.WSJ:The institute recently ex-
amined the diversity of the fes-
tival’s contributing artists and
of its critics. What spurred that
effort, and how have you acted
on the findings?
MS. PUTNAM:We recognized
that we didn’t have 50%
women in our festival—we
didn’t have 50% women even
in some of our labs—and we
certainly didn’t have people of
color at their percentages of
the population. But we didn’t
know why. So we decided to
do some research. And what
we learned was extraordinary.
Women coming into our
earliest programs were at
about 50%. But as money
came into the equation—to
get a script made, a movie
made, to get distribution—
they continually fell out of
the process. So, by the time
the scripted film was being
submitted to the festival, the
50% were only about 17%. It
was a huge drop-off. And that
story was for people of color
and other groups.
What we revealed was a
systemic bias in terms of who
was getting access to financ-
ing, who was getting access
to networks.
As a result, we were able
to create a variety of inter-
ventions here at Sundance to
develop programs to help art-
ists at those various stuck
points and move their work
forward.WSJ:What measures did you
take?
MS. PUTNAM:We set targets,
but we never set quotas. Let’s
make sure that we hire the
right kind of curators, in
terms of reflecting the popula-
tion, so that the people mak-
ing the decisions are as di-
verse as the people that we
want to select.
We measured it every year
and we reported it, and we
talked about it. And once you
begin to name it and set a tar-
get, it got embedded in the
culture.Mr. Alcornis a writer in
New York. Email him at
[email protected]. GEORGE FREY/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCKFlickeringAttendance
Moviebox-officerevenueintheU.S.hasedgedupasticketssold
havebeenessentiallyflat.Revenue Ticketssold*Through Oct. 20
Source: Box Office Mojo$120246810billion2010 ’15 ’19*1.500.51.0billion2010 ’15 ’19*For Sundance,
The Plot Thickens
Executive Director
Keri Putnam says
streaming services
could boost some
independent
filmmakers while
leaving others outWiththelongestrunningtripleAratingin
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Open.Maryland.gov/finance
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who has held that role for
nearly a decade, has pushed to
increase the representation of
women and people of color
among the filmmakers helped
by the institute. This year she
is also searching for a new fes-
tival director, after her long-
time collaborator John Cooper
announced that the January
2020 festival would be his last.
The Wall Street Journal
spoke with Ms. Putnam
about how the Sundance In-
stitute is navigating these tu-
multuous times. Here are ed-
ited excerpts:WSJ:In the storied era where
Steven Soderbergh and
Quentin Tarantino came of
age, what were the elements
of Sundance’s success?
MS. PUTNAM:Think about
who Robert Redford was in
1980 when he chose to
found Sundance. What I
think worked about Sun-
dance in its earliest impulse
was it was coming from a
very personal place for an
artist. It had an incredi-
ble authenticity. It wasn’t
founded in response to a
market. It was founded to
be outside of commerce.WSJ:At that time, there
were few organizations
fulfilling its mission of de-
veloping independent art-
ists and audiences. How
have conditions changed
since, and how has Sun-
dance adapted?
MS. PUTNAM:Thereisa
great need for a place like
Sundance—especially
when you think about un-
derrepresented voices like
women, people of color
and international artists
that might not get recog-
nized in the mainstream.
If you look at who has
been directing some of the
big blockbusters, people
like Ryan Coogler or Taika
Waititi, both of them came
out of the Sundance Labs
before they did “Black
Panther” and “Thor: Ragn-
arok,” respectively. Or look
at the women working in
Hollywood, how many of
them got their start at Sun-
dance over the last 30 to 40
years.WSJ:How important is the
commercial success of the
films that premiere at Sun-
dance?
MS. PUTNAM:The role of the
festival as a market is not
incidental to us. But on the
creative side, it’s important
to find that space to create
work where there isn’t sec-
ond-guessing about what’s
going to be commercial. It’s
coming out of a different