CHRIS ABBOTT LOOKS LIKE JALEN BRUNSON + THE OTHER CRUCIAL NEWS OF THE WEEK
Reunion Newsletter [2.6.24]
Gazer sneaks at Metrograph tonight. It’s sold out but show up and get seats on standby, find me and I’ll help. Ariella and Ryan will do Q+A with Resurrection filmmaker Andrew Semans, and my grandma is coming!
Reunion Sundance shorts night Tuesday February 18 at Salmagundi. Shorts straight from the fest with filmmakers in person. Free and all welcome.
Monday I wrote about Sorry, Baby and its sale as a template for the next step in indie film. I’m really energized by what that team did and so should the ecosystem. Notably, since, it’s been crickets. There’s tentative Netflix buy of Perfect Neighbor for $5mm, which would be an absolute smash haul, but that’s it. The take away is quality over quantity, but that there is absolutely a path for that quality. Read the Sorry, Baby piece for sure, and more on all these things below.
Sorry, Baby sale is HUGE NEWS for Indie Film!
Congratulations to Sorry, Baby team, Eva Victor, Big Beach, Pastel, all of them.
Continued post-Sundance takes:
Content is dead. The Doc world that’s taken advantage of the blurred lines between journalism and filmmaking is now all muddled into the content pool, and it seems like the big distributors and platforms and leaving everyone to fend for themselves, maybe, hopefully, some emerge above the rest. I know this sounds really diminishing to Docs in general, but I don’t mean it to be. I love Documentary film, Non-Fiction film, the real stuff. I mean the kinds of Docs that have blurred those lines, that have diminished what we know to be Documentary film. There’s a price for positioning celebrity profiles as cinema. For taking a random trending topic and putting 90 minutes of video together and calling it cinema instead of Dateline or YouTube. There are some serious Docs this year that are quite cinematic, but they’re being punished by the market depression for faults of others.
Narrative is doing fine. There will be more deals. Even Accidental Getaway Driver is finally coming out I hear!! We need to remember how these things work. Given the democratization of information exchange, the last decade or so sees every movie at Sundance positioning itself for sale. It didn’t used to be that way. Most of the premieres back in the day were at best at Cinema Village and Laemmle as four-wall. Not every movie is positioned to sell to one of these distributors. That market is not depressed, it’s normal. There were some huge numbers already actually, the market is healthy. It shouldn’t be scary that super small movie debuts with art house audience did not strike bidding wars. They’re not supposed to. It was never that way. All of these films will find homes and / or really strong vibrant teams to self-release, which is a more viable option than ever before. I expect to read about at least a couple more significant sales, and then the rest will trickle in over time, without big MGs, but with committed partners.
The people who say the market is dead are the enemy. They are the interlopers. They are the phonies, the poseurs, the carpetbaggers. Ignore them. Filmmaking, the film industry, the film market…is set for a tremendous period. For the lifers. For the real ones. For the thinkers. Those who commit to big ideas and actualize them are set to soar.
Many small movies at Sundance should be building blocks toward careers and relationships with audiences. They’re not meant to be exponential growth drivers. Sorry, Baby, I wrote, is literally the first of its kind. Nothing has returned so little with so much so quickly. Ever. It’s incredible. Don’t let it discourage anyone nor make the other films look worse in contrast. I think this was a great year for Sundance.
Logline synchronicity.
— Sean Glass @sdotglass
NEWS
The important stuff on the important stuff. TL;DR + links if you want more.
Netflix’s Prince Documentary Will Not Be Released Amid New Deal With Estate [Deadline] One of the worst things to ever happen in the history of art.
Are Record Labels Doing Enough To Support Emerging Artists? SAG-AFTRA Weighs In After Chappell Roan’s Grammy Speech [Deadline] I can't believe nobody at the Grammys freaked out, considering all of her execs were there. Everything she says is reasonable, it’s just not how the system works. It's kinda like being mad at Sundance or the film distributors for not giving healthcare and salaries to indie filmmakers whose films they haven't programmed or bought yet. There's European systems with government backing for artists, that supplement production co's and distributors and record labels, but this is America. In America, everything is private and capital based. You make something, someone gives you money for it, they go make back money off of it. Or someone pay you to make something, and they go make back money off of it. Or you make something yourself and sell it yourself and make back money off of it. There are jobs in the music industry with healthcare and salary, but they do not hold the upside of the artist life. The artist lives feast or famine. There are production deals where producers pay people salaries to make music for them, but if one of those songs becomes a hit, only the company makes that money, artist no more than their salary and benefits. We'd hear worse complaints about that, they call it slave labor. Sure, a middle ground would be great, but it's a massive systemic overhaul that nobody has done. And likely never will. Those of you inspired by Chappell Roan's speech are going to hate what I have to say is the solution, but it's what it is...DO IT YOURSELF. REMAIN INDEPENDENT. NEVER TAKE THE ADVANCE. NEVER SELL YOUR MASTERS. NEVER LIVE OFF ROYALTIES. BET ON YOURSELF, AND RIDE OR DIE. That's the dream and nightmare. many have succeeded. More and more each year. The labels do not have the stranglehold on promotion they used to. But if you want to spend money recording, and you want to hire people to market your music, the best deals are offered by the labels. There's private investors / private equity, and there's label-alternatives like BeatBread, but there is a reason the labels are still around. The deals that you call deals with the devil, are still the fairest deals for what they offer, and they still offer tremendous expertise and infrastructure that nobody can compete with. Except for you doing it yourself. Because if you can fund it yourself, and do the work with a team you assemble, you rule the world. Nobody cares more and nobody is more powerful than a small group of people who care the most. But thats tough and risky. There’s the film equivalent of course, upstart distributors off the back of successful self-releases, like Elizabeth Woodward’s Willa Productions. You want to own it? Be Elizabeth. Do you realize how hard it is though to do what she does? You’ll learn like hundreds of others per year who do the same thing, but don’t create the exceptional success she does. It’s realllllllyyyyy hard. It’s reallllllyyyyy hard to book theaters. Really hard to get responses. Really hard to pitch bookers directly and convince them your unknown movie is valuable. Elizabeth figured it out though on her own. You can. It’s very hard though, and many fail. This is why people want to go with the established institutions, and why they want to hedge their risk. The established distributors are really good at this. And they are willing to front the money. But then when they flip your movie for a huge SVOD sum, they keep more of the profits. Do it like Elizabeth if you want to keep that. If you want healthcare, get a job working for the distributor, or move to Canada. Right or wrong, agree or disagree, America does not have the system that supports development of speculative work. There are grants, that’s the closest thing, but they are marginal. American artists have the largest upside, but they take the biggest risks.
Indie Artist Playbook: Tips for a Sustainable Music Career [Hypebot]
Intimacy co-ordinators concerned by lack of understanding about role: “We are the producer’s ally” [Screen Daily] This is damage control for the profession because the Anora narrative didn't go their way. Sean Baker and his wife both served as intimacy coordinators on their own movie after training and everyone was very happy. They didn't hire some random person who didn't necessarily come from their school of thought nor bring anything technically valuable to a tiny set that was tiny both for cost and vibe. That sounds pretty great. And intimate. And coordinated. The movie turned out pretty great. And everyone associated says all the sexual content was super comfortable, more so than other movies even ones with IC. But ya know people gotta fight for jobs I guess and who cares if we BS and trash talk the undeserving. I don’t know why people need to throw others under the bus for attention so much. It sucks. This is all the offshoot of Facebook’s analytics that rage-bait content engages more, and Trump reinforces this and scales it. It’s horrible that the art world perpetuates it. Have a meaningful, balanced conversation without villainizing.
No Other Land, the Oscar-Nominated Film Distributors Won’t Touch, Strikes Big in New York [IndieWire] In concert with the success of Sorry, Baby, this is nice that press is positioning NYC PSA/PTA (per screen / theater avg) as something worth marketing to bring movies to more cities. We (Elizabeth and I, see above) did this with You Resemble Me, landing the same numbers for one screen, which opened up our ability to book many more screens across the country. Issue there was we weren't able to market those screens, and theaters don't do their own marketing, so that's the next step. Part of film distribution strategy in general has traditionally been to open strong in NY/LA, then market the strength of that opening. If we can recapture this as a differentiator and growth tool for movies, it would be really meaningful. Small groups of producers are able to market a movie on one screen to prove their case, this is something very achievable for normal movie teams. More press around who does this best would help snowball those successes into national box office multiples of these PSA numbers, which is where the movies can actually succeed.
Juliette Binoche Named Cannes Film Festival 2025 Jury President [Cannes] Should be every year.
JBFC Announces New Director of Curation and Film Programming, Eric Hynes [Jacob Burns Film Center] Congratulations, Eric! This is a coup for JBFC!
Are awards voters finally embracing genre titles? [Screen Daily] That’d be cool.
Miles Teller Denies Knowing Top Gun 3 Updates, Says He Told Tom Cruise to Give Him a “Six Months Heads Up” to Get in Shape [THR] Tom Cruise the savior of the movie industry screaming at people for not wearing masks about how they’re responsible for thousands of jobs... Miles Teller shutting down indie films because he lied about getting vaccinated and showed up anyway and gave entire set Covid? Miles Teller gonna get killed off with a throwaway mention line in the beginning of TG3.
Sweeter New York Production Incentives, Including Pot For Indie Film, Get Industry Push [Deadline] NYC UP!!!
Cinema May Be Dying, But Shitposting is a Thriving New Artform [Literary Hub] Alex Rollins Berg on Paul Schrader’s Auteur-to-Edge Lord Trajectory
AMC Stubs A-List Hikes Monthly Fee, Increases Movie Visits to Four Per Week [Variety]
Alamo Drafthouse Lays Off 70 Staff Members From New York City Locations Ahead of Expected Strike [Variety] Y’all know how I feel I think.
Meet the 12 Sundance Breakouts Everyone Will Be Talking About [IndieWire]
Sundance 2025 Films Sold So Far: MUBI Buys Alex Russell’s Lurker [IndieWire] More Sundance acquisition updates—this time MUBI is entering the ring.
Sundance Pulls Twinless From Digital Platform After Major Online Leaks, Including Dylan O’Brien Sex Scenes [Variety] This lit up the Sundance group chat. I personally have two sorta opposing opinions. First, digital should move to P+I only. No reason to expand this other than revenue for the fest, which just shouldn’t be worth enough to justify. Second, these leaks are great marketing, let it ride. Show me the viewer who sees the 1:31 clip of Dylan making out and is like oh no now I won’t watch this movie. It worked great for Skinamarink even with the entire movie leaking.
Yorgos Lanthimos Plans Assassin Thriller Fatale [TFS] Let’s run through the Yorgos checklist: a lead role for Emma Stone, farcical social satire, sexual mania, and a writer whose other works are being adapted or scooped up. Everything sounds in order.
Julia Fox Is Writing Her Own Scripts: ‘We Don’t Want Reboots, We Don’t Want Remakes’ [Variety] Whatever movie she would be make would be new and singular and probably great.
Another Twist in ‘Paradise’: Co-Star Nicole Brydon Bloom on Jane’s ‘Savage’ Mission in Episode 4 [Variety] After David Lynch binging, Sundance binging, and Luka Doncic trades exploding my minds, I needed something simple this weekend. I watched first few episodes of this show and it’s somehow not that terrible. The cliched ‘80s music dramatic covers they use in trailers are so bad but I guess that’s just what people do on whatever is television these days. But otherwise it’s not the worst. It’s dumb regular people tv stuff but I don’t hate it as much as I normally do if I ever sample these shows. The tall guy I like from Horizon is in it. Or is he?
New Hulu Documentary To Revisit Tragic Death Of Rust Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins [Deadline] Alec Baldwin has a new movie too. Which are you gonna watch?
Hurry Up Tomorrow Trailer: The Weeknd Loses His Mind and Leads His First Movie in Psychodrama With Jenna Ortega, Barry Keoghan [Variety] New Trey Edward Shults alert.
WATCH: New Weeknd directed by Eddie Alcazar. — Weeknd working with some of our favorite filmmakers.
Lots of AI panels and articles coming out. Lotsa Sundance talk about AI. I spoke on a panel in NYC during fest (wearing sunglasses, drinking a notably delicious old fashioned, flashing my Anthony Mason x Patrick Ewing GO NY GO NY GO sneakers), and said all I think needs to be said. I don’t get why this is complex. AI is a tool. Use it like we use other digital tools to create efficiencies. If you use it to generate ideas, you’re a loser. That’s it. Here’s some photos of me looking sick telling people to stop being complainy losers.
SUBSTACK RECOMMENDATIONS
Thanks Christie & Kinema for recommending our Sorry, Baby piece. Really thorough and expert walk through of fest and all things.
Speaking of Weeknd working with some favorite filmmakers…RELEASE THE SEIMETZ CUT!!!
WATCH
Obayashi ’80s: The Onomichi Trilogy & Kadokawa Years series, opens today [Japan Society] Super cool stuff here.
Bring Them Down [wide] Weird year for Reunion favorite Christopher Abbott.
Very important: I don’t know exactly how to explain it but I think Jalen Brunson and Chris Abbott look alike. Similar body types too. Stocky. Immaculate vibes the both.
Heart Eyes [wide] Josh Reuben is great. Hope this does well.
Love Hurts [wide] Did people really think Ke Huy Quan star vehicles of the back of EEAAO was gonna work out? Really happy for him that he gets paid and a few surreal years of action, and whoever spearheaded this because I think he was agent-less until this month. Good for all of them. But come on. Hollywood wasn’t like oh yeah wow let’s put him in great movies now. So he’s going to be in these three horrendous bombs, and then either pivot in his life again, or coast on appearance fee movie roles for the rest of his life with diminishing returns, a career we’ve seen countless follow. Good natured guy, seems really nice and grounded, I hope he takes these paydays of a few years and moves on.
Armand (with special 35mm screenings) [IFC] Ingmar Bergman’s grandson. Pretty cool.
I Love You Forever w/ filmmakers in person tonight [Quad]
Paint Me A Road Out Of Here [Film Forum]
Godard’s A Woman is a Woman, 4K Restoration [Film Forum]
Film Critic Bilge Ebiri on A Woman is a Woman [Vulture]
Police Story, Under the Silver Lake, Village of the Damned (35mm), They Live, Blow-Up (35mm), and more. [Metrograph]
Paris, Texas (4K restoration), Girl, Interrupted (35mm) Nosferatu (35mm), The Apprentice, and more at [Roxy]
Plus some spotlight on curator Illyse Singer for Byline.
Rosemary’s Baby (35mm), The Quiet Man (35mm), 3:10 to Yuma, and The Magnificent Ambersons, part of the Snubbed Forever series [MoMI]
Pioneers of African American Cinema series, featuring restorations from Kino Lorber’s collection, through Feb 23 [MoMI]
FEB 11: The Dead Thing in 35mm w/ filmmakers in person [IFC]
FEB 21: GKIDS announces the first-ever North American theatrical release for Hideaki Anno's 1998 live action feature debut LOVE & POP. Opens at IFC. [Twitter]
FEB 21: Strong Black Lead series, featuring The Six Triple Eight, The Piano Lesson, Passing, Da 5 Bloods, Rustin, and Mudbound. [Paris]
FEB 27:
MAR 6: 2025 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema [FilmLinc] One of the annual highlights, can’t wait. Lindon getting the spotlight is tremendous.
MAR 19:
STREAMING
Babygirl [VOD]
Saturday Night [Netflix] People are gonna watch this on 2x
We Live in Time [MAX] This is a movie.
Nomadland [Hulu] lol
Pharell’s Piece by Piece [Peacock] This is a movie.
ON OUR MIND
Get your Brutalist popcorn bucket…
Walton Goggins for [GQ]. Oh. Ok. Add it to the album.
COOL: Warner Bros. Releases 31 Full-Length Movies on Its YouTube Channels, Streaming for Free [Youtube]
Hardcore 35mm scan (6K) [Twitter]
Schrader Before AI [Twitter]
A public/fan memorial for David Lynch will be held on FEB 21 in Snoqualmie, WA. And tons for Twin Peaks Day Feb 24.
Empire Magazine tribute cover.
Twin Peaks Gazette, Feb 1991.
Bookhouse Boys reunion.
The kids would call this “based” I think.
TUBI’s list of pre-1950 films.
Ghanaian artist Mr. Nana Agyq’s poster for Paddington.
