Sundance 2017 Market Preview: Why Amazon, Netflix Should Dominate Again This Year

There are two lessons to be learned from last year’s Sundance Film Festival — or at least two that the industry won’t quit talking about as players strap on snow boots and head to Utah.

[...] they should learn to adjust to the shadow cast by deep-pocketed streaming companies, who last year made a grand entrance to Park City by dropping millions of dollars on small films and subsequently rattling the indie theatrical marketplace.

A Best Actor Oscar for “Manchester” star Casey Affleck seems like a safe bet at this point in the awards race, and the movie is hovering near $40 million at the domestic box office.

[...] while “Tallulah” or “Fundamentals of Caring” may have been risky propositions for most indie distributors — neither received even a token theatrical release — they may have worked just fine to help fill Netflix’s subscription-based pipeline with original star-driven content.

While the two stream giants are expected to continue their dominance of the market for indies with recognizable stars, the volume of deals might take a hit this year, numerous insiders familiar with the market warned.

There wasn’t a lot of fanfare around sales titles at Toronto last year, but trust me those deals are coming, it’s just that everyone is trying to take a measured approach to distribution in this new world.

The mess culminated in a hostile Toronto Film Festival press conference in September, which seemed to hobble the film’s prospects both at the box office and in the awards race.