Sundance recap, FFC/Block the Merger, Librarians Case Study Next Week, Distribution Lab Films at SXSW and Slamdance
Table of Contents for this post:
- Sundance recap
- FFC/Block the Merger
- Creators to Filmmakers
- 8 Above Distribution Lab Cohort at SXSW/Slamdance
Sundance
I recently emerged from the Sundance cocoon that extended through Sunday watching films online. I was determined to as many films as possible, get inspired. I ended up setting a personal record of 26 films – with a lot of excellent films and a number of those speaking to various aspects of our current moment. Although it was weird being at a film festival with the shitstorm/tragedy in Minnesota – and while I’m not going to reference films here – I did clock how the events in Everybody to Kenmure Street is a shocking contrast to what is going on in our country. The loss of civilization we are experiencing is astonishing.
While “sales” at Sundance are “slow” (see Anthony Kaufman’s great piece in IDA Magazine for more depth) I’ve been saying that the festival acquisition model for independent film has been dead for some time – IMO it only served at best 5% of independent filmmakers. (I’m a huge fan of Anthony – if you missed his pre-Sundance post on what documentary filmmakers can do to help save democracy – check it out).
Barring the lack of snow indicating our coming climate apocalypse, there were signs of hope all around – many expressed at the Impact Lounge’s Distribution Revolution that I was honored to be a part of. The revolution has been brewing for some time. But in the last year the dominant feeling from filmmakers – finally – was the recognition that they must take matters into their own hands, not be reliant on others to save them and their films. (Note – of the 10 fiction projects in the current 8 Above Distribution Lab – six are in the script stage – illustrating the growing awareness that filmmakers conceive of distribution and marketing films at inception).
A bevvy of platforms and services and new distributors participated in that panel/scrum that are here to help filmmakers connect with audiences. Yes, some of those platforms will succeed and some won’t – but many are in advanced stages of development and are exciting. So much so that I am going to build on the very popular “New Platforms” webinar we hosted last year – with several more sessions in the coming months with as many of these emerging platforms as possible.
Block the Merger
In the Fight the Power/Distribution Revolution bucket – the Future Film Coalition had a very strong presence at Sundance with our ED Jax Deluca on multiple panels all over Park City announcing and promoting the FFCs new Block the Merger initiative in partnership with IDA and Arthouse Convergence. “Media consolidation isn’t abstract. It determines who gets seen, who gets paid, and who decides what stories reach the public.” This is all the more apparent and urgent with the Melania media fiasco laying bare what stories get told in today’s fealty authoritarian fuedal pseudo/epitome of capitalism. BlockTheMerger.com is a coordinated, field-wide effort to document and address the harms of media consolidation on the independent film ecosystem, from filmmakers, workers, exhibitors, distributors, audiences, and local communities.
Corey Booker read the FFC statement on media consolidation on the opening day of Senate hearings about the pending Netflix/WBD merger. One of the key parts of the FFCs involvement in this campaign is to collect stories from filmmakers about how they have been impacted by media consolidation. To learn more and participate – go to blockthemerger.com.
The FFC, IDA and Arthouse Convergence are hosting another Block the Merger Teach In next Tuesday February 10th at 3pmPT/6pmET. (The last one had 800 attendees – lets make it 2000 this time!)
Register for Block The Merger Teach In
Creators to Filmmakers
Another form of distribution revolution taking place is the recent phenomenon of “creators” becoming filmmakers. For time there has been a question: Can YouTubers who mostly create short/reality style content create feature films that would engage and excite audiences (and also be “good/excellent”)?
With both Markiplier’s $18+ million opening weekend for Iron Lung (see Dana Harris’ article here) as well as the sold out screenings for Creator Camp’s Two Sleepy People, at least half of that equation seems to be solved. They can leverage their powerful audiences into box office. However as Dana’s article indicates, Markiplier talks about how his experience is quite unique and would be difficult to replicate. But Markiplier talks about how it is essential to have an authentic and engaged relationship with a fan base. One of our participants in our Distribution Lab, Trent Jones, is a creator planning the distribution of his first feature for later this year.
We will have a creator-turned-filmmaker webinar in March or April – stay tuned.
A Strong Festival Season for Distribution Lab Filmmakers
Revolutions need education – and we’re excited to announce some premiers coming out of the 8 Above Distribution Lab:. Three current and former lab films will be premiering at SXSW in March and one is premiering at Slamdance later this month:
Edie Arnold is a Loser – SXSW 2026 World Premiere
Edie Arnold is a Loser, from Lab Cohort 4 participants Kade Atwood (Director) Megan Rico (Director) and Bryson Alejandro (Producer), follows a timid Catholic school outsider whose accidental turn behind a drum kit sparks an unexpected transformation. What begins as a mortifying moment becomes the catalyst for a secret punk band, a surge of confidence, and a collision with authority—at school and at home. With humor and heart, the film tracks Edie’s growing self-expression as she navigates friendship, rebellion, and the consequences of being seen. Stay up to date on the film’s website.
The Life We Leave – SXSW 2026 World Premiere
Lab Cohort 4 participants JJ Gerber (Director) Clementine Briand (Producer) and Ann Rogers (Producer) also premier at SXSW 2026 with their new documentary, The Life We Leave is set in Washington state—where human composting was first legalized—the film follows entrepreneur Micah Truman as he attempts to build the world’s first large-scale terramation facility. As resistance from the conventional deathcare industry forces a reckoning, Truman, alongside funeral directors Brie Smith and Katey Houston, learns that true sustainability lies in balancing profit with care. What begins as an ambitious business venture becomes a deeply human story about grief, ritual, and the legacy we leave behind. Subscribe for screening dates, festival news, and release updates: https://www.thelifeweleavefilm.com/
Ceremony — SXSW 2026 World Premiere – Documentary Spotlight
Lab Cohort 3 Director/Producer Banchi Hanuse’s new documentary, Ceremony is set at the ramshackled Nuxalk Radio station in Bella Coola, the film follows an inquiry into the vanished ooligan run that gradually unravels a buried history of erasure — illuminating, in the process, the quiet and determined resistance of a Nation that refuses to disappear. Both intimate and expansive, Ceremony is grounded in place while engaging with broader questions of memory, sovereignty, and survival.
Click here for screening dates, festival news, and release updates.
Snowland — Slamdance Premiere
Lab Cohort 4 participant Jill Orschel (Director & Producer) will premiere her film Snowland at Slamdance, a festival long associated with discovery and independent voices. The film explores a former child bride from a secretive polygamous sect who escapes her dark past by creating a magical fantasy world she calls Snowland. Within this decades-long artistic endeavor lies a metaphorical journey of lost innocence, survival, and self-discovery, and potentially a gateway of hope for others in this secretive American cult. Subscribe for screening dates, festival news, and release updates here.
The next distribution lab will start up this summer – to find out more:https://jonreiss.substack.com/p/is-there-a-distribution-revolution