This year, Micah Green had a different reason to head to the Sundance Film Festival. After working for CAA for two decades, Green co-founded 30West with entrepreneur and producer Dan Friedkin. The 10-person company buys films, sells them and invests in them at various stages of production. As more and more independent movies are consigned to on-demand debuts or forced to miss out on the cinema altogether, 30West wants to fill a vacuum. Green’s company shows how heavily Netflix and Amazon are disrupting the independent film business. Plus, the companies once ruled by the likes of the Weinstein Co. and Focus Features, are being reconstructed. “There’s a changing of the guard going on,” said Tom Bernard, co-founder of Sony Pictures Classics, according to Variety. “Everything is re-forming.” In response, indie films are overhauling their strategies to try to figure out fresh ways to remain competitive. Some companies are stressing their small size as a way to differentiate itself from companies like Netflix, who fields dozens of movies a year.
“We see ourself as an alternative to some of the larger players,” said Kristin Harris, vice president of acquisitions and distribution at Good Deed, according to Variety. “We’re trying to be a boutique operation that applies an individualized strategy to each of the films we release.”
Movies like The Big Sick and Brooklyn both received great receptions when they debuted at Sundance and went on to achieve commercial success and awards recognition. Not every film will be so lucky. But indie players still believe that quality is the most important competitive advantage.
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