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The growing amount of homeless, independently made documentaries has made film festivals like Hot Docs, arguably more important than ever before. Many docus that premiered at Sundance 2023 but have yet to find distribution are part of the Toronto-based documentary festival\u2019s lineup, which in turn allows those titles to stay on buyers\u2019 radars.<\/p>\n
But corporate consolidation, along with streamers\u2019 current mandate for nonfiction content that fits into one of three boxes \u2013 celebrity, true crime, or sports \u2013 means that many docu filmmakers will eventually have to turn to non-traditional distribution to get their films seen outside the fest circuit.<\/p>\n
Queer Romance Drama \u2018Solo\u2019 by Canadian Director Sophie Dupuis Boarded by SND (EXCLUSIVE)
\nTracy Droz Tragos\u2019 docu \u201cPlan C\u201d follows a grassroots organization fighting to expand access to abortion pills across the United States. The timely film premiered at Sundance in January, but despite good reviews, Tragos hasn\u2019t found distribution for \u201cPlan C.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are hearing things from the big buyers like, \u2018The subject matter is hugely important, and it needs to get out there ASAP, but we don\u2019t have the space,\u201d says Tragos. \u201cOr, \u2018We\u2019re blown away by the film, but we\u2019re so rarely acquiring docs.\u2019 Or, \u2018Unfortunately, this is a bit of a tough topic for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
After attending several festivals, including SXSW, Tragos decided to \u201clisten to our enthusiastic audiences clamoring to share this film with their communities\u201d by starting a Kickstarter campaign. The money raised will help various non-profits and organizers promote the screening of the docu at locations throughout the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m still hopeful that we will have some measure of a theatrical distribution, whether we four-wall it ourselves or work with a distributor,\u201d says Tragos. \u201cWe\u2019ve been told to be patient and that we might find a streamer, but we will for sure carve out this educational, nonprofit festival space where we honestly think we can reach the most people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tragos is one of many independent voices hoping a distributor will come along. But for those directors who don\u2019t find a home for their docu on a streamer or with a theatrical distributor, there are other, less profitable options. They include self-distribution, selling territory by territory, as well as Gravitas Ventures \u2013 an all-rights distributor that acquires and distributes narrative films and documentaries across all TVOD platforms and select films theatrically. The company also seeks out licensing deals with SVOD platforms. After the SVOD window, Gravitas releases the project on AVOD services.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are in talks with pretty much all of the larger agencies representing films that were at Sundance, South by Southwest, and the upcoming Tribeca Film Festival,\u201d says Guentzler. \u201cWe have been able to increase the quality of the overall films that we are releasing because some distributors pulled back and some distributors are no longer with us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gravitas acquires films on all levels, either by offering minimum guarantees of different ranges and through a revenue share model. Most recently, Gravitas garnered North American rights to two documentaries: Ashley Avis\u2019 \u201cWild Beauty: Mustang Spirit of the West\u201d and Julian Rubinstein\u2019s \u201cThe Holly.\u201d Last year Gravitas released Sundance grand jury prize documentary winner \u201cThe Exiles.\u201d Most filmmakers releasing a docu via Gravitas hire their own publicity team.<\/p>\n
In addition to 70 world premieres, this year\u2019s 30th edition of Hot Docs also includes numerous docus that have already had buzzy premieres at not only Sundance but South by Southwest, Berlin, and CPH:DOX. They include: \u201cThe Disappearance of Shere Hite,\u201d \u201cJoan Baez I Am a Noise,\u201d \u201cPraying for Armageddon,\u201d \u201cConfessions of a Good Samaritan,\u201d \u201cInvisible Beauty,\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s Only Life After All\u201d and \u201cA Still Small Voice.\u201d Each film is seeking distribution.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe tyranny of some of the bigger players really can create a seismic impact across the board,\u201d admits Hot Docs\u2019 programming director Shane Smith. \u201cWe believe in amplifying and showcasing every film in the lineup because we want to try and help build a future for each doc through the platform and the profile that the festival can offer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Impact Partners, a documentary film funding company that has provided millions of dollars in equity money to over 100 documentaries, including the Academy Award-winning \u201cIcarus\u201d and \u201cThe Cove,\u201d helped finance Alexandria Bombach\u2019s \u201cIt\u2019s Only Life After All,\u201d about the Indigo Girls, and Penny Lane\u2019s \u201cConfessions of a Good Samaritan,\u201d about kidney donation.<\/p>\n
Just last year, Impact Partners sold two of their films, \u201cAftershock,\u201d about America\u2019s maternal health care crisis, and \u201cMija,\u201d about two daughters of undocumented immigrants to Disney. At Sundance 2023 Disney was nowhere to be found. Neither was Netflix, Amazon, Hulu nor Apple. Thus far, only six Sundance 2023 docs have sold: \u201cNam June Paik: Moon Is the Oldest TV\u201d (Greenwich Entertainment), \u201cKokomo City\u201d (Magnolia), \u201cThe Eternal Memory\u201d (MTV Documentary Films), and \u201cLittle Richard: I Am Everything\u201d (Magnolia). \u201cAnd the King Said, What a Fantastic Machine\u201d and \u201cSmoke Sauna Sisterhood\u2019 each sold to various territories.<\/p>\n
Jenny Raskin, Impact Partners executive director, says the current market has come as a \u201cshock\u201d to doc filmmakers, who, in recent years, became accustomed to streaming services spending millions on politically bent, commercially unviable docus like \u201cKnock Down the House,\u201d which Netflix bought for $10 million in 2019, and \u201cBoys State,\u201d which Apple and A24 acquired for $12 million in 2020.<\/p>\n
\u201cCurrently, there\u2019s a push towards more commercial, more common denominator fare,\u201d Raskin says. \u201cThere\u2019s a patience for that for a while, but eventually, companies will look for the new thing, and often that is coming from the artists. Everyone\u2019s biggest concern is less about the financial and more about the reach.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sudden shift from the golden age of docus to the commercial age of docus means that filmmakers and nonfiction production companies that want to stay afloat will need to shift toward what streamers want. If Sundance 2023 is any indication, they want celebrities.<\/p>\n
Docs that came with distribution to Park City included Amazon\u2019s \u201cJudy Blume Forever,\u201d Apple\u2019s \u201cStill: A Michael J. Fox Movie\u201d and Hulu\u2019s \u201cPretty Baby: Brooke Shields.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStill: A Michael J. Fox Movie\u201d and Netflix\u2019s \u201cThe Deepest Breath\u201d will be at Hot Docs.<\/p>\n
Ventureland\u2019s John Battsek produced \u201cThe Deepest Breath,\u201d an A24 documentary about high-risk freediving that Netflix acquired before its Sundance debut. Battsek\u2019s \u201cBoom! Boom! The World vs. Boris Becker\u201d was recently released on Apple TV+. Currently he is at work on Disney\u2019s Elton John doc \u201cGoodbye Yellow Brick Road.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes you make films, and they\u2019re harder to sell than others,\u201d Battsek says. \u201cBut if you\u2019ve got a really strong story, buyers want those. Everyone wants those.\u201d<\/p>\n
View this article at Variety<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Documentary Filmmakers Turn to Non-Traditional Distribution to Get Their Films Seen: The growing amount of homeless, independently made documentaries has made film festivals like Hot Docs, arguably more important than ever before. Many docus that premiered at Sundance 2023 but have yet to find distribution are part of the Toronto-based documentary festival\u2019s lineup, which in
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