Buyers Ambivalent Over Lack of Commercial Film Appeal

By Chase Masterson

PARK CITY,UT(Hollywood Today) 1/27/2010 Although distributors and critics alike have reacted positively to many films screened, Sundance 2010 has been characterized by buyers’ lackadaisical attitudes about the festival fare.

Gone are the days when festival-goers could view films amidst an all-out bidding war, with top buyers pulling out the stops round-the-clock to garner festival favorites.

A few films have kept buyers’ attention, primarily for international rights, in anticipation of EFM in Berlin next month.

As early as Friday, WME Global granted David Jourdan’s T&C Pictures International the rights to Adrian Grenier’s Teenage Paparazzo. In the feature doc, Grenier (star of the HBO series “Entourage”) turns the tables on a 13-year old photographer as he attempts to both mentor the teen and to personally begin to understand society’s obsession with celebrity.

Myriad Pictures acquired foreign rights to freshman director Josh Radnor’s “happythankyoumoreplease,” with CEO and president Kirk D’Amico and vice-president of production Amanda Blue negotiating the deal over the weekend with Andrew Hurwitz from Schreck Rose Dapello Adams & Hurwitz. The ensemble-based crowd-pleaser follows six New Yorkers (Malin Akerman, Radnor, Kate Mara, Zoe Kazan, Pablo Schreiber and Tony Hale) on the cusp of adulthood as they juggle the demands of love and friendship.

However, although many films have screened to appreciative, packed houses, there is widespread speculation that there is no commercial hook to many of this year’s offerings; buyers are said to be looking for another “Thank You for Smoking,” a  “Napoleon Dynamite,” or a “Brokeback Mountain.”

One exception is The Kids Are All Right, written and directed by Sundance vet Lisa Cholodenko (Laurel Canyon). The story of a lesbian couple (Julianne Moore, Annette Bening) whose teenager wants to meet his biological father (Mark Ruffallo) has been critically acclaimed and rumored to be tracked by Focus Features, Summit and Fox Searchlight. The dramedy is repped by John Sloss at Cinetic.

Voltage Pictures Chief Nicolas Chartier licensed French, German, Scandinavian and Canadian rights to director Eli Craig’s Sundance Midnight entry Tucker & Dale Vs Evil, with negotiations in process for Australia, Spain and other territories.

Andrew Herwitz’ Film Sales Company sold His & Hers to Madman in Australia and New Zealand. Herwitz brokered the deal with Madman managing director Paul Wiegard; further sales are anticipated on the film, which chronicles the life and loves of 70 Irish women and was helmed by Ken Wardrop.

In domestic news, U.S. and Canadian rights for Rodrigo Cortes’ Buried were purchased earlier this week by Lionsgate for between $3M and $4M; acquisitions prez Jason Constantine touted the thriller as “one of the tightest, most intense thrillers we’ve ever seen.”

Other than the “Buried” purchase, U.S. deals have been slow in materializing; CAA is talking to Apparition and Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group about director Vincenzo Natali’s Midnight selection Splice, starring Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley.

The Ryan Gosling – Michelle Williams starrer Blue Valentine has been critically acclaimed, but no domestic or foreign deal has been struck as of today.

Industry eyes are on Catfish, The Perfect Host, Winter’s Bone, The Company Men, Lovers Of Hate, The Pat Tillman Story, and 8: The Mormon Proposition, which have also had interested from TV and domestic theatrical buyers.

The Sundance Film Festival, currently in its 26^th year, runs through January 31^, 2010.