Tribeca 2012 Distribution Report Card
It seems like just yesterday I was reporting to you on SXSW and in the ever expanding festival circuit it is now time to fly over to the start of the Tribeca Film Festival. This still very young festival takes a much different approach than SXSW by having an industry office, press and industry screenings, they have a distribution branch and help to support the releases of a number of films from the festival each year.
Despite all of that, the festival suffers from a number of shortcomings. It is so close to Cannes (and its massive market) that the festival can be easy to dismiss. Tribeca Film buys so many movies from their festival that it makes it even less desirable to buyers. And finally there is the NYC problem. It can be hard to get local industry to attend and network when they are just happy to be home for a change. Similarly for those of us in from out of town, the city offers a wealth of other options that serve as distractions when we should be singularly immersed in film. I’m not going to lie, there are some films I will not be seeing because I got comps to see Kinky Boots (Which is at least based on an indie film).
The 2011 Tribeca Film Festival saw two documentaries gross about $2 million each. Both of those films (Jiro Dreams of Sushi (Magnolia) & Bully (TWC)) were rare exceptions to the rule, but are at least worth citing in terms of the potential for a breakout film to premiere at the festival. 2012 has yet to produce a film that grossed over $500k theatrically and only Struck By Lightning could really be labeled a VOD hit.
That said, the 2012 crop made clear that the festival can be a great launchpad for LGBT films and also documentaries. Four films that premiered at the festival last year and did not have distribution attached have gone on to gross $100k or more. Both narrative films that accomplished this feat feature gay story lines. Any Day Now which won the Audience award at the fest (and basically every other fest it played at) has grossed over $200k theatrically in North America courtesy of Music Box Films.
Strand meanwhile took on Yossi the sort of sequel to the Israeli military love story Yossi and Jagger, which they released over a decade ago. Yossi has grossed over $116k and is still playing in theaters, meanwhile the former has seen its DVD sales sky rocket in light of the release. Yossi was a smart follow up on the part of Strand Releasing.
On the documentary side, The Flat showed the strength of Israeli subject matter and is the highest grossing film from the fest last year with a total of $471,842. It was released by Sundance Selects and outperformed a number of high profile Sundance docs.
Tribeca Films, which is really at its heart an ulta-vod label, handled a number of films. More so than any other company that was active at last year’s festival. The theatrical box office numbers for these films are largely abysmal. Newlyweds, Supporting Characters, Rubberneck, Booker’s Place, and The Giant Mechanical Man have all grossed under $10k meaning that more people saw them at the festival than saw them in their entire theatrical window. Their one ray of light is Struck By Lightning which while only producing a box office total of $28,378 is on track to do over $1,000,000 on VOD. That thanks in no small part to the loyalty of Glee fans and the trendy TV star filled cast.
It is also worth noting that Tribeca Film distributed Oscar nominee War Witch. The Canadian Foreign Oscar entry was an Award Winner at Berlin, but was not bought until it had its North American premiere at Tribeca. It has grossed $67,425 to date but still has almost 20 markets left to open in.
Magnolia was also an active buyer, they came to the festival with Jack and Diane which grossed a paltry $1,142, and also acquired The Good Doctor ($5,206) and Deadfall which towered above the other two with a still modest $64,241.
Key doc distributors found modest success across the board at the fest. The Revisionaries grossed just under $20k with Kino Lorber behind it, Paladin heralded Mansome, the latest from profilic doc filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, to the tune of $36,280 and Cinedigm had one of its largest grossers with Don’t Stop Believin: Everyman’s Journey. It’s still in theaters and has managed just under $60k with a number of theaters yet to play
A number of films pursued some form of self-distribution to varying success. TFC client The Playroom partnered with Freestyle and has grossed slightly over $5k. Sexy Baby and Fame High had DIY theatricals, but did not report grosses. Burn is easily the most successful having grossed $111,300 in addition to special screenings all over the country in rapid succession that have been going on for months. The mix of traditional exhibition and large event screenings has swept the film across the country.
IFC was a big buyer, but many of their films have yet to be released, now a year later. Cheerful for the Wedding and Knife Fight were both disappointments grossing under $10k theatrically. They did not report box office grosses for IFC Midnight’s In Their Skin (originally called Replicas), but it is now available on Amazon VOD and DVD.
The Girl, starring Abbie Cornish has grossed just over $35k so far since being released by Brainstorm Media.
Films coming out soon include Drafthouse Film’s Graceland, Factory 25’s Future Weather, Wreckin Hill’s While We were Here, Arc’s Stand Off (formerly Whole Lotta Sole), Film Movement’s Room 514, and Sony Woldwide’s star studded Revenge For Jolly!
At present, about 60% of premieres from last year’s fest have some form of distribution in place for the US. That places it only slightly behind SXSW, but ahead of juggernaut Toronto International Film Festival. For the filmmakers, premiering at the festival, I encourage you to be patient and diligent. The top box office performers in most cases were not bought until after Cannes. Better to be slow for the win, than rush and wind up losing in the end.
I look forward to seeing you all at Tribeca Film Festival 2013!
BONUS: DOCUMENTARY POWER
As with SXSW, about 20% of features raised at least some form of funds through crowd funding. The documentary Bridegroom is premiering at this year’s festival and raised a pre- Veronica Mars – stunning total of $384,375! The film is helmed by TV legend Linda Bloodworth Thomason.
Bryan Glick April 17th, 2013
Posted In: Digital Distribution, Distribution, Film Festivals, Theatrical
Tags: film sales, Israeli film, LGBT film, theatrical distribution of film, Tribeca Film, Tribeca Film Festival