A 'sell sheet' (also called a 'one sheet') is a film/video licensing industry term for summary publicity. 'Sell Sheet Sampler' is a continuing feature on our blog where we showcase fascinating clips, which, while part of a digital sell sheet, are of interest to a large audience.

"With anorexia you feel too fat. With this I feel too skinny." Extremely interesting glimpse into teenage boys obsessed by body building. In this candid clip we catch an unusual glimpse into the problem of body-image for teenage males, and learn how simple the decision can be to take steroids.

Click here for the Sell Sheet for
'Shredded' - Distributed by The National Film Board of Canada

The Sundance Film Festival, though firmly in its mid-twenties and suffering all the expected crises, is one of the world’s most important cinema venues. It’s been said that what plays well up in the mountains of Park City this year will be trickling into the Hollywood mainstream by the summer after next.  If this is true, the 2008 iteration of the festival leaves us with a lot to think about.  Here are 5 things to chew on as American movies face what is likely a pivotal year.

Continue reading
"Sundance Film Festival 2008: Five Key Trends and Must-Knows for Indie Directors and Producers"

CAA? Creative Artists Agency?  The cabal of super-agents who changed the movie business in America in the 80s, introduced the ‘package deal’, drove up actor’s salaries, and have now, with their ceaseless expansion into sports and the far east, seem poised to take over the world?

Yes, CAA is so big, so ubiquitous, that, paradoxically, sometimes we don’t even bother to pay attention.

CAA’s Sundance Scorecard:

Hamlet 2 - CAA sold this one to Focus Entertainment for around $10 Million.  The big sale of the festival.

Choke - CAA managed to convince Fox Searchlight to put up $5 million for this adaptation of the Chuck Palahniuk novel.

Henry Poole is Here - CAA brokered this 3.5 million deal. Overture Films now owns the U.S. distribution rights.

American Teen - this documentary on a high school in Indiana was sold to Paramount Vantage after a long negotiation session.  Cinetic and CAA repped.  Deal is worth 1 million and includes all world rights excluding the UK.

A 'sell sheet' (also called a 'one sheet') is a film/video licensing industry term for summary publicity. 'Sell Sheet Sampler' is a continuing feature on our blog where we showcase fascinating clips, which, while part of a digital sell sheet, are of interest to a large audience.

"There was no sound. It was like it was in slow motion." Against All Odds is an astonishing television series profiling the lives of individuals with the courage and willpower to overcome tremendous physical and psychological crises. In this clip we meet thrill seeker Dana Bowman whose life was changed forever when he collided mid-air with his friend and fellow skydiver.

Some viewers may find these images disturbing.

Click here for the Sell Sheet for
'Against All Odds' - Distributed by Bullseye TV

Submarine Entertainment, found at the unassuming website submarine.com (home of a mysterious, lo fi, and little-bit-creepy splash page), are quickly becoming a Sundance mainstay, especially after previous successes as sales agents for Super-Size Me (2005) and Control Room (2004). Yet another New York producer’s rep company (though they also much more), twin brothers Josh and Dan Braun and former CAA agent Kevin Iwashina arrive at Sundance 2008 with an intriguing roster of documentaries and feature fiction including The Duplass Brothers comedy Baghead.

How are they doing so far?  Submarine Entertainments’ 2008 Sundance Scorecard:

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired Cinetic and Submarine Entertainment repped.  Sold to the Weinstein Company.

Kicking It Submarine repped for Worldwide Sales. Sold to ESPN.

The Black List Submarine brokered the deal (along with Arthouse Films). Sold to HBO.

Baghead - Josh Braun brokered a low six-figure deal with Sony Pictures Classics.

Cinetic Media is hardly an unknown around the Sundance Film Festival, but the majority of movie goers will be hard pressed to say they recognize the name or logo.  That’s because Cinetic Media occupies the nether realm of broker, a position they occupy so successfully that Defamer jokingly called them, three years ago, the Sundance Unseen Hand.

Now in 2008, things haven’t changed much, except perhaps Cinetic are much less ‘unseen’.  The Hollywood Reporter ranked legendary lawyer/producer/sales agent and Cinetic Founder John Sloss and his partner, former CAA top agent Bart Walker, number 21 in their list of the 50 most powerful indie related execs. At Sundance, Cinetic is well known for their annual party...and for having an uncanny knack for being close to all the best deals.

Cinetic Sundance 2008 Scorecard (so far):

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired Cinetic and Submarine Entertainment repped the deal.

UPDATE (23 Jan): American Teen: this documentary on a high school in Indiana was sold to Paramount Vantage after a long negotiation session.  Cinetic and CAA repped.  Deal is worth 1 million and includes all world rights excluding the UK.

Just passed the half way point in the festival, and sales at Sundance 2008 have been a bit disappointing.  Though commentators last week were predicting loose purse-strings in Park City in response to the threat of a prolonged writers’ strike (fears mitigated last Thursday by the DGA’s deal-making), the perceived over-spending of last year has so far resulted in a more conservative buyer’s marketplace.

What’s the deal so far? Kudos to considerate and writerly spout.com blogger Karina Longworth for providing this Sundance 2008 Scorecard.  The 2008 list of sold films is notable, so far, for the preponderance of documentaries.

Here’s the link: Sundance 2008 Deals

HBO, Weinstein, United Artists, ESPN(!) – the usual suspects.  But what about the others?  Throughout the rest of the week, we’ll be profiling some of the lesser known Sundance deal makers.  Stay tuned.

The National Film Board of Canada is schlepping an excellent slate of films to Park City this week including the absolutely gorgeous short animated film Madame Tutli-Putli. This hand crafted stunner was licensed at MIPCOM '08 to Canal + France, ARTE, and Switzerland's TSR. Already a winner at last year's Cannes Film Festival, this crowd favourite is sure to bring attention to the many other worthy NFB produced films playing this year at Sundance. These films, created with pure passion and commitment, represent some of the finest results socially conscious government funded arts can produce.

Take a look at this clip of Madame to get the cinephilic juices flowing, and check out some of the great coverage of Sundance 2008.




Madame Tutli-Putli - Distributed by The National Film Board of Canada


NEWS FLASH: The National Film Board of Canada's UP THE YANGTZE is the official first sale at Sundance 2008. It was acquired by Zeitgeist, for release in April.

A 'sell sheet' (also called a 'one sheet') is a film/video licensing industry term for summary publicity. 'Sell Sheet Sampler' is a continuing feature on our blog where we showcase fascinating clips, which, while part of a digital sell sheet, are of interest to a large audience.

"We estimate that there are more than a million deaths from malaria each year. That's like 7 jumbo jets going down every day. And 90% of those deaths are in children."

We've heard about organizations like nothingbutnets.net attempting to control malaria spreading mosquitoes through the use of simple mosquito nets. But this highly practical solution, while urgently needed, distracts from another question: why is it that 30 years ago malaria in Africa was no more serious than the flu? This clip from the documentary Malaria Parasites (produced and distributed by Journeyman Productions) examines the impact of deadly imitation drugs sold illegally and how they have contributed to the rapidity with which the malaria parasite has developed resistance to previously successful drugs. Now there are signs that the one remaining effective drug against malaria is also weakening. This is a story about humanitarian organizations and government bodies failing to address all levels of a problem, and a situation reaching a crisis point.

Required viewing for all policy makers, politicians, and potential candidates.

Click here for the Sell Sheet for
Malaria Parasites - Distributed by Journeyman Productions

This is Part 1 of an ongoing series examining websites designed for indie film producers.

MyMoveNetwork.com, a relatively undiscovered indie web gem, is a good place to start if you’re trying to understand some of the innovative ways passionate film fans are making the much ballyhooed “indie film web revolution” more than just hype.

Unlike director-oriented sites like YouTube, MMN is outstanding in the way it encourages filmmakers to put not just their films online, but their entire production ‘company’ as well. Perhaps best described as a social networking service for the professionals, amateurs, friends, and students who make indie films happen, MMN is much more than a quick internet diversion: it’s a great vision of how the web can build professional artistic communities.

How does it work?  MyMovieNetwork co-founder Ben Pinkhasik gives us a quick tour…

Continue reading
"The Indie Film Web Revolution Part 1: Interview with MyMovieNetwork"

Esteemed and often peeved Chicago Reader critic Jonathan Rosenbaum has done the heavy lifting, and here are the numbers he’s crunched from Film Comment‘s Annual List of films played theatrically in the United States:

Major studios released 119 films

Specialty divisions of major studios released 49 more

Independent distributors were behind nearly 500

Films playing at Festivals accounted for the remaining 1,600-plus titles

Total: 2,400 titles

With that many films, of course, it’s impossible to see them all.  That makes the anointed best of the year either really impressive, or not impressive at all.

[Source Jonathan Rosenbaum’s Year End Piece from the Chicago Reader.  Yes, Mr. Rosenbaum plans to retire from film reviewing at the end of February 2008 and we wish him well. A truly great critic and a tireless prospector for the rarest of cinematic gems.]

Finally, a film festival that targets those of us with limited attention spans.  We may be easily distracted, but it doesn’t mean we aren’t discerning. Check out Renderyard’s One Minute Challenge Online Film festival.  You can submit through Withoutabox, and there is a winner every month.

Here’s the December 2007 winner...very likable, quite buzzable, and it doesn’t overstay its welcome:

Shhhh: Short Film Festival Winner

Renderyard Film Competition 1 Minute Challenge

This ongoing series looks at film and video licensing industry trends.


For Distributors
PBS, that unfairly ridiculed U.S. bastion of public broadcasting and stodginess, has always been a cutting edge source for children’s entertainment. One such stunning experiment in multiplatform entertainment is PBS Kids Sprout. This 24 hour channel of bite-sized Kids entertainment (drawn from classic and time-tested properties) mixed with original segments that speak to toddlers about their day, is supplemented by a VOD service and a web portal inviting kiddie interaction with the linear channel and advice for Moms and other caregivers. Revolutionary place-shifting pedagogy or breeding ground for pint-sized TV and Internet addiction? Programming that follows and comments upon a toddler’s hectic schedule is meant to encourage making time to go out and play, read a book, quiet down, and cuddle up: in short, the channel wants Kids to have “Sprout-type experience even when the TV is turned off.” Now that’s good branding.

The channel has licensed many well known kids titles, as well as lesser known foreign faves like The Hoobs, a Channel 4 commissioned/Jim Henson Company Produced series.

For License Buyers
When web savvy toddlers get a bit too old for Barney, it's time for them to start thinking about their portfolios. Check out this superb 30’ HD Kids license distributed by John Mclean Media:





Biz Kids - Distributed by John Mclean Media


For Independent Producers
That buzzing you've been hearing is the sound of Juno, the winning teen-pregnancy comedy produced by Mandate Productions and distributed by Fox Searchlight, earning 16.2 million this weekend and now completely groomed for awards season glory. Zero surprise if blogger-screenwriter-stripper Diablo Cody wins a nomination for best original screenplay. Very well received on the festival circuit (it was the opening film recently at the Barbados International Film Festival), Juno has slowly and stealthily grossed over 50 million this month. There is a good podcast available on NPR which gives some insight into the production (Juno's not really that Indie).

Slate.com has some words about this year's unwanted pregnancy theme.

Congratulations to our development team! Those tireless and cheerful wizards of code have managed to add one more new IPEX TV feature before the holiday break, one we know you’re really going to like. 

Registered buyers and sellers can now import all or some of their contacts from Outlook 2004/2007 and Outlook Express directly into their IPEX TV account.  A few simple-to-follow steps, and you can have your complete sales list at your finger tips.  Need to prepare for a tradeshow?  Blast digital sell sheets, including trailers, to your entire contact list with just a few clicks.  Maybe you’re a buyer and you want to inform multiple members of your team about some great new titles you’ve found. Perfectly formatted IPEX TV e-mails: easy on the eyes, easy to send, a pleasure to receive.

Feel free to contact us at support@ipextv.tv if you have any questions about this new service, or if you would like a tour of the system.

It’s been an exciting and eye-opening 2007 here at IPEX TV and we’re all looking forward to an even more rewarding 2008.  The web industry moves very fast, so you cover a lot of ground when you want to stay up in front.  We’ve come a long way in one short year and we want to thank our colleagues, partners, friends, and families for their support.

What’s ahead? Our platform has matured into the most robust and user friendly film and video content marketplace on the web.  We are looking forward to working even closer with all of our colleagues and clients to help meet head-on the uncertain but exciting changes our industry faces. Production, delivery, marketing, artwork, distribution, and licensing: everything is changing; everywhere there are new opportunities.

5 New Year’s Resolutions

1. Bring you the best and most cost effective film and video content marketing services in the industry.

2. Do more to help our clients understand how the traditional meets the cutting edge.

3. Keep developing new digital tools to serve you better.

4. Bring our community even more news and commentary about film festivals around the world.

5. Help even more independent producers access the licensing industry.

There. That should keep us busy.

All the best from all of us here at IPEX TV. 

Have a successful, inspiring, and rewarding 2008!