Sundance kicks off Thursday, but insiders say they expect fewer power players this year, and add that the indie film festival is losing its luster with brands and stars.
“Brands are pulling out. Liquor brands can’t activate because Utah is a controlled state. The only thing happening there is content studios, like Variety magazine and digital channels,” a marketing vet told us. “The only people that go are wannabe influencers or actual real talent in films that fly in and out for one day to do their commitment and leave.” The exec said, “I’ve been going for almost 20 years, and I used to make six figures for three days … the last couple of years, I only made $10K to $20K. I’m sitting this one out.”
Another Sundance regular complained the whole thing’s become “too C-list.” “The power players that used to do it are not there. It’s like C-teams all around. Stars come in for a day and flee,” the source said. Sales of films are also expected to lag, after last year’s crop of Sundance titles bought for big bucks went bust at the box office.
A third fest vet explained, “Sponsors and swag have died, but it’s not because stars aren’t hot. Like every year — it fluctuates. It’s all dictated by the movies. [Right now], it’s a mediocre year for movies … there aren’t a lot of household names.”
Hillary Clinton, Taylor Swift, Ethan Hawke and Kerry Washington are expected to attend the Utah fest this year. Tao Group will host its annual pop-up with Casamigos as liquor sponsor.
A rep for the festival told us, “We’ve actually got more official sponsors this year than in years past and have had no major changes there . . . Netflix is a leadership-level sponsor again this year, so no scale back there. Haven’t heard anything about the ‘expected lag.’ ”