Last week, the last late deadline for 2026 marked Sundance Film Festival. Good luck to everyone who plays; The next two months will be an exercise in raw anxiety. Last year, Sundance showed 151 projects of 15,775 submissions, a degree of success of just under one percent.
That relationship emphasizes a long -lasting truth: Sundance has always been a crapshoot. My first festival was in 1995, when the narrative Grand Jury award was shared between Edward Burn’s “The Brothers McMullen” (Fox Searchlight Acquisition) and Benjamin Ross’ “The young toxic manual“(Released by the now closed home video company Cabin Fever Entertainment). None of the 2025’s Grand Jury-winner-” Atropia “in story or” seeds “in documentary-have yet found distribution.
I point out not to push down filmmakers or point fingers. Some claim that since Sundance is a Gatekeeper (yes) and provides the greatest theatrical experience that many of these films receive (true), it is also responsible for paying filmmakers or providing more help to find buyers.
I don’t buy it at all. In fact, I think it would serve almost 16,000 filmmakers much better if they did not see Sundance – hell, the festival circle – as a playoffs. What if it was just one possible, maybe, who-know the road? And what if they devoted more of the troubled energy to growing communities around their work – communities that can support future projects, buy tickets, spread the word?
A case study arrives in the fall: “Crap,” A $ 65,000 comedy produced under SAG’s Ultra-Low budget agreement and is funded by median analysts and former television executives Evan Shapiro. The directors’ debut des Lombardo and Badr Mastrouq will premiere on November 14 as a month’s exclusive on Tubi and then roll out with a movie hub. Shapiro is comfortable with grand statements: he believes ”Crap“Is a manifestation of what he calls”the affinity economy“And call it” an example of the next era of film. “
He does not talk about the critical heft of “shit”, which he describes as “a very, very stupid comedy.” He believes the conditions for doing: a project by young filmmakers, shot too little money, built for and around their own community and treat them as sound board, support system and audience.
“For me, this is the model for new independent film,” Shapiro said. “That movie of $ 1 million to $ 5 million that everyone continues to get stuck on … It just won’t work anymore. The market for these movies is the audience, not the port guards. You must be able to go directly to the audience as fast as you can, but you can still cultivate” which allows you to get a return to your investment. Then you can start by just going to the big field.
As I noted last weekThe affinity economy flies before author theory – but that does not mean he is wrong. He is also not the first to identify the need for society: Emily Best by the crowdfunding platform Seeds and spark have long advocated for their role in production and used it to produce a card she recently directed, “Mr. Jesus.”
“Your plan A is,” I develop a relationship with my audience. I know where I will distribute it. I know how to distribute it. I know how I will market it. “And your plan B is,” but if I get into a big festival, then here I can take advantage of all the things I built, “said best.
Of course, easier said than done: to build community, whether it is personally or online (preferably, both), takes much longer than, say, an 18-day shoot. (“Shit” wrapped in eight.) “It’s really hard to reverse engineering,” Best said. “But to Evan’s points, the sooner you start, the better.”
“Shit” has a nozzle in Shapiro, which presents at conferences around the world and has about 100,000 followers. The movie stars young comedians Alise Morales, Nataly Aukar, Jamie Linn Watson and Shang Forbes, with over 400,000 combined Instagram followers. It is best to know that figures that can feel distracting, as most filmmakers are neither global speakers nor hot young comedians.
“It is simply not true that everyone needs to go out and become a social media Maven,” said Best, who is now developing “Community Producer Playbook” with producer Ivan Askwith and Chinese Christie Marchese. (You should also check out Kinema and Seed & Sparks Open Source “Distribution Play Book.”)
“You need to design strategies to gather target groups about what you do and give them a good experience,” Best said. “It will not be taught in film schools. It is not a priority by financiers. If you had (community producer) as a line in your budget will people be like” what is this? “
That takes me to you, In development Community: Do you buy this argument? Do you think filmmakers should – even, must – develop their own audience?
I ask because it is frankly that it has taken me years to come to this. The company with indie film has always valued the star power much more than grassroots somewhat.
I also ask because Indiefilm deserves to live long and flourish, but the familiar systems no longer serve most of its constituents.
Much lies beyond someone’s control, but that does not prevent a new road. A community -based, self -directed approach feels like optimism: instead of depending on strangers or gate guards, you put the investment on yourself. And in the current state of – yes, everything – it seems to be the most reasonable risk of taking.
