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© Copyright Business Strategies February 2013 (http://www.moviemoney.com)
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TFE THE FILM ENTREPRENEUR:
A Newsletter for Independent Filmmakers and Investors
LOUISE LEVISON, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER
VOL 20 NO. 1 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2013
SUNDANCE 2013: SALES GOOD, BUYERS BUSY
Buyer activity at the 29th
edition of the Sundance Film Festival indicates that the indie film
market is staying strong. Attendees were more interested in seeing films than going to late night
parties. They were there to buy, acquiring 45 films – the second highest number in this century.
While 2011 saw 51 films sold with buyers starting to refill inventories, the total fell to 39 films
in 2012, with the next highest being 30 in 2009.
Nor has that old canard of “too many independent movies being made” seemed to dampen
anyone’s desire to create more. The success of a film like Beasts of the Southern Wild has more
impact on filmmakers than anything from the naysayers. There were 12,146 submissions (429
more than 2012) for the 2013 festival, including 3,033 feature–length films and 8,102 short
films. Of the feature film submissions, 2,070 were from the U.S. and 1,974 were international.
103 feature films at the Festival were world premieres. Those numbers show how slim the
chances are of being accepted to the festival. Having gone to the festival since 1988, I fight
against the idea that you have to know someone to be accepted. Considering the number of slots
for features, it can be that the odds are high. For short films, the odds are astronomical. In
speaking to the difficulty of making these decisions, Sundance Director John Cooper, who has
worked as a programmer there for 23 years, told Variety, “There’s as much pressure, if not more.
We reject films that would have been shown 20 years ago.”
Having attended the festival since 1988 myself, I also should note that the viewpoint of the
programmers tends to change from year to year. Whether or not there is a planned genre theme,
many films will tend to fit into a few categories. New this year was the number of comedies.
Fourteen comedies and comedic dramas played in three of the festival’s most prominent sections
― U.S. Dramatic, Premieres and Park City at Midnight. Compare that number to the five
comedic movies in those divisions in 2010. Really exciting to me is that eight of the sixteen
competition films were directed by women. Director of Programming Trevor Groth said that
they did not plan it. The 50/50 split was not noticed until after all the films had been accepted.

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© Copyright Business Strategies February 2013 (http://www.moviemoney.com)
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SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL SALES – 2013
FILMS ACQUIRED DECEMBER. 6TH
TO JANUARY 16TH
FILM DISTRIBUTOR TERRITORY Estimated
Purchase
Price
(Dollars)
After Tiller Ro*Co Films International n/a
American Promise Ro*Co Films International n/a
Future, The Visit Films International n/a
Halley Visit Films International n/a
Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete,
The
Aldamisa International International n/a
It Felt Like Love Visit Films International n/a
jOBS* Open Road –service deal Five Star
10M*
Metro Manila Haut et Court France n/a
Peach Fuzz Blumhouse Productions World n/a, partner
on film
Sound City Gravitas Ventures International VOD
Teacher, A Visit Films International n/a
*Open Road, which is owned by theater chains AMC and Regal, is joining with the producer Five Star
Feature Films to release the movie in April. Five Star will pick up the costs of marketing, estimated to be
around $10 million.
FILMS ACQUIRED JANUARY 17th
to JANUARY 26th
FILM DISTRIBUTOR TERRITORY Estimated
Purchase
Price
(Dollars)
99% -The Occupy Wall St.
Collaborative Film
Participant (theatrical &
Participant’s TV network)
U.S. n/a
Ain’t Them Bodies Saints IFC Films U.S. 1M+
Austenland Sony Pictures Classics &
Sony Pictures
Acquisitions Worldwide
World 4M+
Before Midnight Sony Pictures Classics North America, UK n/a
Blackfish Magnolia & CNN Films U.S. 1M+
Computer Chess AMC/Sundance Channel Linear and on-demand n/a
Concession Radius-TWC
Content
North America
International
n/a
Cutie and the Boxer Radius-TWC North America, France
King Records
n/a
Japan
Dirty Wars Sundance Selects North America n/a
Fruitvale The Weinstein Company North America, English-
speaking territories
4M
25M P&A

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Halley AMC/Sundance Channel Linear and on-demand n/a
History of the Eagles: Part 1 Showtime U.S. cable n/a
It Felt Like Love AMC/Sundance Channel Linear and on-demand n/a
I Used to Be Darker Monterey Media
AMC/Sundance Channel
Theatrical, home video
Linear and on-demand
n/a
Inequality for All Radius-TWC North America, UK,
South Africa, Australia
0.75M
Kill Your Darlings Sony Pictures Classics U.S., Australia, New
Zealand, South Africa,
African TV, Eastern
Europe
<2M
Look of Love, The IFC North America n/a
Lovelace Radius-TWC North America n/a
Machine that Makes Everything
Disappear, The
Icarus Films North America n/a
Milkshake Phase 4 U.S. n/a
Morning Anchor Bay North America n/a
Mother of George Oscilloscope North America
Newlyweeds Phase 4 North America n/a
Prince Avalanche Magnolia North America n/a
Pussy Riot-A Punk Prayer HBO Documentary Films U.S. cable 1M+
Rambler, The Anchor Bay North America n/a
Spectacular Now, The A24 North American n/a
Summit, The IFC Selects North America 1M+
S-VHS Magnolia U.S. 1M+
This Is Martin Bonner AMC/Sundance Channel Linear and on-demand n/a
Toy's House CBS Films
QED
Domestic
International
n/a
n/a
Twenty Feet from Stardom Radius-TWC
Elle Driver
North America
Rest of the World
1M+
n/a
Two Mothers Exclusive Releasing U.S., UK, CIS n/a
Way, Way Back, The Fox Searchlight World 9.75M
We Are What We Are eOne U.S. 1M+
Who Is Dayani Cristal? Mundial U.S. n/a
Notes:
Halley and The Look of Love are each counted once.
Linear services are services that present programs at specific times as part of a program schedule, such as
a conventional over-the-air television service. Non-linear services are services for which the consumer
selects the viewing time, such as video-on-demand
CIS is the Commonwealth of Independent States, which is a loose association of former Soviet Republics
formed during the breakup of the Soviet Union.

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AND THE SUNDANCE PRIZE GOES TO . . .
AWARDS/PRIZES FILM FILMMAKER
U.S. Grand Jury Dramatic Fruitvale Ryan Coogler
U.S. Grand Jury Documentary Blood Brother Steve Hoover
U.S. Dramatic Special Jury for Acting The Spectacular Now Miles Teller
Shailene Woodley
Waldo Salt Screenwriting In A World Lake Bell
U.S. Dramatic Directing Afternoon Delight Jill Soloway
U.S. Documentary Directing Cutie and the Boxer Zachary Heinzerling
U. S. Dramatic Cinematography Ain’t Them Bodies Saints
Mother of George
Bradford Young (both)
U.S. Documentary Cinematography Dirty Wars Richard Rowley
U.S. Special Jury Sound Design Upstream Color Shane Carruth
Johnny Marshall
U.S. Documentary Editing Gideon’s Army Dawn Porter
U.S. Documentary Award/Special
Achievement in Filmmaking
Inequality for All
American Promise
Jacob Kornbluth
Joe Brewster,
Michèle Stephenson
Audience U.S. Dramatic Fruitvale Ryan Coogler
Audience U.S. Documentary Blood Brother Steve Hoover

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Audience Best of NEXT This Is Martin Bonner Chad Hartigan
Audience World Dramatic Metro Manila Sean Ellis
Audience World Documentary The Square Jehane Noujaim
World Jury Dramatic Jiseul Muel O
World Jury Documentary A River Changes Course Kalyanee Mam
World Directing Dramatic Crystal Fairy Sebastián Silva
World Directing Documentary The Machine Which Makes
Everything Disappear
Tinatin Gurchiani
World Screenwriting Dramatic Wajma (An Afghan Love
Story)
Barmak Akram
World Cinematography Dramatic Lasting Jacek Borcuch
World Cinematography Documentary Who Is Dayani Crystal? Marc Silver
World Dramatic Special Jury Circles Srdan Golubovic
World Documentary Special Jury for
Punk Spirit
Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer Mike Lerner
Maxim Pozdorovkin
World Documentary Editing The Summit Nick Ryan
Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Computer Chess Andrew Bujalski
Sundance Institute/NHK Spectacled Tiger Kentaro Hagiwara
Audience Shorts (YouTube) Catnip: Egress to Oblivion? Jason Willis
Short Film Grand Jury Prize The Whistle Grzegorz Zariczny

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Short Film Jury U.S. Fiction Whiplash Damien Chazelle
Short Film Jury International Fiction The Date Jenni Toivoniemi
Short Film Jury Non-Fiction Skinningrove Michael Almereyda
Short Film Jury Animation Irish Folk Furniture Tony Donoghue
Short Film Special Jury for Acting Palimpest Joel Naglein
Short Film Special Jury Until the Quiet Comes Kahlil Joseph
◙
COMINGS AND GOINGS
Visual effects studio Rhythm & Hues filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on February 11, 2013.
The BAFTA and Annie Award-winning VES company is the lead on Fox's Life of Pi, the film
that won the Visual Effects Oscar for R+H’s work just hours after disgruntled unpaid former
employees staged a protest outside the Dolby Theatre, where the Oscars were held. In the
meantime, all of R+H’s offices were remaining open and they have obtained commitments for
financing to complete projects in house, according a press statement from President of the Film
Division Lee Berger. “Following the filing, R+H will be seeking to secure financing for future
growth. I believe that we are going to come out of this situation stronger, more efficient, and as
prolific as we are now.” On Feb. 15th
Universal and Fox obtained permission from the bank to
make $17 million in loans to the beleaguered VFX house to complete work on the studios’
R.I.P.D. and Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, respectively. In addition, Legendary was able to
pay $4.9 million to have Seventh Son finished.
Participant Media has formed the Participant PanAmerica film fund and expects to develop
and co-finance 10-12 Spanish-language films a year with Mexico’s Canana, Chile’s Fabula and
Colombia’s Dynamo. The five-year agreement follows Participant Media‘s recent co-financing
of Canana’s Chavez and Fabula’s No, an Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language film.
Participant CEO Jim Berk said the deal will enable the company to expand its reach into the fast
growing Spanish-speaking market and give it access to a talent pool of “fresh and highly creative
filmmakers who are looking to explore important contemporary issues in exciting ways.” The
initiative will be led by Jonathan King, EVP of narrative production for Participant. Canana was
founded in 2005 by Diego Luna, Gael Garcia Bernal and Pablo Cruz.
Producers Nick Taussig and Paul Van Carter are leaving Revolver Entertainment to set up their
own finance and production outfit, Salon Pictures. The new London-based company is backed

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by private equity. The aim is to work on films budgeted at $1 million to $10 million that have
international reach. They plan to work with some EIS funding for productions, as well as
accessing public funding and tax rebates in the UK or abroad. The initial slate of projects
includes five films. First up is an untitled cop thriller set in Los Angeles, to be directed by James
Nunn and likely to shoot by the end of 2013, according to Taussig. The other projects will be
readied for shoots in 2014 and beyond.
Indomina Releasing has closed its North American operations. The move comes three years
after parent company The Indomina Group established the branch to acquire and distribute genre
fare for his new company. Still in its library is Sundance 2012 pickup Filly Brown for which the
company has been seeking a third-party to release. The Indomina Group told deadline.com that
it was still planning on sending a team to Berlin and plans to focus on producing original content
out of its Dominican Republic facilities, shifting to feature films with more commercial studio
appeal. ◙
SUNDANCE FINANCING PANEL ADDS PITCH FEST
The popular Sundance Film Festival panel “Financing Your Film: Avoiding Pitfalls from
Development to Distribution” was extended this year to include a pitch competition. The
panelists, including your editor, held a seminar in the morning; then in the afternoon, we
reconvened to hear pitches from various filmmakers. The winning pitch received $1,500
graciously offered by Crowe Horwath, and a second winner received $500.
The day was such a success that the panel and pitch session are coming to the Showbiz Store and
Café in Los Angeles on March 29-30. “Financing Your Film: Avoiding Pitfalls from
Development to Distribution” will take place on Friday, March 29th
from 2 -5 PM. The panelists
will include Louise Levison, President of Business Strategies; Hal “Corky” Kessler,
Entertainment Attorney, DL&E ; Todd Hein, Senior Manager Federal Tax Unit, Crowe Horwath;
Ronnie Yeskel, Casting Director; Gil Aglaure, Executive Producer & President of Koan
Distribution; David McDonald, Phaz2; John Corser, Producer; and Moderator: Marshall Bear .
The Pitch Fest takes place on Saturday, March 30th
from 10 AM to 4 PM for a maximum of 75
participants. The judges will be Louise Levison, Hal “Corky” Kessler, Tamara Aglaure of Koan
Distribution, Ronnie Yeskel, David McDonald, John Corser, Bill Duke, Director/Actor and Tony
Eldridge, Producer. There will be three prizes: $1,500 for Best Pitch plus donations of services
by members of the panel, $750 for 2nd
Best Pitch and $500 for 3rd
Best Pitch.
For information on content for both days, prices and directions go to:
http://www.eventbrite.com/event/5453760344/ ◙

8. ☞ 8 ☜
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NUMBERS! NUMBERS! NUMBERS!
LOW-BUDGET INDEPENDENT FILMS ($8.5M and under)
FILM DISTRIBUTOR REVENUE COST
thous. $ thous. $
2016 Obama’s America Rocky Mountain
Pictures
9,347 2,500
Beasts of the Southern Wild* Fox Searchlight 12,572 1,500
Bernie Millennium 9,206 6,000
Celeste and Jesse Forever Sony Pictures Classics 3,095 850
Dark Skies* Dimension 8,189 3,500
End of Watch Open Road 41,003 7,500
Haunted House, A* Open Road 39,864 2,500
Hit and Run Open Road 13,749 1,300
Holy Motors Indomina Releasing 511 5,400
Insidious FilmDistrict 54,009 1,500
Magic Mike Warner Bros. 113,197 7,000
Middle of Nowhere (2012) AFFRM 123 200
October Baby IDP/Samuel Goldwyn 5,357 800
Other Son, The Cohen Media Group 1,250 3,900
Royal Affair, A*
*
Magnolia Pictures 1,331 7,200
Samsara Oscilloscope Pictures
res
2,654 4,000
Sessions, The* Fox Searchlight 5,972
72
1,000
Sinister Lionsgate/Summit 48,087 5,000
Sleepwalk With Me IFC Films 2,266 1,200
Undefeated The Weinstein Co. 561 1,000
Words, The CBS Films 11,495 6,000
You Sister’s Sister IFC Films 1,597 125
*Still in North American distribution as of February 24, 2013. Revenues are from Variety, Box Office and
boxofficemojo.com. Negative costs (production prior to prints and ads) are approximate, based either on
conversations with filmmaker, production company or industry estimates.

9. ☞ 9 ☜
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MORE NUMBERS! NUMBERS! NUMBERS!
HIGH-BUDGET INDEPENDENT FILMS (Over $8.5M )
FILM DISTRIBUTOR REV. COST
thous.
$ $
thous.
$Amour* Sony Pictures Classics 5,147 9,900
Anna Karenina (2012)* Focus Features 12,803 49,700
Beautiful Creatures* Warner Brothers 16,570 50,000
Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, The Fox Searchlight 45,827 10,000
Broken City* 20th
Century Fox 19,583 35,000
Django Unchained* The Weinstein Co. 158,783 83,000
Escape From Planet Earth* The Weinstein Co. 34,813 40,000
Killing Them Softly The Weinstein Co. 15,003 15,000
Last Stand, The* Lionsgate 12,027 30,000
Lawless The Weinstein Co 137,399 26,000
Lincoln* The Walt Disney Co, 178,604 65,000
Looper Sony/TriStar 66,486 30,000
Master, The The Weinstein Co. 16,259 30,000
ParaNorman Focus Features 56,001 83,000
Parker* FilmDistrict 17,365 30,000
Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Lionsgate/Summit 17,743 12,000
Pitch Perfect Universal 65,001 17,000
Red Dawn (2012)* FilmDistrict 44,794 65,000
Rise of the Guardians* Paramount
ks
102,017 145,000
Safe Haven* Relativity Media 47,916 28,000
Side Effects (2013)* Open Road 25,100 30,000
Silver Linings Playbook* The Weinstein Co. 107,176 21,000
Taken 2 Fox Searchlight 139,039 45,000
Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D* Lionsgate 34,334 20,000
Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn-Part 2* Summit 292,123 120,000
Warm Bodies* Lionsgate/Summit 58,243 30,000
Zero Dark Thirty* Sony/Columbia 91,539 45,000
Note: Same references as low-budget table.

10. ☞ 10 ☜
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LARGE FORMAT FILMS
FILM DISTRIBUTION REV. COST
thous.
$
thous. $
Air Racers 3D 3D Entertainment 1,310 5,000
Aliens of the Deep BV LSF 8,969 5,000
Apollo 13: The Imax Experience IMAX 1,737 n/a
Bugs! SK Films, Inc. 18,114 9,000
Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man Sony Pictures
Classics
15,628 9,000
Deep Sea 3D* Warner Bros. 45,432 1,000
Galapagos: The Enchanted Voyage IMAX 18,096 7,000
Ghosts of the Abyss Buena Vista 17,041 13,000
Haunted Castle nWave 13,652 n/a
Hubble 3D* Warner Bros. 36,532 n/a
Magnificent Desolation IMAX 34,109 3,000
NASCAR 3D Warner Bros./IMAX 21,337 10,000
Ocean Wonderland 3D 3D Entertainment 11,035 3,000
Roar: Lions of the Kalahari Destination Cinema 2,166 n/a/w
Roving Mars Buena Vista 10,408 1,000
Sea Monsters 3D: A Prehistoric Adven. National Geographic 23,746 n/a
Sea Rex: Journey to a Prehistoric
World
3D Entertainment 6,097 n/a
Space Station 3D* IMAX 87,249 1,000
Thrill Ride Sony Classics 18,795 9,000
To the Arctic 3D* Warner Bros. 11,388 n/a
T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous IMAX 53,323 14,500
U2 3D National Geographic 10,362 13,000
Under the Sea 3D* Warner Bros. 32,576 n/a
Wildest Dream: Conquest of Everest National Geographic 898 n/a
Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill Shadow 3,058 n/a
Wild Safari 3D nWave 16,621 4,500
Young Black Stallion Buena Vista 6,751 n/a
Note: Same references as low-budget table. ◙

11. ☞ 11 ☜
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Need Money for a Movie? Don’t Go in Empty-Handed. Have a Business Plan.
The benefit of using a reliable business plan to raise financing for a film is that it allows the
investors and the filmmaker to gauge the potential success of a film. A polished business plan
with projections based on the worldwide results of other films and with clear explanations about
the industry, markets and production personnel attached to the film is far more effective than an
incomplete document that leaves prospective investors wanting more information. Contact
Louise Levison at louisel@earthlink.net to find out how you can put her more than 20 years of
experience as a Film Business Consultant to work creating a business plan for your film.
Louise Levison, President of Business Strategies, specializes in creating business plans for film
and consulting on other aspects of independent filmmaking and distribution. Levison is the
author of Filmmakers & Financing: Business Plans for Independents (Seventh Edition, Focal
Press ). The sixth edition of this book is available in a Chinese edition published by Hindabook
(www.hindabook.com) in Beijing, China. She also is publisher/editor of the web publication
you’re reading now, The Film Entrepreneur: A Newsletter for the Independent Filmmaker and
Investors. Levison’s clients have raised money for low-budget films such as The Blair Witch
Project, the most profitable independent film in history, and for companies raising as much as
$300 million. Among other clients’ projects are The Prophet (an animated film based on Kahlil
Gibran’s book), Unlimited (Nathan Frankowski), Redemption (Clayton Miller), Moving Midway,
Redemption Road, Haunted (2012), High School Sweethearts, The First of May, The Open Road,
Aluna, Yak: The Giant King, Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman, My Father
and the Man in Black and Michael Winslow Live. Among her corporate clients are Danny
Glover’s Louverture Films (2008 nominee for Best Documentary Academy Award Trouble the
Water) and his Louverture Film Fund I, The Pamplin Film Company (Hoover), Hurricane Film
Partners, LLC and Tokuma International Ltd (Shall We Dance, Princess Mononoke). Among
other entertainment companies is The Lifton Institute of Media Arts and Sciences (Los Angeles).
Levison is an affiliate of the Berlin-based consulting company Peacefulfish (peacefulfish.com)
and writes an industry blog for Baseline Intelligence (www.baselineintel.com). Levison is an
Instructor in the Extension Program at UCLA. She also has been a Visiting Professor at the
Taipei (Taiwan) National University of the Arts, Chapman University (Orange County, CA) and
the University of Montana (Missoula). She has presented seminars and/or been on panels at
festivals and markets around the world. (Additional information is available at
http//www.moviemoney.com).
THE FILM ENTREPRENEUR is published by Business Strategies
Louise Levison, Editor
Faryl Saliman Reingold, Assistant Editor
Office: 4454 Ventura Cyn. Ave. Suite 305
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
Phone (818) 990-7774; E-mail: louisel@earthlink.net ; http://www.moviemoney.com
Have your scripts professionally read and analyzed by TFE’s Assistant Editor Faryl Saliman
Reingold. For more information, e-mail her at swanlandprods@yahoo.com.