So says the LA Times today with a nice wrap-up of distribution deals thus far at Sundance:

While a surprisingly large number of new works have sold at Sundance so far, the top sales prices have been dramatically lower than the largest transactions at recent gatherings. And several movies will first play not in theaters but on pay-per-view television or premium cable channels.

The article is well worth the read, not only to see what’s sold, but also for the commentary of people involved in the indie film world. Check out these quotes:

Like many Sundance shoppers, Rice says he and his Fox Searchlight team were careful to analyze how an acquisition title could (and couldn’t) be marketed. “You always have to be mindful of that,” Rice says, “but I think ‘Adam’ will play to a broad audience.”

“Given how the market is, we are just being really careful and cautious and making sure we know what our distribution plans are,” says Joe Drake, the president of Lionsgate Motion Pictures. “In ‘Winning Season,’ we found a film that has a great heart, is really feel-good with a sweet message that is really, really funny. We can target girls and their fathers and girls and their mothers.”

Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group isn’t usually a big player at film festivals. But Sony said it was smitten with “Black Dynamite” in part because it saw the film as a possible franchise.

“It’s an extremely commercial movie,” says the group’s president, Steve Bersch. “It’s not an art-house movie. I think the target audience for the movie is very broad.”

Note how much attention the buyers are paying to the “marketplace” and “marketing.” Several implications for screenwriters in that they’re concerned that movies have a strong story concept, have a clearly defined target audience, and provide a satisfying emotional experience for the viewer. Sounds just like the way the major studios approach big mainstream commercial movies. So even if you’re writing a small, indie-type film, you have to be cognizant of the same concerns that you’d be facing if you were writing a big popcorn movie.

UPDATE: The NY Times weighs in on this year’s Sundance with “In the Snows of Sundance, a Marked Chill in the Air.”