Sharon Waxman of TheWrap.com provides this analysis on the buyers’ attitudes thus far at this year’s Sundance Film Festival:

At the screening of “Blue Valentine” on Sunday night in Park City, it went like this: a mad rush for tickets as journalists and distributors tried to get in to the still-unseen title starring Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams.

Then, after the screening: a meander out to the lobby and unenthusiastic huddling by executives from Fox Searchlight, Summit, Focus Features and others.

It’s been this way at Sundance, which once upon a time could guarantee at least one brass knuckles bidding war per festival (usually involving Harvey Weinstein). Now the trend is to bid late and bid low – a buyer’s market where the buyers, few as they are, seem unenthused.

“I’m not seeing any films that are commercial,” said Rob Friedman, the CEO of Summit, grabbing a slice of pizza between screenings.

He’s looking, he said, for “another ‘Hurt Locker,’” the film that is winning the indie studio critical acclaim this season.

All the buyers want something with a hook – humor, preferably, or horror or a pedigree – that has a marketing notion on which to hang a release. A “Thank You for Smoking,” or a “Napoleon Dynamite,” or a “Brokeback Mountain” [emphasis added].

Any of you who have followed GITS for even a few months will recognize in these words a point I’ve made again and again about the importance of a strong story concept. And for those folks who were questioning why I chose to have a 5-part feature on movie marketing, listen up: These are buyers of independent movies; and if they are obsessed with movies that have a “hook,” a “marketing notion on which to hang a release” [i.e., build a marketing strategy), then how much more important do you think this concern might be for major movie studios? Answer: A lot!

Once again: The single most important choice you make about writing a spec screenplay may very well be its story concept. If you have a strong one, you elevate exponentially the chances of selling the script and getting the movie made.

Here a good example of what I’m talking about:

Finally, after four full days of moviegoing, distributors found something to get excited about in a last-minute entry to the festival, writer-director Lisa Cholodenko’s “The Kids Are Alright,” a comedy-drama starring Julianne Moore, Annette Bening and Mark Ruffallo.

The film tells the story of a gay couple – Moore and Bening – who have two teenaged children via an unknown sperm donor.

When their 15-year-old son decides he wants to know who his father is, he finds Mark Ruffalo, a bohemian sort who becomes an unexpected addition to this modern family.

The film combines humor with serious social issues, in a “Juno-”-ish kind of way, reported those who were at the premiere. Cholodenko (“High Art,” “Laurel Canyon”) is known for sharp dialogue and taking on edgy social issues – here she’s created a film that might have been called, “It’s Really Complicated.”

Note the clear, clean high concept (bold above). Sounds like the makings of an edgy, modern drama-comedy with a nifty takeaway for buyers: “It’s Really Complicated.”

Also note that The Kids Are Alright was one of three last-minute additions to this year’s festival. Per my comments on that development a few weeks back:

Three comedies. Hm. You think this decision had anything to do with the fact that their initial slate, which we featured here, is pretty depressing stuff? Perhaps a bit of levity to lure people other than the Wrist-Slitter’s Association.

Per the studio exec’s comments at the front of this post — “I’m not seeing any films that are commercial,” said Rob Friedman, the CEO of Summit — it doesn’t surprise me in the least that it took a drama-comedy with a great high concept (and a strong cast) along with another movie with an interesting high concept — Buried — to get Sundance buyers to start flashing coin.

I have a lecture on this very subject: What makes a strong story concept. If anyone is interested, I’ll dig around through my files and post that in the next week or so.

NOTE: As of last night when I wrote this, Kids had not yet secured a distribution deal. But with several outfits (Focus, Fox Searchlight, TWC, Summit, Magnolia) circling, hard to imagine it won’t.

UPDATE: Looks like it’s Focus who will distribute Kids:

In a move that would mark the second significant acquisition of the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, Focus Features appears to have closed a deal to acquire rights to Lisa Cholodenko’s family dramedy “The Kids Are All Right,” according to a person familiar with the negotiations.

The other “significant” acquisition being Buried, as noted above.