As The Hollywood Reporter says (3/15/10) SXSW has never really played a big part in the indie acquisition market, at least not as I’ve perceived it over the last few years. The more interesting stuff has, as the article points out, happened as some titles have opted for online or on-demand distribution through IFC and others that happens at the same time they make their debut at SXSW Film.
But what’s interesting is how the festival is being used to maximize the on-going marketing of movies that are just weeks or a couple months from release.
If you looked at the schedule of what movies were playing when at the fest you’d see that opening and closing nights are dominated by big-name movies that are made well within the Hollywood studio system while those in the middle are more independent minded. There are, to be sure, continued studio events that happen throughout the festival but in terms of screenings there’s couple shifts that happen.
Already this year there have been screenings of Kick-Ass and MacGruber, two movies that are just about to hit theaters, screenings that have generated pretty good buzz from those in attendance. In the case of Kick-Ass the response was tremendously positive, meaning it resonated well with the hipster guy demographic that’s there. And for MacGruber the reactions were pretty good, largely because expectations were pretty low.
So there’s a case to be made that, unlike other film festivals, SXSW has as much power in terms of the marketing of mainstream films – especially those whose release is close enough to benefit from the word-of-mouth momentum they can gain – as it does for smaller movies that are trying to gain some buzz in the service of eventually getting a distribution deal, or at least a bigger audience.
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