2017
BY THE NUMBERS
PARK CITY
UTAH
JANUARY 19-29
NUMBER OF FILMS SUBMITTED
TOTAL
DRAMATIC
FEATURES
DOCUMENTARY
FEATURES
SHORTS
EPISODIC CONTENT*
VIRTUAL REALITY*
*2017 is the first year that VR and episodic content have been eligible for submissions.
NUMBER OF FILMS ACCEPTED
2015
2016
2017
TOTAL
DRAMATIC
FEATURES
SHORTS
DOCUMENTARY
FEATURES
EPISODIC CONTENT*
VIRTUAL REALITY*
*2017 is the first year that VR and episodic content have been eligible for submissions.
184
195
225
79
77
74
45
46
46
72
68
60
19
20
ESTIMATED FINANCIAL INVESTMENT IN FEATURES
Dramatic Features Accepted
Dramatic Features Submitted
Documentary Features Submitted
Documentary Features Accepted
2015
2016
2017
$2.31 BILLION
$718.4 MILLION
$79 MILLION
$18 MILLION
$2.33 BILLION
$700 MILLION
$77 MILLION
$18.4 MILLION
$2.37 BILLION
$718.4 MILLION
$79 MILLION
$18 MILLION
*Average dramatic feature budget is $1 million. Average documentary feature budget is $400,000. Budget figures based on interviews with producers and sales agents.
NUMBER OF FILMS THAT RECEIVED
DISTRIBUTION DEALS
2014
2015
2016
SUNDANCE FILM AND PIRACY
(hover over images to reveal film info and trailer)
Number of Illegal
Torrent Downloads
Data provided by Tecxipio
Minimum Lost Revenue
Calculated assuming 5% of torrent downloads would have been purchased at $3 per transaction
DOPE
Year at Sundance: 2015
Release Date: June 19, 2015
SWISS ARMY MAN
Year at Sundance: 2016
Release Date: June 24, 2016
Illegal Torrent Downloads:
7,094,341
ME AND EARL AND
THE DYING GIRL
Year at Sundance: 2015
Release Date: June 12, 2015
Illegal Torrent Downloads:
6,115,113
BROOKLYN
Year at Sundance: 2015
Release Date: November 4, 2015
Illegal Torrent Downloads:
4,717,992
SLEEPING WITH
OTHER PEOPLE
Year at Sundance: 2015
Release Date: September 11, 2015
Illegal Torrent Downloads:
3,933,85
A WALK IN
THE WOODS
Year at Sundance: 2015
Release Date: September 2, 2015
Illegal Torrent Downloads:
2,461,018
STRANGERLAND
Year at Sundance: 2015
Release Date: July 10, 2015
Illegal Torrent Downloads:
2,428,869
THE OVERNIGHT
Year at Sundance: 2015
Release Date: June 19, 2015
Illegal Torrent Downloads:
1,751,270
Minimum Lost Revenue:
$263,000
HOT GIRLS
WANTED
Year at Sundance: 2015
Release Date: May 29, 2015
Illegal Torrent Downloads:
1,168,732
Minimum Lost Revenue:
$175,000
THE
FUNDAMENTALS
OF CARING
Year at Sundance: 2016
Release Date: June 24, 2016
Illegal Torrent Downloads:
915,370
Minimum Lost Revenue:
$137,000
THE BIRTH OF
A NATION
Year at Sundance: 2016
Release Date: October 7, 2016
Illegal Torrent Downloads:
652,430
Minimum Lost Revenue:
$98,000
SOUTHSIDE
WITH YOU
Year at Sundance: 2016
Release Date: September 15, 2016
Illegal Torrent Downloads:
652,430
Minimum Lost Revenue:
$98,000
BRAHMAN NAMAN
Year at Sundance: 2016
Release Date: June 7, 2016
Illegal Torrent Downloads:
365,578
Minimum Lost Revenue:
$55,000
LO AND BEHOLD:
REVERIES OF
A CONNECTED
WORLD
Year at Sundance: 2016
Release Date: August 19, 2016
Illegal Torrent Downloads:
336,367
Minimum Lost Revenue:
$50,000
BIGGEST SALES VS US BOX OFFICE
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BIGGEST SALES
US BOX OFFICE FOR BIGGEST SALES
2014
DON JON
Relativity Media
$29 Million included marketing spend
$21.5 Million
THE SKELETON
TWINS
Roadside Attractions
$3.5 Million
$5.5 Million
2015
WHIPLASH
Sony Pictures Classics
$3.5 Million
$13.1 Million
ME AND EARL
AND THE
DYING GIRL
Fox Searchlight/
Indian Paintbrush
$12 Million
$6.8 Million
BIRTH OF A
NATION
Fox Searchlight
MANCHESTER
BY THE SEA
Amazon
2016
$17.5 Million
$15.8 Million
$10 Million
$37.3 Million still in release
Illegal Torrent Downloads:
9,236,593
Minimum Lost Revenue:
$1,385,000
Minimum Lost Revenue:
$1,064,000
Minimum Lost Revenue:
$917,000
Minimum Lost Revenue:
$708,000
Minimum Lost Revenue:
$364,000
Minimum Lost Revenue:
$590,000
Minimum Lost Revenue:
$369,000
NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT WORKED
ON ALL ACCEPTED FEATURES
NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT WORKED
ON ALL FEATURES SUBMITTED
2015
12,400
410,500
12,300
408,100
11,800
406,800
2016
2017
2015
2016
2017
DOPE
Director: Rick Famuyiwa
Key Cast: Shameik Moore, Tony Revolori, Kiersey Clemons
Description: Life changes for Malcolm, a geek who's surviving life in a tough neighborhood, after a chance invitation to an underground party leads him and his friends into a Los Angeles adventure.
SWISS ARMY MAN
Director: Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert
Key Cast: Paul Dano, Daniel Radcliff, Mary Elizabeth Winstead
Description: A hopeless man stranded on a deserted island befriends a dead body and together they go on a surreal journey to get home.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Director: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Key Cast: Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler, Olivia Cooke
Description: High schooler Greg, who spends most of his time making parodies of classic movies with his co-worker Earl, finds his outlook forever altered after befriending a classmate who has just been diagnosed with cancer.
BROOKLYN
Director: John Crowley
Key Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Emory Cohen, Domhnall Gleeson
Description: An Irish immigrant lands in 1950s Brooklyn, where she quickly falls into a romance with a local. When her past catches up with her, however, she must choose between two countries and the lives that exist within.
SLEEPING WITH OTHER PEOPLE
Director: Leslye Headland
Key Cast: Jason Sudeikis, Alison Brie, Jordan Carlos
Description: A good-natured womanizer and a serial cheater form a platonic relationship that helps reform them in ways, while a mutual attraction sets in.
A WALK IN THE WOODS
Director: Ken Kwapis
Key Cast: Robert Redford, Nick Nolte, Emma Thompson
Description: After spending two decades in England, Bill Bryson returns to the U.S., where he decides the best way to connect with his homeland is to hike the Appalachian Trail with one of his oldest friends.
STRANGERLAND
Director: Kim Farrant
Key Cast: Nicole Kidman, Joseph Fiennes, Hugo Weaving
Description: A family finds their dull life in a rural outback town rocked after their two teenage children disappear into the desert, sparking disturbing rumors of their past.
THE OVERNIGHT
Director: Patrick Brice
Key Cast: Adam Scott, Taylor Schilling, Jason Schwartzman
Description: Alex, Emily, and their son, RJ, are new to Los Angeles. A chance meeting at the park introduces them to the mysterious Kurt, Charlotte, and Max. A family "playdate" becomes increasingly interesting as the night goes on.
HOT GIRLS WANTED
Director: Jill Bauer, Ronna Gradus
Key Cast: Farrah Abraham, John Anthony, Rachel Bernard
Description: A documentary about young women who have been drawn into the sex trade - and how easy it is for a web-savvy generation to end up making porn.
THE FUNDAMENTALS OF CARING
Director: Rob Burnett
Key Cast: Craig Roberts, Paul Rudd, Selena Gomez
Description: A man suffering an incredible amount of loss enrolls in a class about care-giving that changes his perspective on life.
THE BIRTH OF A NATION
Director: Nate Parker
Key Cast: Nate Parker, Armie Hammer, Penelope Anne Miller
Description: Nat Turner, a literate slave and preacher in the antebellum South, orchestrates an uprising.
SOUTHSIDE WITH YOU
Director: Richard Tanner
Key Cast: Tika Sumpter, Parker Swayers, Vanessa Bell Calloway
Description: The film chronicles the summer 1989 afternoon when the future President of the United States, Barack Obama, wooed his future First Lady, Michele Obama, on a first date across Chicago's South Side.
BRAHMAN NAMAN
Director: Qaushiq Makherjee
Key Cast: Shashank Arora, Tanmay Dhanania, Chaitanya Varad
Description: A champion college quizzing team try to win the all-India finals and lose their virginities.
LO AND BEHOLD: REVERIES OF
A CONNECTED WORLD
Director: Werner Herzog
Key Cast: Elon Must, Lawrence Krauss, Lucianne Walkowicz
Description: Werner Herzog's exploration of the Internet and the connected world.
DON JON
Director: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Key Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore
Description: A New Jersey guy dedicated to his family, friends, and church, develops unrealistic expectations from watching porn and works to find happiness and intimacy with his potential true love.
THE SKELETON TWINS
Director: Craig Johnson
Key Cast: Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Luke Wilson
Description: Having both coincidentally cheated death on the same day, estranged twins reunite with the possibility of mending their relationship.
WHIPLASH
Director: Damien Chazelle
Key Cast:: Johnny Simmons, Nate Lang, J.K. Simmons
Description: A ferocious, bullying music teacher teaches a dedicated student.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Director: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Key Cast: Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler, Olivia Cooke
Description: High schooler Greg, who spends most of his time making parodies of classic movies with his co-worker Earl, finds his outlook forever altered after befriending a classmate who has just been diagnosed with cancer.
THE BIRTH OF A NATION
Director: Nate Parker
Key Cast: Nate Parker, Armie Hammer, Penelope Anne Miller
Description: Nat Turner, a literate slave and preacher in the antebellum South, orchestrates an uprising.
MANCHESTER BY THE SEA
Director: Kenneth Lonergan
Key Cast: Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler
Description: Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler
WHIPLASH
Director: Damien Chazelle
Key Cast:: Johnny Simmons, Nate Lang, J.K. Simmons
Description: A ferocious, bullying music teacher teaches a dedicated student.
DINOSAUR 13
Director : Todd Douglas Miller
Key Cast:: Stan Adelstein, Lanice Archer, Robert Bakker
Description: A documentary about the discovery of the largest Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil ever found.
What Happened, Miss Simone?
Director : Liz Garbus
Key Cast: James Baldwin, Stokely Carmichael, Walter Cronkite
Description: A documentary about the life and legend Nina Simone, an American singer, pianist, and civil rights activist labeled the "High Priestess of Soul."
The Bronze
Director : Bryan Buckley
Key Cast: Melissa Rauch, Gary Cole, Haley Lu Richardson
Description: A foul-mouthed former gymnastics bronze medalist with local celebrity status reluctantly trains a rising Olympics aspirant.
US BOX OFFICE FOR OPENING NIGHT FILMS
(hover over images to reveal film info and trailer)
2015
WHAT
HAPPENED,
MISS SIMONE ?
Released on
Netflix
THE
BRONZE
$616,000
2016
NORMAN LEAR:
JUST ANOTHER
VERSION OF
YOU
$70,950
Oscar-qualifying
run. Film acquired
by PBS American
Masters.
2014
DINOSAUR
13
$2,500
WHIPLASH
$13.1 Million
NUMBER OF COUNTRIES REPRESENTED
2015
2016
2017
NUMBER OF WORLD PREMIERES
2015
2017
2016
NUMBER OF FIRST-TIME FEATURE FILMMAKERS
2016
2017
2015
FESTIVAL ATTENDANCE
2014
2015
2016
ECONOMIC IMPACT TO THE STATE OF UTAH
Contributed $143 million to Utah's total
economic output
1,400 jobs >> $43 million in wages
$53.1 million spend by festival attendees
$8 million in state and local tax revenue
SOURCES
• SUNDANCE.ORG
• THE-NUMBERS.COM
• KEM C. GARDNER POLICY INSTITUTE
• INDIEWIRE.COM
• DEADLINE.COM
• THEWRAP.COM
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