It's hard to believe it was just last month that the film industry was trudging through hill, dale and snow to watch movies at the Sundance Film Festival, but in this fast-paced world, it does feel like a million years ago. One of the buzz titles at the fest was Christine Jeffs' Sunshine Cleaning, a tale of two sisters that start a business tidying up crime scenes. Our own Kim Voynar felt it wasn't the best film she saw at Sundance, "but it certainly wasn't the worst. It does have its flaws, but overall it's a cute film that fans of [Amy] Adams and [Emily] Blunt will enjoy."Indeed, with the very talented and attractive Adams (Junebug, Enchanted) and Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada, The Wolf Man) in the lead roles and Alan Arkin providing support as their scheming father, how did this film fail to get picked up during Sundance? Anne Thompson of Variety notes that Sunshine Cleaning "entered the fest as one of several highly anticipated movies with stars attached that were expected to make a big sale. It didn't happen, though, partly because the filmmakers behind the film, Big Beach ... were hoping to make back their $7-million investment in a quick sale."
Ms. Thompson reports, however, that Overture Films has now acquired the film and plans to release it at the end of the year. The distributor may change the title, though, perhaps concerned that it might be considered too similar to 2006 indie smash hit Little Miss Sunshine, for which Arkin won an Academy Award.
Bloggers are up in arms that Sony Pictures Classics has acquired Sundance buzz title 
The crowds at Sundance may be thinning out, but the deals are continuing. In their second acquisition of the week, Sony Pictures Classics nabbed North American rights to 
Straight dramatic features have not been feeling the love from distributors at Sundance so far, with most of the deal action concentrated on documentaries (American Teen, Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired), comedies (Hamlet 2) or comedy/dramas (Choke, Henry Poole is Here). But leave it to Sony Pictures Classics to step up to the plate and acquire the rights to a well-received drama about impoverished single mothers. 
Described in the Sundance 
The Sundance deals flew fast, furious and early on Tuesday, but it took a bit longer for one in-demand title to close.
For many people, Sundance can be defined as edgy, difficult, dysfunctional, and dramatic. But for distributors looking for films they can sell in a tight marketplace for specialty fare, Sundance evidently now means "lighter, funnier."
The logjam may have been broken at Sundance. Just as I finished writing something about the slow selling conditions over the usually busy first weekend, 
We've been keeping a close eye on our usual sources for news on Sundance deals ... and it's been s-l-o-w. Everyone seems to think that, after an unusually quiet weekend, the deals will start breaking any minute, with the reasons for the slowdown ranging from sellers asking for too much money, to buyers being unusually cautious about overpaying, the icy cold conditions freezing everyone's brain and power to negotiate, etc.
Sundance festival organizers have taken great pains to get people interested in the foreign-language films that are programmed, especially in the last few years. In theory, it's a good strategy, but in reality, it remains an uphill battle, with at least 90-95% of the mainstream media intensely focused on the American films.
When you think of Sundance wheeling and dealing, you probably think of the bigger players on the indie circuit: the studio specialty divisions, the veteran boutique distributors, or the fledging mid-level newcomers driven by recent investments. But a cable sports channel? ESPN jumped into the game on Saturday by acquiring soccer doc 
He grew up in terrible conditions; he directed great movies; his wife was murdered; he fled the country; he made some more good movies. 
After toiling for years in the studio system as a digital design associate (Batman & Robin), visual effects art director (Practical Magic), assistant art director (The Man Who Wasn't There) and, probably, a host of other jobs not yet recorded at IMDb, 
We have an unofficial motto around here: as fast as they're dealing at Sundance, we're typing to tell you about it! Of course, we're all benefiting from the great coverage already being provided by 
The wheeling and dealing machinery in Park City is slowly cranking up. 
