Rather than eventually adhering to a “that’s the way the cookie crumbles” postmortem, indie distributors and mid-range production companies are making not so subtle changes to their future slates. When the profit returns are in the minus, then art films become fewer and far between.
Following in the proactive steps of Paramount Vantage and Participant Productions — we now find Sidney Kimmel Entertainment making the same sort of turnaround. Now in SKE’s driver’s seat we find Bingham Ray, he leaves his marketing post and replaces Bill Horberg as the head of production. Horberg will return to his indie roots and has worked out a deal that would give SKE a first look deal for his future content. Does this mean we won’t be seeing future oeuvres like Synecdoche, New York‘s?
The market will always include those that resemble the Wes Andersons, Paul Thomas Andersons and the Coens of the filmmaking world, but indie units need to do more than flirt with the notion that mass appeal help pay for the strictly art-house fair.
Among those possible directions, SKE is developing a thriller screenplay written by Misha Green (from what I imagine is a first-time screenwriter). Sunflower revolves around two young women who struggle to escape and exact revenge on the charming but deranged college professor who holds them hostage. Next time we hear about this project is because a call out to directors will have been meet.