LAIFF Emerges As Acquisitions Mecca

by Eugene Hernandez

Anticipating the value of the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival, the head of a small releasing company rhetorically asked indieWIRE why such an event was necessary since it would simply show films that could just as easily be seen at industry screenings. Why spend valuable weekend time at a festival, the executive questioned. Well, LAIFF '98 clearly overcame that potential hurdle and emerged as a must attend event this weekend, with acquisitions executives clearing their schedules and taking time out to attend the festival's premieres. "Festivals act as filters for the huge number of independent films that are out there," producers rep Jed Alpert told indieWIRE yesterday, "And as this fest gains credibility as a filter, acquisitions people are going to respond to that."

While the four year old festival has publicized the considerable number of mostly post-fest acquisitions, this year the buzz started before the festival began and it continues as fest films remain on the minds of many this week. Talking with indieWIRE about the 1998 LAIFF, filmmakers, distributors, and producer's reps were barely willing to offer even the slightest criticism of the recently completed festival. Joking about the difficulty of attending a festival on what turned out to be a beautiful weekend weather-wise in LA, Gramercy V.P. Steven Raphael advised organizers, "Make the festival during the week and during the rainy season please." When pressed, industry and filmmakers mostly echoed concerns, already acknowledged by festival organizers, that the event needs to expand to offer additional screenings of its films.

The unified strategy for the festival and its filmmakers was to maintain the purity of the LAIFF premiere by locking up prints and keeping tape distribution to a minimum. By all accounts, the festival opened without distributors getting a jump via advance showings. Select members of the press attended pre-fest screenings, but that was it. John Reiss, director of the acclaimed "Cleopatra's Second Husband" told indieWIRE yesterday that he "did not have any industry screenings beforehand," adding, "people gave up (asking) after awhile." Reiss credited festival organizers for assisting with the plan, and helping traffic prints as business heated up over the weekend. According to Reiss, organizers accommodated his request to ship a print to New York on Saturday.

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Commenting on the popularity of the festival among acquisitions executives, Sony Classics Dylan Leiner told indieWIRE, "I think that just generally speaking with the incredible glut of independent films being made in this country there simply have to be other outlets where these films can debut. L.A. seems to be a good place for that to happen because it's one of the centers of the industry." "It was a great place to premiere new films," producer's rep Jed Alpert added, "the distributors took it very very seriously, there was superb attendance on the part of acquisitions people." Alpert who represented four films at the festival ("The Cruise", "Cleopatra's Second Husband", "Mob Queen", and "With Or Without You") continued, "It was one of the best environments to premiere films, I am sure that it will be a major festival in the coming years and that people will be enthusiastic about premiering their films there." Despite the industry focus, Sony's Leiner added this view that the LAIFF has not let the acquisitions activity overwhelm the event, "the whole idea of a festival is about ceebrating the filmmakers, not celebrating the sale," he offered, "This festival is very aware of that." Back in New York following the weekend festival, Alpert reflected on the success of the event, exlaining that the LA location, the quality of the films and organizers decision to keep the event small with a compressed schedule were all significant. Now, as festival prints make the rounds in New York and LA, and reps schedule industry screenings, some films are finally getting the long awaited second or third screenings. At a private Sunset Blvd. screening room yesterday afternoon, acquistions execs gathered for a packed showing of Bennett Miller's "The Cruise" -- with attendees seated on the floor in the aisles for the showing, a comment by Alpert earlier in the day resonated, "Its like the festival never really had to end." Login to recommend this article » posted on April 23, 1998 Films to Snag Login to Leave a Comment »