2010 Independent Film Distribution & Revenue Analysis

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1	2010 Independent Film Distribution & Revenue Analysis

2	Authored and compiled by Ray Whitter
3	PLEASE send corrections to rewriteitagain@gmail.com or at indietalk.com
4	Compiled between August & September, 2011
5
6	This is a non-comprehensive and non-exhausitive sample of 2010 theatrically released independednt films.
7	The 2010 independent films in this analysis were found listed on the following websites:
8		http://blog.moviefone.com/2010/04/30/independent-films-2010-summer-guide/
9		http://www.independentmovies.net/2010/
10		http://www.jjmurphyfilm.com/blog/?p=1664
11		http://www.pajiba.com/seriously_random_lists/the-best-in-independent-film-2010-.php
12		http://newyork.metromix.com/movies/standard_photo_gallery/best-of-sundance-2010/1735685/photo/1735683
13
14	I know there are more 2010 independent films not included in this list. I can't hunt them all down. There's no official database.
15	I have made no effort to confirm or discredit any of the films in this list to be "independent films" as defined having been less than
16	50% financed by a major studio. However, we all can acknowledge the semantics games being played in this regard as major
17	studios establish their own subsidiary "independent" studios.
18	Documentaries and some foreign films on the lists were not included as the former falls outside the intent of this analysis and
19	the latter often did not have sufficient information available to provide analysis utility.																	2010 Sundance Films & Awards
20	As a consideration of studies indicating samples can provide a more accurate representation of the whole, I included some foreign																	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_at_the_2010_Sundance_Film_Festival
21	films, some films with the lowest budgets & token theatrical releases, and the gamut of reviews. Collectively, I think this is a fair mix.																	http://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000631/2010
22
23			= Interesting Data (Near High or Low)															2010 Annual Grosses
24			= Data Set Extreme															http://www.the-numbers.com/market/movies2010.php
25			= Set Hi-Lo Divergence Extreme
26				Primary Distributor	Widest		Metacritic				Rotten Tomatoes				MPAA	Genres	Production	Worldwide Gross					Starring	Writer(s)	Director	Camera(s)
27	In alphabetical order:				Theatrical	Weeks In	Metascore		User Score		Tomatometer		Audience		Rating		Budget	Total		Domestic	Foreign				(Co-)Director is also a writer
28			Title		Release	Release		Critics		Ratings		Reviews		Reviews					BO Gain or Loss			Title
29		1	Animal Kingdom	Sony Pictures Classics	61	31	83	33	7.8	65	97%	141	80%	23,724	R	Drama, Crime	$5,000,000	$6,793,982		$1,044,039	$5,749,943	Animal Kingdom	Ben Mendelsohn, Joel Edgerton, Guy Pearce, Luke Ford, Jacki Weaver, Sullivan Stapleton, & James Frecheville	David Michôd	David Michôd	Panavision Panaflex Millennium XL, Panavision Primo Lenses
30		2	Bass Ackwards	none	Sundance NEXT award.		na	na	na	na	none	3	43%	156		Adventure, Comedy, Drama	n.a.	n.a.		n.a.	n.a.	Bass Ackwards	Linas Phillips, Davie-Blue, & Jim Fletcher	Linas Phillips, Davie-Blue, & Jim Fletcher	Linas Phillips
31		3	Blue Valentine	Weinstein Co.	450	16	81	42	7.6	172	88%	180	75%	42,335	NC-17/R	Drama, Romance	$1,000,000	$12,355,734		$9,706,328	$2,649,406	Blue Valentine	Ryan Gosling & Michelle Williams	Derek Cianfrance, Cami Delavigne, & Joey Curtis	Derek Cianfrance	Arriflex 416 Plus, Zeiss and Angenieux Lenses, Red One Camera, Zeiss and Angenieux Lenses
32		4	Buried	Lionsgate	107	7	65	29	7.0	86	86%	144	63%	54,723	R	Drama, Mystery, Thriller	$2,000,000	$19,152,480		$1,044,143	$18,108,337	Buried	Ryan Reynolds	Chris Sparling	Rodrigo Cortés	Arriflex 535, Zeiss Super Speed Lenses, Moviecam Compact, Zeiss Super Speed Lenses
33		5	Cairo Time	IFC Films	76	14	67	26	6.7	17	82%	76	60%	3,999	PG	Drama, Romance	n.a.	$1,995,012		$1,603,616	$391,396	Cairo Time	Patricia Clarkson & Alexander Siddig	Ruba Nadda	Ruba Nadda	Moviecam Compact MK2, Cooke S4 and Angenieux Optimo Lenses
34		6	City Island	Anchor Bay Entertainment	269	24	66	28	8.4	39	81%	98	77%	26,878	PG-13	Drama, Comedy	$6,000,000	$7,875,862		$6,671,036	$1,204,826	City Island	Andy Garcia (producer) & Julianna Margulies	Raymond De Felitta	Raymond De Felitta	Arriflex Cameras and Lenses
35		7	Cyrus	Fox Searchlight	454	17	74	38	6.0	65	80%	151	52%	39,530	R	Comedy	$7,000,000	$9,923,855		$7,468,936	$2,454,919	Cyrus	John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill, & Marisa Tomei	Jay and Mark Duplass	Jay and Mark Duplass	Red One Camera
36		8	Daddy Longlegs (Go Get Some Rosemary)	IFC Films	2	3	74	15	na	na	83%	29	46%	307	not rated	Drama, Comedy	n.a.	$33,217		$21,766	$11,451	Daddy Longlegs (Go Get Some Rosemary)	Ronald Bronstein, Sage Ranaldo, Frey Ranaldo	Josh Safdie, Benny Safdie, Ronald Bronstein	Josh Safdie & Benny Safdie	Arriflex Cameras
37		9	The Extra Man	Magnolia Pictures	33	13	56	26	5.3	8	43%	67	38%	2,049	R	Comedy	$7,000,000	$457,867		$453,377	$4,490	The Extra Man	Kevin Kline, Paul Dano, Katie Holmes, & John C. Reilly	Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini	Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini	Arriflex Cameras and Lenses
38		10	The Freebie	Phase 4 Films	4	7	54	8	na	na	58%	26	29%	1,399	R	Drama, Comedy	n.a.	$16,613		n.a.	n.a.	The Freebie	Dax Shepard & Katie Aselton	Katie Aselton	Katie Aselton
39		11	Get Low	Sony Pictures Classics	570	30	77	35	6.9	39	85%	137	74%	17,907	PG-13	Drama, Mystery, Comedy	$7,000,000	$9,695,282		$9,176,933	$518,349	Get Low	Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek, & Bill Murray	Chris Provenzano & C. Gaby Mitchell	Aaron Schneider	Panavision Panaflex Gold II, Panavision C- and E-Series Lenses
40		12	Greenberg	Focus Features	186	10	76	39	5.1	113	75%	154	40%	33,076	R	Drama, Comedy	n.a.	$6,153,967		$4,234,170	$1,919,797	Greenberg	Ben Stiller, Greta Gerwig, Rhys Ifans, & Jennifer Jason Leigh	Noah Baumbach	Noah Baumbach	Panavision Cameras and Lenses (filmed with)
41		13	Happythankyoumoreplease	Anchor Bay Entertainment	19	8	45	21	6.0	12	40%	48	63%	4,101	R	Drama, Comedy	n.a.	$216,110		$216,110	n.a.	Happythankyoumoreplease	Josh Radnor, Malin Åkerman, Kate Mara, & Zoe Kazan	Josh Radnor	Josh Radnor	Red One Camera, Hawk Lenses
42		14	Harry Brown	Samuel Goldwyn Films	67	15	55	35	7.3	39	65%	116	75%	38,621	R	Drama, Thriller, Crime	$7,300,000	$10,329,747		$1,818,681	$8,511,066	Harry Brown	Michael Caine	Gary Young	Daniel Barber	Sony CineAlta F35, Zeiss and Angenieux Lenses; Sony DCR-PC2E (some scenes)
43		15	Holy Rollers	First Independent Pictures	20	14	51	23	6.0	7	49%	83	33%	2,411	R	Drama, Crime	$1,000,000	$608,027		$303,064	$304,963	Holy Rollers	Jesse Eisenberg	Antonio Macia	Kevin Asch
44		16	The Human Centipede	IFC Films	19	9	33	15	4.3	64	50%	90	28%	10,149	not rated	Drama, Horror	$2,000,000	$252,207		$181,467	$70,740	The Human Centipede	Dieter Laser	Tom Six	Tom Six
45		17	I Am Love	Magnolia Pictures	166	24	79	32	7.0	75	79%	120	65%	14,258	R	Drama	$10,000,000	$10,906,568		$5,005,465	$5,901,103	I Am Love	Tilda Swinton	Luca Guadagnino & Barbara Alberti	Luca Guadagnino	Arricam LT, Cooke S4, Angenieux Optimo and Arri Macro Lenses; Arriflex 535B, Cooke S4, Angenieux Optimo and Arri Macro Lenses
46		18	I Killed My Mother (J'ai tué me mère)	Here Films	20 (Quebec) 60 (France)		na	na	na	na	73%	15	78%	1,473	not rated	Drama	$800,000	$932,803		n.a.	n.a.	I Killed My Mother (J'ai tué me mère)	Xavier Dolan	Xavier Dolan	Xavier Dolan	Red One Camera
47		19	The Kids Are All Right	Focus Features	994	15	86	39	7.2	177	94%	204	72%	51,319	R	Drama, Comedy	$4,000,000	$34,705,850		$20,811,365	$13,894,485	The Kids Are All Right	Annette Bening & Julianne Moore	Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg	Lisa Cholodenko	Arricam LT, Zeiss Ultra Prime Lenses; Arriflex 35 BL4, Zeiss Ultra Prime Lenses
48		20	The Killer Inside Me	IFC Films	19	9	na	na	6.1	22	55%	121	41%	12,225	R	Drama, Thriller, Crime, Western	$13,000,000	$3,977,192		$217,277	$3,759,915	The Killer Inside Me	Casey Affleck, Jessica Alba, & Kate Hudson	John Curran	Michael Winterbottom	Arricam LT, Zeiss Ultra Prime and Angenieux Optimo Lenses; Arricam ST, Zeiss Ultra Prime and Angenieux Optimo Lenses
49		21	Lebanon	Sony Pictures Classics	23	20	85	28	6.3	21	90%	97	71%	4847	R	Drama, War	n.a.	$1,198,181		$368,088	$830,093	Lebanon	Oshri Cohen & Itay Tiran	Samuel Maoz	Samuel Maoz	Arriflex 16 SR3 Evolution, Zeiss Ultra Prime Lenses; Red One Camera, Zeiss Ultra Prime Lenses
50		22	Life During Wartime	Lionsgate	20	9	69	30	5.2	9	69%	97	47%	5,499	not rated	Drama, Comedy	$4,000,000	$768,016		$281,447	$486,569	Life During Wartime	Ally Sheedy, Allison Janney & Paul Reubens	Todd Solondz	Todd Solondz	Red One Camera and Lenses
51		23	Looking for Eric	IFC Films	11	7	66	23	7.1	7	85%	92	78%	8,651	not rated	Drama, Sport, Fantasy, Comedy	$6,200,000	$11,555,325		$55,804	$11,499,521	Looking for Eric	Eric Cantona & Steve Evets	Paul Laverty	Ken Loach	Arricam ST
52		24	Mao's Last Dancer	Samuel Goldwyn Films	137	16	55	23	8.0	9	54%	72	80%	5,143	PG	Drama	$18,000,000	$22,269,123		$4,817,770	$17,451,353	Mao's Last Dancer	Chi Cao, Bruce Greenwood, Kyle MacLachlan, Joan Chen, Wang Shuangbao, & Amanda Schull	Jan Sardi	Bruce Beresford	Panavision Cameras and Lenses
53		25	Micmacs	Sony Pictures Classics	52	21	62	31	8.0	24	74%	129	74%	9,440	R	Comedy, Crime	$42,000,000	$16,344,333		$1,262,079	$15,082,254	Micmacs	Dany Boon	Jean-Pierre Jeunet & Guillaume Laurent	Jean-Pierre Jeunet	Arriflex 435, Panavision Primo and Angenieux Optimo Lenses; Panavision Panaflex Millennium XL, Panavision Primo and Angenieux Optimo Lenses
54		26	Mother and Child	Sony Pictures Classics	119	24	64	32	7.4	11	80%	99	77%	5,190	R	Drama	$7,000,000	$4,980,736		$1,110,509	$3,870,227	Mother and Child	Naomi Watts, Annette Bening, Kerry Washington, Jimmy Smits, Samuel L. Jackson, & David Morse	Rodrigo García	Rodrigo García	Panavision Genesis HD Camera, Panavision Primo and Slant Focus Lenses; Red One Camera, Angenieux Optimo Lens
55		27	Ondine	Magnolia Pictures	39	17	65	21	7.7	6	70%	94	56%	18,479	PG-13	Drama, Romance	$12,000,000	$1,644,755		$550,472	$1,094,283	Ondine	Colin Farrell & Alicja Bachleda	Neil Jordan	Neil Jordan
56		28	127 Hours	Fox Searchlight	916	23	82	38	7.8	250	93%	206	84%	77,132	R	Adventure, Biography, Drama, Thriller	$18,000,000	$60,738,797		$18,335,230	$42,403,567	127 Hours	James Franco	Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy	Danny Boyle	Canon EOS 1D Mark IV; Canon EOS 5D Mark II; Canon EOS 7D; Moviecam Compact MK2, Zeiss Ultra Prime and Cooke Panchro Lenses; REDLAKE Y5, Zeiss Ultra Prime and Cooke Panchro Lenses; Silicon Imaging SI-2K MINI, Zeiss Ultra Prime, Cooke Panchro, Schneider and Fujinon Lenses
57		29	Please Give	Sony Pictures Classics	272	25	78	35	7.3	37	88%	133	62%	10,124	R	Drama, Comedy	$3,000,000	$4,313,085		$4,033,574	$279,511	Please Give	Catherine Keener, Oliver Platt, Ann Guilbert, & Amanda Peet	Nicole Holofcener	Nicole Holofcener
58		30	Solitary Man	Anchor Bay Entertainment	177	20	69	31	5.5	24	81%	91	47%	12,962	R	Drama, Comedy	$12,500,000	$5,178,582		$4,360,548	$818,034	Solitary Man	Michael Douglas, Jenna Fischer, Jesse Eisenberg, Mary-Louise Parker, Imogen Poots, with Susan Sarandon and Danny DeVito	Brian Koppelman	Brian Koppelman & David Levien
59		31	Splice	Warner Bros.	2450	9	66	35	5.3	128	75%	178	37%	244,454	R	Sci-Fi, Thriller, Horror	$30,000,000	$26,857,459		$17,010,170	$9,847,289	Splice	Adrien Brody & Sarah Polley	Vincenzo Natali, Antoinette Terry Bryant, & Doug Taylor	Vincenzo Natali	Panavision Panaflex Millennium XL, Panavision Primo Lenses
60		32	Tiny Furniture	IFC Films	21	15	71	27	na	na	73%	71	53%	6,892	not rated	Comedy	$50,000	$391,674		n.a.	n.a.	Tiny Furniture	Lena Dunham	Lena Dunham	Lena Dunham	Canon EOS 7D
61		33	Winter’s Bone	Roadside Attractions	141	45	90	38	6.9	195	94%	158	73%	37,295	R	Drama, Thriller	$2,000,000	$13,831,503		$6,531,503	$7,300,000	Winter’s Bone	Jennifer Lawrence & John Hawkes	Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini	Debra Granik	Red One Camera, Zeiss Master Prime and Angenieux Optimo Lenses
62																					^
63																					^ Many of the highlighted notables in this column are a result of disproportinately high foreign to domestic sales.			Percentage of Wr/Dir	79%
64			Average Minus Hi-Lo Outliers		176	15	64	28	6	53	70%	100	56%	17,641		Average Minus Hi-Lo Outliers	$7,741,667	$7,925,759			However, this is most likely due to it being a foreign film. Two notable exceptions are BURIED and 127 HOURS.
65
66			General Observations & Remarks
67			When critical reviews are high and (the paying) public reviews are low I would call that a "highbrow" film. Eg. BURIED 86/63, CYRUS 80/52, DADDY LONGLEGS 83/46, SPLICE 75/37.
68			When critical reviews are low and (the paying) public reviews are high I would call that a "pulp" film. Eg. HARRY BROWN 65/75 & MAO'S LAST DANCER 54/80.
69			When both critical and public reviews reconcile, high or low, I would call that confirmation. Eg. CITY ISLAND 81/77 & THE EXTRA MAN 43/38
70			Critics are consistently more lenient than than the public which tend to be more polarized to the downside.
71			There is no meaningful correlation between production budgets* and favorable or disfavorable reviews. Eg. WINTER'S BONE $2m = 94/73 & THE KILLER INSIDE ME $13m = 55/41.
72			* So called "budgets" are compiled and fabricated using who-knows-what input factors. Big time actors frequently work for token paychecks on pet projects for themselves or friends.
73			There is no absolute correlation between reviews and favorable or disfavorable grosses. Eg. ANIMAL KINGDOM 97/80 = $6.7m, SPLICE 75/37 = $26.8m.
74			There is a strong correlation between poor public reviews and poor box office grosses. Note all the red BO losers and their corresponding public review approval.
75			Some films become cult favorites, so while they do poorly in theatrical release they do considerably better on DVD sales: THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE $0.2m theatrically & $2.1m DVD.
76			A fantastic cast may garner surprisingly low distribution. Eg. THE EXTRA MAN 33 theaters, 13 weeks & SOLITARY MAN 177 theaters, 20 weeks.
77			Billboard names may not do you any more favors than nobodies regarding distribution, maybe on revenues, though. Eg. THE KILLER INSIDE ME 19 theaters, 9 weeks TINY FURNITURE 21 theaters, 15 weeks.
78			Just because you have a B or C star in your film doesn't mean it can find distribution. Eg. THE FREEBIE has that guy Dax Shepard with all sorts of imdb.com-like filmography = 4 theaters (mostly just 1 at a time)
79			Awards and kudos don't mean much. BASS ACKWARDS wins Sundance NEXT award, still found no distribution, but THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE found 19 theaters and ran for 9 weeks.
80			Some stars are contracturally obligated to a studio to perform in a certain number of films. They may "spend" one such obligation in a pisser film. Just something to keep in mind.
81			Some things you expect, like wide releases and long runs together. Other things you don't expect, like wide releases and short runs. Eg. SPLICE 2,450 theaters flaming out after only 9 weeks.
82			And still others are interesting combos like WINTER'S BONE at 141 theaters wide but for 45 weeks, meaning it just kept picking up new theaters (public interest) as it went along.
83
84	These I've seen (green) or have partialy seen before I turned it off (yellow) or want to see (blue)
85			Observations & Remarks on Individual Films
86		1	Animal Kingdom	Looks like a good show. How come I never heard of it?
87		2	Bass Ackwards	It's a crying shame and surely a disappointment for cast, crew and investors when their film wins a big fancy pants Sundance award abut still can't find distribution.
88		3	Blue Valentine	Whomever put this together did a pretty good job. With $1m budget they got two B stars, made a well received film, fair distribution for a NC-17/R film, and banked a nice return.
89		4	Buried	Note the number of public audience reviews: >54 thousand! At a paltry 107 theaters max. And they thought it sucked. But it made a nice return. That's how you do it, folks. Note the GROSSSS difference between domestic and foreign grosses. Wow. Ya'll are freaks.
90	BKR	5	Cairo Time	This looks like a sweet little film that went somewhere and did something that someone knows about.
91		6	City Island	I would have thought Andy Garcia and Julianna Margulies woulda banked more distro and gross than this.
92		7	Cyrus	I would have thought John C. Reilly and Marisa Tomei woulda banked more distro and gross than this. I woulda though Marisa alone coulda banked more than this.
93	/	8	Daddy Longlegs (Go Get Some Rosemary)	Write a screenplay, direct yourself, find two theaters and go crazy. Hope you didn't spend much.
94		9	The Extra Man	WTH? Kevin Kline? Katie Holmes? John C. Riley? Writers are also directors on their seventh project? And it sux? And don't make money? I gotta see just how sucky this miserable suck-fest is!
95		10	The Freebie	D@mn. Writer, director and female lead to Dax Sheperd. Bad bad bad reviews and pushing rope distro. I don't suppose they're banging it IRL, do ya? Lesson.
96		11	Get Low	Everyone picked up a paycheck for this one. I think the subject (and demographic) scared away the audience. It's actually a very nice little film.
97		12	Greenberg	Ben Stiller isn't so old in his career that he should be making pissers. I guess he just wanted to do some experimenting with this LOST IN TRANSLATION / BROKEN FLOWERS rehash.
98		13	Happythankyoumoreplease	DOA. WTH happened? Oh, yeah. It's another write it and direct yourself in it film. I hope he at least got to sit near Kate Mara once or twice!
99		14	Harry Brown	I would have thought both Michael Cane and the "pissed off old man with a gun" schtick would have gone farther than this. Judging from audience reviews it looked promissing. IDK?
100		15	Holy Rollers	Jesse! Yo, man! You suck. No, really. You do suck.