Oscar-winning Chilean producer Juan de Dios Larraín (Sebastian Lelio A Wonderful woman), who earlier this year launched the direct-to-audience distribution platform Pijama for undistributed independent films with brother and director Pablo Larraín (El Conde), believes that film festivals, such as Sundance, will need to consider offering a distribution route for the films they screen.
He appeared in a discussion at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) KVIFF Industry Days in the Czech spa town on Monday titled “The Future of Film Distribution is Already Here: Same Problem – Opposite Trends.” He is joined by Steven Kotkamp from the director’s group, a soon-to-be-released Weydemann Bros. project. Which, along with moderator Diana Lodderhose, focuses on AVOD and FAST channel distribution strategies. Deadline HollywoodInternational Features Editor.
“I know the people at Sundance are very concerned about what’s happening, because the distribution opportunities for films that go to Sundance are getting smaller and smaller. So they feel a responsibility,” Larraín said of the distribution challenges facing the independent film industry.
The Chilean producer won the 2018 Academy Award for International Feature Film as a producer Wonderful woman (Una mujer fantástica“), to Karlovy Vary’s streaming platform KVIFF.TV as evidence that the industry needs new distribution channels: “Is Sundance responsible for the future of the films it brings to life? I don’t know. Can they perform better? Yes. how? I don’t know – again. …But I would say the answer is that at some point, Sundance has to be a distribution platform, and Karlovy Vary is here.”
On Monday, Larraín also discussed the rationale behind the Pajama launch. “The fact that your film does not find distribution does not mean that it does not have an audience,” he stressed. “Every film has an audience – maybe 10 people, maybe your family, your schoolmates, some friends, 100, maybe just 1,000, maybe 10,000.”
“But if you don’t have a way to connect your film to that… whatever the number is, how can you monetize your work? So that’s why Pajama was born,” Larraín added.
