On today’s episode, Variety’s Peter Debruge and Matt Donnelly break down the Sundance lineup and what to expect at the festival’s nostalgic final outing in Park City, Utah. And Jennifer Maas previews The Game Awards to explain how the event has grown into the Oscars for video games by blending kudos and ballyhoo.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to Daily Variety, your daily dose of news and
analysis for entertainment industry insiders. It's Thursday, December eleventh, twenty
twenty five. I'm your host, Cynthia Littleton. I am co
editor in chief of Riety alongside Ramin Setuda. I'm in
la He's in New York, and Variety has reporters around
the world covering the business of entertainment. On today's episode,
(00:29):
we'll hear from Brighty's Peter de Bruges and Matt Donnelly
on this year's Sundance lineup. They'll talk about what's in
store for the festival's last outing in Park City, which
takes place next month, and Jennifer Mos gives us a
preview of the Game Awards, which will be held tonight
in downtown La. Yes, it is in fact the Oscars
for Video Games. But before we get to that, here
(00:50):
are a few headlines just in this morning that you
need to know. Actually, there's just one big story that
people are talking about today and it doesn't involve Netflix
or one HBO or Paramount. The Mouse House is really
mad at Google. Disney is investing one billion dollars in
Open Ai and it's taking the first legal steps to
(01:11):
challenge Google for what Disney calls quote copyright infringement on
a massive scale, end quote for using AI models and
services to quote commercially, exploit and distribute end quote infringing
images and videos. Disney's deal with OpenAI will make a
number of its heavy hitter characters available for use in
(01:31):
open AI's Sora short form AI video model. The list
ranges from Mickey and Minnie to Luke Skywalker and Darth
Vader to Leelo and Stitch. This important story and so
much more can be found on Variety dot com right now.
And now it's time for conversations with Variety journalists about
(01:54):
news and trends in show business. Peter De Bruce, Variety's
chief film critic, and Matt Donnelly, entertainment writer, join me
to talk about the Sundance Film Festival, which released its
lineup on Wednesday. Matt and Peter break down the significance
of this year's gathering, which will be a milestone event.
Peter and Matt have covered Sundance for many years, so
they're the perfect people to put this transitional moment into perspective.
(02:18):
Peter Debrusi and Matt Donnelly LED's talk Sundance. Obviously, the
industry is gearing up for what will certainly be an
emotional sundance, probably a nostalgic sundance, as the festival that
defined the business of indie film some fortyish years ago
is having its last installment in Park City, planning to
move to Boulder, Colorado in twenty twenty seven. So what
(02:40):
stands out to you as significant about this year's lineup?
Speaker 2 (02:43):
So it's really a discovery festival that's really about spotlighting
new talent, first time directors, people that they've been developing
or shadowing over the years as they come through the
labs or show short films. And so I trust the
programmers there, but you read these log lines and sometimes
it just sounds like homework or punishment. I mean, it's
some really serious sounding stuff, and so it's not always
(03:05):
the most exciting the morning of, but I usually feel
gratified after seeing the movies there on the ground in
Park City.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Any names that you've been watching that you're excited about.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Sure, this debtails with our research that we do for
our ten Directors to Watch list. Three of the filmmakers
we have on that list will be bringing the movies
Run Amuck, Josephine and if I go, will they miss Me?
Terrific movies, among a handful of others that I never
confess what I've seen. But if they don't make the list,
I can assure you there's other treasures there. Catherine Yan,
(03:36):
who directed Dead Pigs and the Birds of Prey movie,
is coming with a very starry comedy called The Galeris.
That's the one with Natalie Portman and Jenna Ortega. We've
got new films from the likes of Greg Aaraki and
David Wayne, who will also be bringing anniversary screenings of
earlier movies. Sundance is such an incredible place for US
(03:57):
pipeline into mainstream Hollywood. So look at someone like Olivia Wilde.
You know, I think that last time we saw her
in the director's chair, don't worry, Darling became a phenomenon.
I think for reasons maybe she wouldn't have preferred to.
Now she's back with some new work, one of which
is she's the star of the Gregor Racky film with
Cooper Hoffman. She's also directing a film called The Invite,
which is written by one of my favorites in Hollywood,
(04:20):
Will McCormick and Rashida Jones, who did a phenomenal movie
called Celestian Jesse Forever, And this is a modern telling
of a Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf kind of thing.
Dinner parties from Hell is my favorite genre of movie.
So I'm very excited. Sundance really walks the walk, and
that doesn't just talk the talk. When it comes to representation.
You look at their lineup this year and it's forty
eight percent of the directors or female or identify as
(04:43):
female in the competition alone, which is ten films. Seven
of them have a female director, maybe a co director,
but like and that's true in both the dramatic US
and World categories. And you know, this is something where
a lot of festivals around the world have been talking
about this fIF ffty fifty parody. Sundance got there more
than a decade ago, and they've really been sticking to it.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
I think that goes to show what you can do
with intention. And of course a big, big component of
Sundance is the buying and selling. It has historically been
a great launching pad for many projects. It's been a
very vibrant market in the past we know that the
market components of film festivals of all sizes and locales
(05:26):
have had some struggles in recent years. Matt, as we
go into twenty twenty six Sundance, what is your gut
at this point about the marketplace? You think you'll see
a robust return to the kind of two am closing
that hustle and flow deal at two am for big
dollars or do you think it'll be a more modest
affair this time as it has been in recent years.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
I think we always pray for festival fever, but unfortunately, Cynthia,
the way that this has been trending, even over the
past three years has caused a lot of alarm I think,
just under the overall indie film ecosystem, especially financially because
the length of time from premiere screenings, which you know,
as you mentioned earlier. Sundance is known for smacking the
dust off of people after a long holiday and galvanizing
(06:10):
entire audiences that come together on their feet, for really
compelling original stories that lead to all night bidding wars
and just a bunch of sales agents sitting and drinking
coffee until five am hammering out the deal deal terms.
But The way it's been trending is that the length
of time it takes to get these deals papered is
troublingly long. I would say the last three biggest films,
two of which one Sundance's Grand Jury Prize, took almost
(06:32):
a year from premiere to get an actual distribution deal,
which effectively removes the teeth from a huge buzz campaign.
It used to be you'd have an amazing premiere from
a Sundance in January and you'd wind up dancing into
the awards cycle for the next year. But now I
think there's so much time is lapsing in between, especially
when it comes to theatrical releases for a lot of
these indie films. And don't worry if you thought that
(06:54):
there was a corner of the world that Warner Brothers
Netflix isn't touching. I think that absolutely the same entity
at theatrical releases, especially for smaller budget films, will be
very top of mind for everybody in Park City this year.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
I would suspect that the disruption and the uncertainty of
it all is going to impact buyers. In recent years,
some of the titles that have sold for impressive dollars
have then gone on to not really perform, certainly not
perform at the box office, and that's got to be
a factor.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
Another interesting wrinkle in why there's so much gum in
the works of these deals is efficiencies that were forced
in screening process by the COVID nineteen pandemics, you know,
when Sundance had to do a virtual addition. So many
of these titles were launched on digital platforms, and it
honestly made even after as the pandemic sort of like ebbed.
(07:42):
It made it not necessary for buyers and agents and
other people other industry types having to fly in person
to Sundance to sit through these screenings, which is where
a lot of the magic happens is in the darken
theater together and everyone's like miserable in their sweaters and
sharing tea and gum and it's very sweet. But yeah,
there's a much different experience when you're a perspective buyer
(08:03):
sitting at home in your living room or god forbid,
on your laptop at work, watching a movie deciding whether
or not you want to commit to putting on your
slate and giving into the world. So I think that
Suentance has to make a decision as it moves forward,
especially as they look ahead to changing locales from Salt
Lake Study too older, if they want to just cease
this online program entirely to put all the urgency and
(08:24):
all again that magic in the ring at the actual festival.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
It's such a great point, Matt. Just you know, we
can all remember kind of the excitement of seeing a
premiere at the Echos and what that meant. Now going
into the film festival, I will have seen half of
my workload in advance by myself in a dark room
in la and or on a link and it's just
not the same thing. And obviously buyers are kind of
doing the same thing.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Do you think that with the move to Boulder there
will be any new elements to the marketplace of it all.
Will they take steps to try to make sure that
people have to be incentivized to be there?
Speaker 3 (08:56):
Yeah, I think this is I have a very simple
answer for this, but it's kind of one of those
things that makes all the sense in the world. One
of the biggest reasons that I think Sundance was looking
for a new host city is because Park City was
only willing to go so far and building actual cineplexes
to house it in Boulder. There will be so much
more opportunity to see these films in proper theaters, not
(09:17):
you know, like makeshift gym auditoriums with folding chairs, or
you know, decommissioned shopping markets that have like stadium style
seats installed for two weeks. It's an actual accommodation in
theaters where movies are meant to be seen, but also
where more tickets can be sold. So I think in
that way too, it won't be such a slog It's
sort of like it's easier to wear slippers than carpet
(09:37):
the world, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
So I love a footwear analogy.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
I love it because it was really Delta, a heavy
blow by the pandemic, and then budgets and everything about
the changing industry has it shrinking to the point that
I think a lot of the people will be high
tailing it out of town on Monday Tuesday. And when
we talked the other day to Eugene Hernandez, the director
of the festival, he really wanted to stress it. This
(10:03):
year they're really trying to celebrate the final year in
Park City by having some special screening, some panels and
something that he teased that would be after the awards
show on the final Friday, just to really have that
presence there throughout the whole week. But he's up against budgets,
he's up against habits that have been broken, where people
just aren't staying through the full eleven days like they
(10:24):
used to. Even for film industry professionals. That's a big
commitment in this day and age.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Well, no matter what, it's one of our biggest out
of town editorial efforts of the year. We send a
lot of people. We're going to cover every stitch of
this and of course this year's will also be the
first Sundance since the passing of Robert Redford in September,
just a landmark person in our industry. You both have
covered Sundance many many times, and while Redford's presence had
(10:52):
eased up a little bit in recent years, I know
his spirit is really loons large over it. How do
you think people are going to be talking about him.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
If you spend enough time on the ground in Park City.
You know, back in his heyday, there was always going
to be a Redford sighting that you had that meant
the world. I think my second time ever going in
the dark ages, I was not adequately dressed like I didn't.
I thought for some reason that Utah wouldn't be as,
would not be as. And Robert only ever wore a
leather jacket and jeans. He never wore any vortex or
(11:23):
gloves or scarves or hats. And I was complaining outside
of the press office and he literally walked by and
he said, suck it up. And I think it's my
favorite Robert Redford memory of alt right and also like
to learn how to dress correctly and also totally signed note.
I think one of the reasons I'm dead seriously to
journalists because I saw up close and personal as a
child and it really got it hooks in me and
I love him so much. Yeah, I think there's gonna
(11:46):
be a lot of sentimentality and a lot of really
great Redford unmissible moments.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
I think they'll be showing Redford's movie Downhill Racer, which
is really the one that he pointed to is the
inspiration for sundance, for the need for an institution that
would sort of support the kind of voices that allowed
him to make that movie outside the system.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Thanks to both of you for walking us through what
to expect and what significant. Really appreciate your time on
a really busy week for our business. And now we
turn to the Game Awards. Jennifer Moz, Variety Senior business
writer for TV and Video Games, flew out to LA
(12:24):
to cover tonight's ceremony. The Game Awards have become an
important date on the calendar for the gaming business. As
Jennifer explains, here's a clip of Game Awards founder and
host Jeff Keeley kicking off last year's ceremony, and that's
followed by my conversation with Jennifer.
Speaker 4 (12:39):
Good evening, everybody, Welcome to the Game Awards, the biggest
global celebration of video games out there. You know, when
we started TJA in twenty fourteen, we had no idea
would become as big as it is around the world.
But I felt, like so many of you, that games
and the people who make them and the fans deserve
a moment like this. You watch this show because games
(13:01):
are part of your identity. They mean something to you.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
Jennifer Moz, you've been reporting since you stepped off the
plane at lax on Tuesday. How you holding up doing okay?
Speaker 5 (13:11):
Hanging in there, lots of coffee and lots of exciting
announcements keeping me awake.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
Well, you're in reporting warrior mode to cover the Game Awards,
which I took in with you last year. It was
very eye opening. I genuinely learned a lot about the
ethos and the spirit of the gaming community. Tell us
what's new and different about the Game Awards this year.
Speaker 5 (13:33):
So Jeff Kelley, who pioneered the awards, this is the
eleventh year that they're doing them, and it is the
first year that it has would all called a traditional
streaming partner. So previously it was available on YouTube and
you could stream it on Twitch, and it was available
and mainly a digital first online viewership. This it's also
(13:54):
going to be online, but it's going to also have
Prime video, and so Amazon is also taking every opportunity
plug in Fallout season two. Great games high in right there,
and so they're taking those chances to tie in their
content as well. And then the Game Awards will have
a plethora of other announcements acrops, studios and publishers during
the show.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
So, as I learned last year, during the actual presentation
of the awards, in between the awards, they announced significant
news release dates. World premieres would you say, the gaming
fan they're watching because they know that there's going to
be news tidbits flowing out throughout the night. Absolutely.
Speaker 5 (14:31):
So one of the things that distinguishes the Game Awards
from say the Emmys or the Oscars, well, it's considered
like the pinnacle of its industry at the moment. For awards,
it is interspersed with trailers, with announcements, with release date content.
Last year, the big finale wasn't just an award. They
announced Game of the Year, but then after they announced
(14:51):
Game of the Year, the studio behind The Last of
Us revealed what their next game will be and they
had the first footage of that game. So that's something
that's very specific to this war show and also that
makes it longer than others, But it keeps people tuned
in because between those awards they are going to find
out about the next year's big things, right, So it
like sets up the gaming industry for its next year
(15:14):
while celebrating its previous year.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
In addition to tonight's awards ceremony, you've been busy since
you got here taking meetings. This event galvanizes a lot
of news and marketing activity in the gaming business. It
seems like I have had meetings all week. I've gone
to events all.
Speaker 5 (15:31):
Week, gotten to see a lot of things that will
be seen in the room tonight early, which is always exciting.
But yeah, everyone's in town, everyone wants to meet. It's
rare all the people in the gaming world are in
LA together at the same time.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Okay. I was trying not to ask this, but I
think I have to ask this, Jennifer. Is this the
OSCARS of video game awards? Is it the prestigious one
that people really care about.
Speaker 5 (15:51):
Yes, absolutely, and that's not for lack of trying, like
across game awards, but nothing else has really.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Broken through in this way. Is is there a horse
race aspect to the competitive awards? Do people in the
industry really sit there and try to game out? Okay,
what's going to win Game of the Year? Is there
like a movie and TV level intensity to awards in
the gaming world. Yes, very much so.
Speaker 5 (16:15):
And this year in particular, when the nominations came out,
an indie developer called Sandfall has had the game swept
nominations called Claire Obscure Expedition thirty three. It's a first
time game from an indie studio and that game is
poised to win Game of the Year, and I would
be very surprised if it does not, So there's definitely
conversations surrounding that and what that means for the industry
(16:38):
when an indie title can break through like that.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Well, Jennet, good luck covering the ceremony. You have a
lot of headlines to launch. Thank you so much for
working so hard and covering this really important sector with
such gusto. You're welcome. As we close out today's episode,
here's a few things we're watching for. A five part
(17:01):
docuseries on women's sports debuts December fifteenth on Peacock. The
Rise hails from Hello Sunshine. It consists of five feature
length documentaries on the WNBA, women of Nascar, and other topics.
Amazon Prime Video will launch The CEO Club on February
twenty third. That docuseries will follow Serena Williams and other
(17:23):
prominent women as they pursue business ventures. We love to
hear from our listeners, so please send thoughts, scripes, and
other feedback about Daily Variety to podcasts at Variety dot com.
Before we go, Congrats to Susanna Zapada. She has joined
Visualization Studio the third Floor. As head of Strategic Partnerships.
(17:44):
Zepeda has worked in programming, events and brand partnerships for
Warner Brothers, Discovery, Disney, and NBC Universal. Thanks for listening.
This episode was written and reported by me Cynthia Littleton,
with contributions from Peter De Bruce, Matt Donnelly, and Jenny
from Most Stick Snacks Hick Picks. Please leave us a
review with the podcast platform of your choice, and please
(18:06):
tune in Monday for another episode of Daily Variety and
don't forget to tell us what you think at podcastsat
Variety dot com. Thanks
Welcome to Daily Variety, your daily dose of news and
analysis for entertainment industry insiders. It's Thursday, December eleventh, twenty
twenty five. I'm your host, Cynthia Littleton. I am co
editor in chief of Riety alongside Ramin Setuda. I'm in
la He's in New York, and Variety has reporters around
the world covering the business of entertainment. On today's episode,
(00:29):
we'll hear from Brighty's Peter de Bruges and Matt Donnelly
on this year's Sundance lineup. They'll talk about what's in
store for the festival's last outing in Park City, which
takes place next month, and Jennifer Mos gives us a
preview of the Game Awards, which will be held tonight
in downtown La. Yes, it is in fact the Oscars
for Video Games. But before we get to that, here
(00:50):
are a few headlines just in this morning that you
need to know. Actually, there's just one big story that
people are talking about today and it doesn't involve Netflix
or one HBO or Paramount. The Mouse House is really
mad at Google. Disney is investing one billion dollars in
Open Ai and it's taking the first legal steps to
(01:11):
challenge Google for what Disney calls quote copyright infringement on
a massive scale, end quote for using AI models and
services to quote commercially, exploit and distribute end quote infringing
images and videos. Disney's deal with OpenAI will make a
number of its heavy hitter characters available for use in
(01:31):
open AI's Sora short form AI video model. The list
ranges from Mickey and Minnie to Luke Skywalker and Darth
Vader to Leelo and Stitch. This important story and so
much more can be found on Variety dot com right now.
And now it's time for conversations with Variety journalists about
(01:54):
news and trends in show business. Peter De Bruce, Variety's
chief film critic, and Matt Donnelly, entertainment writer, join me
to talk about the Sundance Film Festival, which released its
lineup on Wednesday. Matt and Peter break down the significance
of this year's gathering, which will be a milestone event.
Peter and Matt have covered Sundance for many years, so
they're the perfect people to put this transitional moment into perspective.
(02:18):
Peter Debrusi and Matt Donnelly LED's talk Sundance. Obviously, the
industry is gearing up for what will certainly be an
emotional sundance, probably a nostalgic sundance, as the festival that
defined the business of indie film some fortyish years ago
is having its last installment in Park City, planning to
move to Boulder, Colorado in twenty twenty seven. So what
(02:40):
stands out to you as significant about this year's lineup?
Speaker 2 (02:43):
So it's really a discovery festival that's really about spotlighting
new talent, first time directors, people that they've been developing
or shadowing over the years as they come through the
labs or show short films. And so I trust the
programmers there, but you read these log lines and sometimes
it just sounds like homework or punishment. I mean, it's
some really serious sounding stuff, and so it's not always
(03:05):
the most exciting the morning of, but I usually feel
gratified after seeing the movies there on the ground in
Park City.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Any names that you've been watching that you're excited about.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Sure, this debtails with our research that we do for
our ten Directors to Watch list. Three of the filmmakers
we have on that list will be bringing the movies
Run Amuck, Josephine and if I go, will they miss Me?
Terrific movies, among a handful of others that I never
confess what I've seen. But if they don't make the list,
I can assure you there's other treasures there. Catherine Yan,
(03:36):
who directed Dead Pigs and the Birds of Prey movie,
is coming with a very starry comedy called The Galeris.
That's the one with Natalie Portman and Jenna Ortega. We've
got new films from the likes of Greg Aaraki and
David Wayne, who will also be bringing anniversary screenings of
earlier movies. Sundance is such an incredible place for US
(03:57):
pipeline into mainstream Hollywood. So look at someone like Olivia Wilde.
You know, I think that last time we saw her
in the director's chair, don't worry, Darling became a phenomenon.
I think for reasons maybe she wouldn't have preferred to.
Now she's back with some new work, one of which
is she's the star of the Gregor Racky film with
Cooper Hoffman. She's also directing a film called The Invite,
which is written by one of my favorites in Hollywood,
(04:20):
Will McCormick and Rashida Jones, who did a phenomenal movie
called Celestian Jesse Forever, And this is a modern telling
of a Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf kind of thing.
Dinner parties from Hell is my favorite genre of movie.
So I'm very excited. Sundance really walks the walk, and
that doesn't just talk the talk. When it comes to representation.
You look at their lineup this year and it's forty
eight percent of the directors or female or identify as
(04:43):
female in the competition alone, which is ten films. Seven
of them have a female director, maybe a co director,
but like and that's true in both the dramatic US
and World categories. And you know, this is something where
a lot of festivals around the world have been talking
about this fIF ffty fifty parody. Sundance got there more
than a decade ago, and they've really been sticking to it.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
I think that goes to show what you can do
with intention. And of course a big, big component of
Sundance is the buying and selling. It has historically been
a great launching pad for many projects. It's been a
very vibrant market in the past we know that the
market components of film festivals of all sizes and locales
(05:26):
have had some struggles in recent years. Matt, as we
go into twenty twenty six Sundance, what is your gut
at this point about the marketplace? You think you'll see
a robust return to the kind of two am closing
that hustle and flow deal at two am for big
dollars or do you think it'll be a more modest
affair this time as it has been in recent years.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
I think we always pray for festival fever, but unfortunately, Cynthia,
the way that this has been trending, even over the
past three years has caused a lot of alarm I think,
just under the overall indie film ecosystem, especially financially because
the length of time from premiere screenings, which you know,
as you mentioned earlier. Sundance is known for smacking the
dust off of people after a long holiday and galvanizing
(06:10):
entire audiences that come together on their feet, for really
compelling original stories that lead to all night bidding wars
and just a bunch of sales agents sitting and drinking
coffee until five am hammering out the deal deal terms.
But The way it's been trending is that the length
of time it takes to get these deals papered is
troublingly long. I would say the last three biggest films,
two of which one Sundance's Grand Jury Prize, took almost
(06:32):
a year from premiere to get an actual distribution deal,
which effectively removes the teeth from a huge buzz campaign.
It used to be you'd have an amazing premiere from
a Sundance in January and you'd wind up dancing into
the awards cycle for the next year. But now I
think there's so much time is lapsing in between, especially
when it comes to theatrical releases for a lot of
these indie films. And don't worry if you thought that
(06:54):
there was a corner of the world that Warner Brothers
Netflix isn't touching. I think that absolutely the same entity
at theatrical releases, especially for smaller budget films, will be
very top of mind for everybody in Park City this year.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
I would suspect that the disruption and the uncertainty of
it all is going to impact buyers. In recent years,
some of the titles that have sold for impressive dollars
have then gone on to not really perform, certainly not
perform at the box office, and that's got to be
a factor.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
Another interesting wrinkle in why there's so much gum in
the works of these deals is efficiencies that were forced
in screening process by the COVID nineteen pandemics, you know,
when Sundance had to do a virtual addition. So many
of these titles were launched on digital platforms, and it
honestly made even after as the pandemic sort of like ebbed.
(07:42):
It made it not necessary for buyers and agents and
other people other industry types having to fly in person
to Sundance to sit through these screenings, which is where
a lot of the magic happens is in the darken
theater together and everyone's like miserable in their sweaters and
sharing tea and gum and it's very sweet. But yeah,
there's a much different experience when you're a perspective buyer
(08:03):
sitting at home in your living room or god forbid,
on your laptop at work, watching a movie deciding whether
or not you want to commit to putting on your
slate and giving into the world. So I think that
Suentance has to make a decision as it moves forward,
especially as they look ahead to changing locales from Salt
Lake Study too older, if they want to just cease
this online program entirely to put all the urgency and
(08:24):
all again that magic in the ring at the actual festival.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
It's such a great point, Matt. Just you know, we
can all remember kind of the excitement of seeing a
premiere at the Echos and what that meant. Now going
into the film festival, I will have seen half of
my workload in advance by myself in a dark room
in la and or on a link and it's just
not the same thing. And obviously buyers are kind of
doing the same thing.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Do you think that with the move to Boulder there
will be any new elements to the marketplace of it all.
Will they take steps to try to make sure that
people have to be incentivized to be there?
Speaker 3 (08:56):
Yeah, I think this is I have a very simple
answer for this, but it's kind of one of those
things that makes all the sense in the world. One
of the biggest reasons that I think Sundance was looking
for a new host city is because Park City was
only willing to go so far and building actual cineplexes
to house it in Boulder. There will be so much
more opportunity to see these films in proper theaters, not
(09:17):
you know, like makeshift gym auditoriums with folding chairs, or
you know, decommissioned shopping markets that have like stadium style
seats installed for two weeks. It's an actual accommodation in
theaters where movies are meant to be seen, but also
where more tickets can be sold. So I think in
that way too, it won't be such a slog It's
sort of like it's easier to wear slippers than carpet
(09:37):
the world, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
So I love a footwear analogy.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
I love it because it was really Delta, a heavy
blow by the pandemic, and then budgets and everything about
the changing industry has it shrinking to the point that
I think a lot of the people will be high
tailing it out of town on Monday Tuesday. And when
we talked the other day to Eugene Hernandez, the director
of the festival, he really wanted to stress it. This
(10:03):
year they're really trying to celebrate the final year in
Park City by having some special screening, some panels and
something that he teased that would be after the awards
show on the final Friday, just to really have that
presence there throughout the whole week. But he's up against budgets,
he's up against habits that have been broken, where people
just aren't staying through the full eleven days like they
(10:24):
used to. Even for film industry professionals. That's a big
commitment in this day and age.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Well, no matter what, it's one of our biggest out
of town editorial efforts of the year. We send a
lot of people. We're going to cover every stitch of
this and of course this year's will also be the
first Sundance since the passing of Robert Redford in September,
just a landmark person in our industry. You both have
covered Sundance many many times, and while Redford's presence had
(10:52):
eased up a little bit in recent years, I know
his spirit is really loons large over it. How do
you think people are going to be talking about him.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
If you spend enough time on the ground in Park City.
You know, back in his heyday, there was always going
to be a Redford sighting that you had that meant
the world. I think my second time ever going in
the dark ages, I was not adequately dressed like I didn't.
I thought for some reason that Utah wouldn't be as,
would not be as. And Robert only ever wore a
leather jacket and jeans. He never wore any vortex or
(11:23):
gloves or scarves or hats. And I was complaining outside
of the press office and he literally walked by and
he said, suck it up. And I think it's my
favorite Robert Redford memory of alt right and also like
to learn how to dress correctly and also totally signed note.
I think one of the reasons I'm dead seriously to
journalists because I saw up close and personal as a
child and it really got it hooks in me and
I love him so much. Yeah, I think there's gonna
(11:46):
be a lot of sentimentality and a lot of really
great Redford unmissible moments.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
I think they'll be showing Redford's movie Downhill Racer, which
is really the one that he pointed to is the
inspiration for sundance, for the need for an institution that
would sort of support the kind of voices that allowed
him to make that movie outside the system.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Thanks to both of you for walking us through what
to expect and what significant. Really appreciate your time on
a really busy week for our business. And now we
turn to the Game Awards. Jennifer Moz, Variety Senior business
writer for TV and Video Games, flew out to LA
(12:24):
to cover tonight's ceremony. The Game Awards have become an
important date on the calendar for the gaming business. As
Jennifer explains, here's a clip of Game Awards founder and
host Jeff Keeley kicking off last year's ceremony, and that's
followed by my conversation with Jennifer.
Speaker 4 (12:39):
Good evening, everybody, Welcome to the Game Awards, the biggest
global celebration of video games out there. You know, when
we started TJA in twenty fourteen, we had no idea
would become as big as it is around the world.
But I felt, like so many of you, that games
and the people who make them and the fans deserve
a moment like this. You watch this show because games
(13:01):
are part of your identity. They mean something to you.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
Jennifer Moz, you've been reporting since you stepped off the
plane at lax on Tuesday. How you holding up doing okay?
Speaker 5 (13:11):
Hanging in there, lots of coffee and lots of exciting
announcements keeping me awake.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
Well, you're in reporting warrior mode to cover the Game Awards,
which I took in with you last year. It was
very eye opening. I genuinely learned a lot about the
ethos and the spirit of the gaming community. Tell us
what's new and different about the Game Awards this year.
Speaker 5 (13:33):
So Jeff Kelley, who pioneered the awards, this is the
eleventh year that they're doing them, and it is the
first year that it has would all called a traditional
streaming partner. So previously it was available on YouTube and
you could stream it on Twitch, and it was available
and mainly a digital first online viewership. This it's also
(13:54):
going to be online, but it's going to also have
Prime video, and so Amazon is also taking every opportunity
plug in Fallout season two. Great games high in right there,
and so they're taking those chances to tie in their
content as well. And then the Game Awards will have
a plethora of other announcements acrops, studios and publishers during
the show.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
So, as I learned last year, during the actual presentation
of the awards, in between the awards, they announced significant
news release dates. World premieres would you say, the gaming
fan they're watching because they know that there's going to
be news tidbits flowing out throughout the night. Absolutely.
Speaker 5 (14:31):
So one of the things that distinguishes the Game Awards
from say the Emmys or the Oscars, well, it's considered
like the pinnacle of its industry at the moment. For awards,
it is interspersed with trailers, with announcements, with release date content.
Last year, the big finale wasn't just an award. They
announced Game of the Year, but then after they announced
(14:51):
Game of the Year, the studio behind The Last of
Us revealed what their next game will be and they
had the first footage of that game. So that's something
that's very specific to this war show and also that
makes it longer than others, But it keeps people tuned
in because between those awards they are going to find
out about the next year's big things, right, So it
like sets up the gaming industry for its next year
(15:14):
while celebrating its previous year.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
In addition to tonight's awards ceremony, you've been busy since
you got here taking meetings. This event galvanizes a lot
of news and marketing activity in the gaming business. It
seems like I have had meetings all week. I've gone
to events all.
Speaker 5 (15:31):
Week, gotten to see a lot of things that will
be seen in the room tonight early, which is always exciting.
But yeah, everyone's in town, everyone wants to meet. It's
rare all the people in the gaming world are in
LA together at the same time.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Okay. I was trying not to ask this, but I
think I have to ask this, Jennifer. Is this the
OSCARS of video game awards? Is it the prestigious one
that people really care about.
Speaker 5 (15:51):
Yes, absolutely, and that's not for lack of trying, like
across game awards, but nothing else has really.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Broken through in this way. Is is there a horse
race aspect to the competitive awards? Do people in the
industry really sit there and try to game out? Okay,
what's going to win Game of the Year? Is there
like a movie and TV level intensity to awards in
the gaming world. Yes, very much so.
Speaker 5 (16:15):
And this year in particular, when the nominations came out,
an indie developer called Sandfall has had the game swept
nominations called Claire Obscure Expedition thirty three. It's a first
time game from an indie studio and that game is
poised to win Game of the Year, and I would
be very surprised if it does not, So there's definitely
conversations surrounding that and what that means for the industry
(16:38):
when an indie title can break through like that.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Well, Jennet, good luck covering the ceremony. You have a
lot of headlines to launch. Thank you so much for
working so hard and covering this really important sector with
such gusto. You're welcome. As we close out today's episode,
here's a few things we're watching for. A five part
(17:01):
docuseries on women's sports debuts December fifteenth on Peacock. The
Rise hails from Hello Sunshine. It consists of five feature
length documentaries on the WNBA, women of Nascar, and other topics.
Amazon Prime Video will launch The CEO Club on February
twenty third. That docuseries will follow Serena Williams and other
(17:23):
prominent women as they pursue business ventures. We love to
hear from our listeners, so please send thoughts, scripes, and
other feedback about Daily Variety to podcasts at Variety dot com.
Before we go, Congrats to Susanna Zapada. She has joined
Visualization Studio the third Floor. As head of Strategic Partnerships.
(17:44):
Zepeda has worked in programming, events and brand partnerships for
Warner Brothers, Discovery, Disney, and NBC Universal. Thanks for listening.
This episode was written and reported by me Cynthia Littleton,
with contributions from Peter De Bruce, Matt Donnelly, and Jenny
from Most Stick Snacks Hick Picks. Please leave us a
review with the podcast platform of your choice, and please
(18:06):
tune in Monday for another episode of Daily Variety and
don't forget to tell us what you think at podcastsat
Variety dot com. Thanks
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