I have chosen not to attend the Sundance Film Festival this year. This decision was made for several reasons, including the weather, the COVID surge (which I would rather not experience again, thank you!) and, last but not least, my feeling that the quality film field was lacking and the atmosphere was more of a “reunion” atmosphere than a vibrant business environment.

Yes, there are always one or two crowd-pleasing hits on the slate, and one or two good old-fashioned bidding wars — with people staying up in their suites until 3 a.m., duking it out, threatening to leave, coming back, questioning some of their forebears, and then doing it anyway. The latter didn’t quite pan out this year, but still, one or two big $15 million-$20 million deals only serves to distract from otherwise disappointing box office numbers.

To be honest, I haven’t been back to Park City in a number of years. I’ve done my Sundance deals. In the past, I’ve almost always represented the selling/financing producer side, although in other contexts I’ve also advised distributors (including majors and mini-majors on complex chain-of-title and rights issues, often on very, very tight schedules), with a few forays into talent representation.

When I started my new company (which is launching soon!), I initially envisioned Sundance 2024 as a great launch party. However, I revised my plans when I realized that the deal flow would be a bit limited and I already have everyone’s email address.