Netflix and Amazon buy big (2016-2017)
When battle lines were first being drawn in the streaming wars, there were questions about if the tech companies would bring their wallets to Sundance. We got our answer in 2016, when Amazon and Netflix each went on their own shopping sprees, grabbing films like Tallulah and eventual Oscar winner Manchester by the Sea.
In 2017, they continued the trend with titles like Icarus, The Big Sick and Mudbound fetching big price tags. And while the number of sales has dwindled, you can reliably bet on a streamer plonking down a significant chunk of change for at least one title every festival. If nothing else, Sundance’s recent history has been a case study in one-upmanship.
Sundance Cyberattack brings in the FBI (2017)
A mysterious cyberattack that took down the fest’s ticketing system for a period of time at the 2017 festival prompted help from the FBI. “We have been subject to a cyberattack that has shut down our box office,” the fest tweeted at the time. Some assumed the reasoning for the attack to be the 2017 title Icarus, the doc centered on the Russian doctor who revealed the country’s widespread state-sponsored sports doping. “Nobody really knows who’s behind [Saturday’s cyberattack],” said filmmaker Alex Gibney at the time. “If you look to who could be behind it, you look to people who are good at it, and the Russians would certainly be one party.”
Women March on Main Street (2017)
Ahead of the Presidential inauguration of Donald Trump, women took to Main Street to coincide with the Women’s Marches being organized nationwide. Chelsea Handler organized the Park City march that took place in temperatures of 22 degrees, with thousands of fellow marchers, including Charlize Theron, Laura Dern and Connie Britton.
Later that year, Weinstein, who had long ruled over the Park City fest, would be the center of the New York Times and New Yorker exposes that would lead to Hollywood #MeToo movement.
