Little movies get big ‘Consideration’

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The next hot thing
Darryl Macdonald, director of the Palm Springs International Film Festival, which will take place Jan. 4-15, feels that no matter the buzz, a “festival film” will have difficulty reaching a broad audience because “by definition” it will “only appeal to a niche audience.”

“Festival programmers are automatically on the lookout for more cutting-edge films or filmmakers, and feel their event’s reputation may be enhanced by being the place where the ‘next hot thing’ or hot talent emerges,” Macdonald says. “That doesn’t necessarily translate to a mass audience, even if it is appreciated by cinephiles or esteemed movie critics. So festivals may, by their very nature, give rise to films that are doomed to failure in a wider marketplace.”

Jeff Ryder, director of the Writing for Film and Television program at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, suggests that the reputation of indie films can become overblown because of their stark contrast to the current fare coming out of Hollywood.

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“Compared to ... ‘Pirates of the Caribbean, Part 27,’ the little low-budget festival entry is going to be lauded as groundbreaking and innovative, simply because the competition is so artistically inferior,” says Ryder, a two-time Daytime Emmy winner for writing the soap “Guiding Light” and a former executive at NBC and MGM.

“These films will never appeal to the pubescent video-game junkie who Hollywood caters to and reveres,” he adds.

And those are the people who would never go to an arty film, Macdonald says, because there’s a three-tiered “stratification among filmgoers” — those drawn to movies driven by “high concept,” special effects and big stars; those attracted to art films while their main diet is quality Hollywood fare with major stars and strong story lines; and those who simply seek genuine art-house films.

Of course, big-budget movies are hyped, too. But the genesis of their publicity is quite different.

Since “The Da Vinci Code” was adapted from an enormously successful book, expectations were huge. Critics were tepid, but megaplex cash registers rang.

“I learned a long time ago to just say: ‘I liked it. I think you should take a look — if you want. It’s a certain kind of thing.’ I play it down,” Scorsese says, laughing uproariously.

The director, whose films include “Raging Bull” and “Goodfellas” as well as the current critical and box-office hit “The Departed,” knows a tout from him carries a ton of weight. “That’s why I’ve been very careful.”

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