2016 Sundance Deals: The Complete List of Festival Pick-Ups

One thing that became abundantly clear in the days leading up to the 2016 Sundance Film Festival was just how big of a year it was going to be for bidding wars and sales deals. It started eight days before opening night, when Netflix threw its hat into the ring first by picking up streaming rights to Sian Heder’s feature debut, “Tallulah,” starring Ellen Page and Allison Janney. The deal would be the first of five for the streaming giant, a second one of which, the Iranian horror film “Under the Shadow,” was also acquired before the festival began.

READ MORE: It’s Complicated: How Netflix and Amazon Add a Big Wrinkle to Sundance Deal-Making

While Netflix seemed to be leading the pack early on, it was ultimately Amazon Studios that dominated the Sundance buying market. After starting early with the streaming rights for “Complete Unknown” (that marked the third pre-festival buy), Amazon proved it would pay big bucks for buzzy titles ($10 million for “Manchester By the Sea”) and pair up with distributors to guarantee its purchases a theatrical release under companies like Roadside Attractions and Open Road. That was perhaps the biggest difference between the streaming competitors at Sundance. Amazon found more partnerships for theatrical distribution than Netflix, which left Sundance with only SVOD rights to a majority of its purchases.

After many of last year’s Sundance titles proved unsuccessful at the box office, pundits were left wondering if this year would see a dramatic decrease in purchases. Both Amazon and Netflix made sure that wasn’t the case, clearly, but the rest of the deals from major distributors paint a different story of patience and planning. There wasn’t necessarily a decrease in sales out of the festival this year, but there was hardly a dominant theatrical buyer. With a ton of different distributors only picking up one or two titles, this year saw a huge number of different buyers.

Such was the case with Fox Searchlight. The company has long been one of Sundance’s most popular buyers, but this year they held all their cards close and made one deal, which happened to be the record-breaking $17.5 million for Nate Parker’s award winner “The Birth of a Nation.” Companies that were conspicuously absent this year included IFC Films, Alchemy, Bleecker Street and Broad Green Pictures, but that only resulted in more room for A24, Summit, Oscilloscope and more to make a mark.

Check out all of the deals made at Sundance this year below.

AMAZON STUDIOS

Amazon and Open Road Team Up for Acclaimed Sundance Doc ‘Gleason’

Amazon Scores Big at Sundance (Again) With Todd Solondz’s ‘Wiener-Dog’ Deal

Amazon Lands Huge Deal for Sundance Sensation ‘Manchester By the Sea’

Amazon and Roadside Attractions Unite for Whit Stillman’s ‘Love and Friendship’

Amazon Heads to Sundance, Picks Up Twisty Drama ‘Complete Unknown’

Sundance: Truth Battles Fiction in Amazon Pickup ‘Author,’ Starring Laura Albert, the Real JT LeRoy

NETFLIX

Netflix and Music Box Films Acquire Norman Lear Sundance Doc ‘Just Another Version of You’

Netflix is Getting into Bed With Sundance Sex Comedy ‘Brahman Naman’

Netflix Picks Up Sundance Sexual Assault Documentary ‘Audrie & Daisy’

Netflix Strikes Sundance Again With ‘Under the Shadow’ Streaming Deal

Netflix Kicks Off Sundance Early By Acquiring Ellen Page-Starring ‘Tallulah’

MAGNOLIA PICTURES

Magnolia Pictures and HBO Pick Up Sundance Doc ‘Tickled’

Magnolia Pictures Acquires North Korean Kidnapping Tale ‘The Lovers and the Despot’

Magnolia Pictures Lands Werner Herzog’s Internet Revolution Documentary ‘Lo and Behold’

SONY PICTURES CLASSICS

Sony Pictures Classics Acquires John Krasinski’s Sundance Drama ‘The Hollars’

Sony Pictures Classics Acquires Frank Zappa Sundance Doc ‘Eat That Question’

Sony Pictures Classics Picks Up Rousing Sundance Doc ‘The Eagle Huntress’

PARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO

Paramount and MTV Films Pick Up Nick Jonas’ Sundance Frat Drama ‘Goat’

Paramount Lands Clea DuVall’s Sundance Directorial Debut ‘The Intervention’

A24

Swiss Army Man’ and Daniel Radcliffe’s Farting Corpse Head to A24

A24 Makes First Sundance Deal With Crowdpleaser ‘Morris From America’

HBO FILMS

Magnolia Pictures and HBO Pick Up Sundance Doc ‘Tickled’

UNIVERSAL PICTURES

Universal Lands Michael Shannon’s Sundance Thriller ‘Frank & Lola”

OPEN ROAD FILMS

Amazon and Open Road Team Up for Acclaimed Sundance Doc ‘Gleason’

MUSIC BOX FILMS

Netflix and Music Box Films Acquire Norman Lear Sundance Doc ‘Just Another Version of You’

BLUMHOUSE

Blumhouse and WWE Studios Join Forces for Sundance Thriller ‘Sleight’

WWE STUDIOS

Blumhouse and WWE Studios Join Forces for Sundance Thriller ‘Sleight’

THE ORCHARD

The Orchard Picks Up Taika Waititi’s Sundance Crowdpleaser ‘Hunt for the Wilderpeople’

FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES

Nate Parker’s ‘The Birth of a Nation’ Sells to Fox Searchlight in Biggest Sundance Deal Ever

SUMMIT ENTERTAINMENT

Summit Entertainment Picks Up Sundance Period Drama ‘Indignation’

BRAINSTORM MEDIA

Brainstorm Media Picks Up Sundance Stress Doc ‘Resilience’

ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS

Amazon and Roadside Attractions Unite for Whit Stillman’s ‘Love and Friendship’

GLOBAL SCREEN

Global Screen Picks Up Rights to Sundance Premiere ‘Between Sea and Land’

SUNDANCE SELECTS

Sundance Selects Picks Up Political Controversy Doc ‘Weiner’

OSCILLOSCOPE

Oscilloscope Picks Up Sundance NEXT Drama ‘The Fits’ in Pre-Festival Deal

MONGREL INTERNATIONAL

Mongrel Lands International Rights to Ira Sachs’ ‘Little Men’

GLOBAL SCREEN

Global Screen Picks Up Rights to Sundance Premiere ‘Between Sea and Land’

VERTICAL ENTERTAINMENT

Sundance Horror Sensation ‘Under the Shadow’ Going Global with Vertical and XYZ Films

XYZ FILMS

Sundance Horror Sensation ‘Under the Shadow’ Going Global with Vertical and XYZ Films

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