As people were rushing away from her or avoiding her while they were caught up in a bidding war at Sundance for the Craig Brewer-directed, John Singleton-produced Hustle and Flow:
“The adrenalin is flowing,” David Dinerstein, co-chairman of Paramount Classics, tossed over his shoulder as he hurried out of the screening…
Specialty movie executives went barreling from the hall to their cell phones, then back into the hall to make initial offers to the United Talent Agency agents…
“This is torture,” mouthed the Focus executive John Lyons…
In the true indie spirit of Sundance, the previously unknown Singleton–who financed the $3.5mm film himself–got a $17 million, three-picture deal with scrappy upstart distributor Paramount. Reports Ms. Waxman, “Mr. Singleton gleefully boarded a charter jet, paid for by Paramount [obviously, Singleton has points against gross, not net] to return to the set of his movie Four Brothers in Toronto.
Note: Heisenberg’s Principle is obviously suspended for the two weeks at Sundance; the NY Times Hollywood correspondent’s attending the crew’s pre-screening dinner, the screening, and the afterparty, and chasing down the principals during negotiations in now way influenced the outcome.
Wee-Hours Wheeling and Dealing at Sundance [NYT]