Networks like PBS, HBO, Showtime, Cinemax and Discovery converge on the Park City festival because they want to show off their wares, namely movies made by and for television.
The living-room box has become a major venue for showing the best in independent cinema. Films such as "American Splendor," last year's "Word Wars" and 2002's festival opener "The Laramie Project" all were made for television networks. Even Lifetime aired a festival film last year - "Until the Violence Stops," a documentary about the social movement started by "The Vagina Monologues" creator Eve Ensler.
Many independent movies seem to play better on television than in theaters. Sometimes, watching them in the privacy of your home can create a more personal connection between viewer and film, especially if it's a more quiet, intimate story.
This year, HBO, Showtime, PBS and Discovery all have documentaries to promote, including German director Werner Herzog's much-awaited "Grizzly Man" and PBS' "The Education of Shelby Knox." The networks also have several narrative films in the festival, including a Showtime musical based on the cult B-movie "Reefer Madness."
The films will end up on television as soon as next month, as with HBO's "Lackawanna Blues," to as late as next year.
Some networks have been hosting receptions in Park City all week in hopes of rubbing elbows with up-and-coming talent, particularly in the documentary field.
National PBS program director John Wilson is at Sundance not only to support his network's films, but also to scope out filmmakers for new documentary projects.
"The documentary side of it has always been kind of the quieter aspect of the festival and it has really grown in the last few years," he said. "It has become much more of a hub. It's a great place for me to meet with our producers."
The Discovery Channel has started a program to produce documentary films, then show them off at the festival to secure theatrical distribution. That builds steam for the movie - as well as makes it eligible for Oscar consideration - so it can be shown on the network about nine months later.
"Grizzly Man," about one man's relationships with grizzlies in Alaska, is part of that plan. It will be released in theaters first through Lions Gate Films before it premieres on cable later in the year or early next year.
"Coming to the festival is more about making relationships - let the community know that we're very serious about this. We're putting our money where our mouth is," said Billy Campbell, president of Discovery Networks.
The result of all this is we're able to see some sterling documentaries and independent fiction that might never have seen the light of a theater projector.
With so many television networks and the advent of cable, it's much easier to get these films before American viewers.
In fact, while there still is a certain cachet to having a film distributed in theaters - which puts it in contention for an Academy Award - more people can watch a film on television in one night than might see it in a limited theatrical run.
"That's what's exciting, is that people who want to shoot something, they want to tell a story in a unique manner. Now they have an opportunity to do it," Campbell said.
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Television columnist Vince Horiuchi appears Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. He can be reached at vince@sltrib.com.
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Channeling
Jazz Basketball: KJZZ Channel 14, tonight, 6. The Jazz take on the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Joan of Arcadia: KUTV Channel 2, tonight, 7. Joan saves the life of a fellow student played by singer/actress Hilary Duff.
Numb3rs: KUTV Channel 2, tonight, 9. Don and his brother Charlie use mathematical probability to try to figure out where a band of serial bank robbers will hit next.
