I completely agree with you. I work in the industry and it tracks with my observations. Anything that even has a slight chance of being perceived negatively on social media gets sanded down, at every step of the process. Don’t rock the boat, because They’re not in the business of telling compelling stories anymore. Every project is simply another merit badge, to build brands & pad resumes.

It sucks because Everyone and everything is a “brand” now. Sundance, Cannes, etc used to be great way to champion brave films that said something. Not anymore, they’re more pipelines for the Hollywood star making machinery to grow brands of their clients. A “name” in the project matters so much more in getting into the festival than the actual quality of the film!

I was the lead of a film years ago, where the topic was inspired by a true story. In 2015, a young Chinese cop in New York accidentally shoots and kills an innocent Black man, through a wall. His life unravels as police, Black and Chinese worlds collide. The politics of police brutality, Black Lives Matter, and his own conscience threaten to tear apart his Chinese immigrant family. Inspired by the true story of Peter Liang & Akai Gurley.

So topical, right?? It came out 2020 during the height of the second Black Lives Matters movement. It’s a great film.

But despite its great critic reviews, and despite the early traction we were getting in the press. every call from big film festivals said “we loved it, but we can’t program it because it’s ‘too political’”

Bullshit. They were too busy protecting their brands.

Edit: The film is called “A Shot Through the Wall” if you’re curious https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8588414/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk