Sundance Offers a Glimmer of Hope for the Struggling Documentary Market: ‘We’re No Longer in a Doa Situation’

The 40th edition of Sundance proved that despite corporate consolidation, there is still a market for independently made documentaries.

While there haven’t been many sales so far, there has been strong buyer interest in two celeb-focused docs — “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” and “Will & Harper,” featuring Will Ferrell — and healthy interest in others.“The market didn’t have a pulse six months ago,” says Submarine Entertainment sales agent Josh Braun, who came to the festival with nine documentaries seeking distribution, including “Daughters,” “Gaucho Gaucho” and “Union.” “So there was a reason to be a little bit fearful coming into Sundance.

But now we are feeling a pulse.

We are heading in a good direction.

The patient still needs some treatment, but we are no longer in a Doa situation.”While Submarine has not yet closed deals for any of the titles, Braun is optimistic, given the fact a…