Amazon and Netflix lead the way as Sundance's top buyers

Utah

IT WAS the independent film equivalent of a crack of thunder.

After its Sundance premiere last Saturday, Manchester by the Sea - a buzzy drama starring Casey Affleck as a handyman coping with family strife - sold not to a traditional studio distributor but to a streaming service. Amazon paid a hefty US$10 million for the movie, beating out the likes of Fox and Universal.