There's just a massive creative-fatigue-miasma hanging over the film business these days, a sense the establishment has sucked all the air out of the business (as well as the financing) and that your options are limited.
The Los Angeles Film Festival kicks off this week downtown with an eclectic slate of alternative stimulation. Run by Film Independent, the LAFF has a more chill, familial air than Sundance, and unlike Sundance, you can usually get tickets.