The Sundance Film Festival, battered by a virus that halted movie productions and prevented its stars and deep-pocketed buyers from gathering in person, thrived anyway.
Apple Inc., Netflix Inc. and other buyers threw cash at independent films as they jostled for movies they thought could bolster their streaming platforms. Apple spent $25 million for “Coda,” a drama about a woman with a deaf family, in a sale that smashed the previous record for biggest deal in Sundance’s history by more than $7 million.