The impact of the Hollywood strikes, streamer flexibility and theatrical optimism were among the talking points at the second annual creative investors conferences held at San Sebastian International Film Festival (SSIFF) on September 26-27.
Speakers included Jeb Brody, president of production at Amblin Partners; Kiska Higgs, president of production and acquisitions at Focus Features; Pete Czernin, co-chairman of Blueprint Pictures; Fionnuala Jamison, managing director of mk2 Films; Vincent Maraval, president of Goodfellas; Jeremy Kleiner, co-president of Plan B; Carole Scotta, producer at Haut et Court; Maren Olson, executive vice president for film at 30West; Emily Morgan, producer; and Robert Walak, president of film and TV at Iconoclast.
Executives in attendance included Teresa Moneo, director of international original film at Netflix; Bobby Allen, SVP of production at Mubi; Aijah Keith, senior manager, head of indie film licensing, at Hulu; Anna Higgs, managing director of Casarotto Ramsay & Associates; and Phil Hunt, CEO of Head Gear Films and co-managing director of Bankside Films.
The conference was organised in partnership with CAA Media, with sponsorship from the Spanish government via the Spanish Screenings.
“The trickiness that led to the strikes is still with us”
In the wake of the WGA deal, it’s no surprise that strikes were a hot topic, particularly among US executives who kicked off the conference with a panel on the ‘challenges and opportunities in the shifting US landscape’.
Brody, whose credits range from Universal’s The Last Voyage Of The Demeter to Sam Mendes’ 1917, said that while he expected the actors to reach a resolution “within the next couple of weeks”, the underlying tensions that caused the strikes are here to stay. “The issue is why there were strikes, which is still not really clear enough. I think at the end of the day, the tension between streaming and theatrical remains and the larger studios working with their own streamers and trying to function well, and make sure that that’s all making sense, remains.
He continued: “Even if [the actors and writers] checked off the list and they got the things they wanted, I think overall a lot of the trickiness of the movie business that led to the strikes is still with us. And it’s going to be a couple of years until it’s figured out.”
Brody was, however, hopeful of a rejuvenated industry once work starts back up again. “It feels for the first time in a long time, people are excited to get back to work and there is a real feeling of enthusiasm,” he claimed. “There may not be enough money to do the things that are the most creative, the most interesting, but at the same time, there are writers who are eager to go back and producers who are eager and we’re having more conversations around the projects and the storytelling.”
Also sitting on the panel was Tendo Nagenda, producer at 10 by Ten, who predicted a “swing” in budgets as a result of the strikes. Referencing his former roles at Netflix and Disney, when the streamers were in a “big budget space”, Nagenda said: “Those budgets just kept inflating but now the economics is changing and coming out of the strikes, both in streaming and for theatrical, I see a crunch in budgets where you’re going to have to make more with less.”
Tendo went on to address how audience habits will change too. “It will have a dramatic impact on business in that the [content] people wanted before, or had to have, will be wanted even more and the things that people didn’t need to have, they’ll want even less,” Nagenda said. “We’ll be entering an environment where we’re trying to figure out what that reality is.”
Streamers getting flexible
Streamers were a regular fixture in conversations with many producers discussing the US platforms’ growing willingness to co-produce and share IP in a post-boom era.
Carole Scotta, founder of French production company Haut et Court, said the current difficulties surrounding the television market meant streamers “don’t want to take as many risks so they are now willing to share that risk with traditional broadcasters” and that “these hybrid ways of financing series may help producers to keep IP”.
She went on to say that fighting for IP is “something we should hold on to and be political about it”, referencing the various European countries lobbying for regulations. “It’s key and that’s how [producers] can stay independent.”
These thoughts were echoed by Mod Producciones’ Fernando Bovaria (both were sitting on a panel about producers in 2023 and beyond), who said: “The platforms are not an established reality. It’s a very fluid situation in which they are demanding different things. In the future, but also now, they are going to be more open to co-productions and you just have to take advantage of that as a producer because the truth of the matter is the streamers are affecting the other markets.”
There was even a suggestion the streamers may be more flexible around theatrical releases too. “At the moment, streamers are making content and they’re holding onto it and I don’t really understand the library value of something if you’re not reinvigorating new deals,” Brody said. “I think Netflix is changing that a little bit. Let’s keep an eye on that as they look for new ways in which they’re going to continue to profit.”
Local cinema boom?
The advantages and disadvantages of streamer investment in non-English language content were also discussed with Goodfellas president Maraval acknowledging how Covid and the Hollywood strikes have “accelerated a movement” towards local cinema. “The local cinema market share in every country is going up and then also in places like in Asia, they are exporting very well,” Maraval said. “Platforms like Netflix helped because they had big successes with foreign-language programmes and they helped the audiences to be more open.”
While there is more of an appetite, Elisa Alvares, founder of media and entertainment bank Jacaranda Consultants and a senior advisor for IPR.VC, said the financial differentiations remain.
Speaking on a panel about the global market for Spanish-language content, Alvares said: “Foreign language has been part of the global expansion and have been very much tied into local content for local communities,” she said. “But all the prices that I pay are more related to local costs as opposed to international prices.
“And distributors likewise, there is an expectation that a foreign-language film tends to generate less [money] and therefore their value is less. You could argue that it may translate into overages if the film turns out to be successful, and in fact, sometimes it does. But there’s a general perception that certainly there is no resistance anymore. There used to be a lot more resistance, but now it’s a matter of price tag.”
The conference also highlighted new financing opportunities for European co-productions with two new joint ventures. The Archers, a new Luxembourg-based fund operated by France’s David Grumbach and Marc Dujardin which has secured EC Media Invest backing; and a collaboration between Juan Gordon of Spanish production outfit Morena Films and David Divoli of US-based managing, production and financing outfit Anonymous Content, which is developing Spanish-language content for the global market.
Too many films, not enough distributors
Maraval led the charge in repeated calls for new distributors, claiming the current landscape couldn’t meet the level of production. Spanish sales agent Vicente Canales similarily described a “crisis” in the market. “There is an overload of productions and there are too many films that maybe shouldn’t be made,” said Canales, managing director of Film Factory Entertainment which is representing several films at SSIFF including Javier Macipe’s Blue Star. “The market can’t absorb it and the films can’t reach the international market.”
Maren Olson, executive vice president of film at 30West, agreed new distributors are needed but that it’s not something that will happen overnight. “What we have to do to entice new distribution into the marketplace is show that the distribution that exists can thrive,” the Short Term 12 producer said.
“If we want to assure the future then you have to play into what’s working now. So, if you can put out content that is going to work right now, and we’re going to entice people to actually come back into theatres, working with what currently exists, then that’s going to attract new investment into distribution, that’s going to expand.”
Robert Walak, former Focus and Miramax exec, now president of film and TV company Iconoclast, who was sitting on the panel with Olson, added: “You need two or three more players [in distribution], especially in the US market where it does need to feel a bit more energised.”
Optimism for theatrical
There was a lot of excitement around the possibilities for a theatrical comeback in the wake of ‘Barbenheimer’ but also with the successes of smaller independent titles such as A24’s Past Lives and the Australian hit horror Talk To Me.
“This is the first year we’ve had enough tentpoles to reignite cinemagoing and get people into that habit,” mk2’s Jamison said. “Parallel to that is arthouse cinemagoing coming back as well.”
Sarah Golvin, director of acquisitions at Neon, cited A24 examples along with MGM’s Bottoms noting, “These are all independent, very envelope-pushing movies, and that’s what’s been popping. I do think they’re much harder to finance. It’s harder to take a bet on the Australian YouTubers [and directors of Talk To Me] who’ve never made a movie before. But it’s proven that if you stand out that’s what works.”
Golvin also added the growing benefits for producers and financiers to move back towards traditional theatrical releases. “If you’re financing a movie hoping for that streamer buyout, you’re taking a pretty big risk,” she said. “Whereas if you’re producing or financing at a more moderate level, there’s a lot more room for upside. And theatrical is a great way for building upside, you’re able to get to be part of the cultural zeitgeist, there’s awards, there’s box office, there’s VOD and you just build and build and build. My hope is that we’ll return to a more moderate financing structure.”
And for younger audiences too
This optimism was also extended to the younger generation. Jamison discussed the success of mk2 Films’ sales of How To Have Sex, which Mubi has acquired worldwide and will begin rolling out in November, as an example of theatrical markets opening up to younger audiences.
Meanwhile, Walak, who produced Harmony Korine’s experimental film Aggro Dr1ft, suggested younger audiences were moving away from the saturated content model and towards more streamlined consumption. “There is a younger audience who are engaged with film in a different way and are looking for something that’s more curated and that feels a little bit more special,” Walak said. “They’re overwhelmed by how much is out there, they want to discover films again. They want a curated experience.”
Olson, who produced Finn Wolfhard’s co-debut and TIFF premiere Hell Of A Summer, added: “There’s so much interest in cinema [from the younger generation] but there is something that we’re not thinking about, about how younger people want to be spoken to as an audience. There’s something that remains to be tapped into with this generation.”
David Flynn, WIIP’s head of global drama, perhaps summed it up best when he said: “You have to embrace the fact people aren’t always going to leave the house anymore to watch a film and it’s incumbent on all of us to make films that demand you to leave your house.”
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