With Spanish-language content in high-demand from buyers, Barcelona-based sales agent Film Factory Entertainment talks to Screen about its slate of broad appeal, commecal films, its acquisition and investment strategy and the best markets and festivals at which to do business.
The company has a tradition of working with well-established Spanish directors. Its present slate includes Prison 77 by Alberto Rodríguez (set to be released in Spain in September 22), The Te$t by Dani de la Orden, Monkey Business by Daniel Guzmán, comedy You Keep The Kids! Full of Grace by Roberto Bueso, Skin In Flames by David Martín-Porras and horror title The Communion Girl, by Víctor García.
The company’s key executives are Vicente Canale, managing director, and Manon Barat, sales and marketing executive.
Describe the kinds of projects you handle.
Since the pandemic, distribution companies have become more selective since the box office is generally low. Therefore we try to acquire the most commercial projects such as You Keep The Kids! by Dani de la Orden and Very Bald Trip by Nacho G. Velilla, as well as arthouse films with a strong team behind them such as Laura Mora’s The Kings Of The World.
Do you invest at production stage?
We are looking for projects at production stage. Sometimes we acquire films based on scripts only when we believe they have a strong potential.
How healthy is the theatrical pre-sales market for your projects?
Buyers have become extremely selective. The pandemic has accelerated the process and except for some key titles, most of the buyers want to watch the full feature.
Which markets are you finding particularly challenging in 2022?
Asia can be generally challenging market for Spanish- speaking productions, except when you have a horror film. Then Asia can become a very strong market. Like in the case of The Communion Girl. Box office is low everywhere and it is challenging to find the right project for each distributor.
Where are the opportunities?
The VoD and digital market has been growing fast and is now one of our strongest in comparison with the cooling of theatrical sales. The impact of Netflix on the Spanish market has been followed by that of other big platforms.
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