AFM sellers have been engaging with private Russian buyers unaffiliated to the state as attendees overall reported a busy market for independent international distributors, where action titles once again are proving to be a major draw.
A number of executives who spoke to Screen revealed Russian buyers were pursuing must-have titles “aggressively” as the Hollywood studios’ suspension of theatrical releases creates a deep appetite for content.
Trade with parts of Asia has been soft in the absence of buyers from China. Meanwhile the bruising exchange rate does not appear to have dampened UK buyers’ readiness to pay for films.
FilmNation’s The Night Of The Living Dead reboot and The Island, AGC Studios’ The Silent Hour, Sierra/Affinity’s Dust Bunny, and Black Bear International’s The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare – John Friedberg and his team are understood to be fielding offers from the US – have been cited as must-haves across the board.
With attendees still lining up to register for badges on Thursday morning, the general view is that the shortened market has created a greater focus amid the traditional crush of back-to-back meetings, albeit with smaller teams on the ground and less opportunistic foot traffic in the Loews Hotel and surrounding venues.
“There’s certainly a willingness from all sides to close during this market,” noted Olivier Brunskill, international sales manager at Altitude, who launched talks on Hitchcockian conspiracy thriller The Prize and reported strong response to the Saban Films slate including High Heat with Olga Kurylenko and The Last Manhunt starring Jason Momoa. “Nothing quite beats shaking hands in person compared to congratulating each other over emails. Invariably though, a lot will carry through until next week, a symptom of post-covid deal-making.”
This was confirmed by Michael Yates, sales and acquisitions director at Metro International, which continued sales talks on shark thriller The Last Breath. “We’re closing deals but, as is the case throughout the year, there will be ongoing conversations after the market’s over.”
“Regardless of the virtual sales bazaar, physically seeing people in one spot in a shorter space of time focuses us, creates momentum and helps make these projects become reality,” added The Exchange CEO Brian O’Shea, who has been fielding offers on Guy Pearce crime thriller Neponset Circle and Japanese action adventure Shun Ultraman.
Brian Beckmann, CFO at Arclight Films which has engaged with buyers on Muru and Poker Face, among others, soft-launched two titles to feature A-list talent and said, “We prepared in advance so people can read scripts. It makes you focus a lot more and plan things out. If you don’t and treat it like a regular market, your competitors already have a one-up on you.”
“All the major European territories have been super active,” said George Hamilton, chief commercial officer at Protagonist Pictures, which launched talks on darkly comedic folk story The Fox. “We were feeling confident going in, and that confidence has been validated.
“There’s been a lot of discussion on the market – is it worth it? Will people be coming? As far as we’ve experienced, the majority of the key people are here. We’ve done great business with indies, and had discussions with the mini majors and studios. We couldn’t be happier on that front.”
Hamilton notes that indie distributors have been particuarly active. ”It doesn’t feel like its been super aggressive for the streamers,” he said. “It feels like the narrative for this market will be the indies and studio action, rather than the streamers.”
“We have product that is in all stages of production so it’s been productive,” noted Ruzanna Kegeyan, head of acquisition at Capstone Global where Breathe and John Woo’s Silent Night triggered a strong response. “The shorter market has led to proper business.”
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