FEATUREFOCUS ■US SELLERS■DISTRIBUTION SPOTLIGHT■PUBLIC FILM FUNDS Mainstream titles such as Limitless are proving hot properties An equity investment from an international
seller might reduce the upside for an outside producer with his or her own capital, but in the current fi nancial climate it might just as easily be seen as a way to spread that capital over a bigger slate of projects. Sales companies with the fi nancial backing to
offer minimum guarantees rather than just sales estimates certainly bring a valuable asset to the table, and some producers say such guar- antees — which can be used to secure bank loans before individual territory sales are made — are now being offered more frequently. “It’s nice to have a partner that can come in
Sellers gain from capital
Access to capital is the key for top-tier sales agents to secure A-list projects in today’s ultra competitive, slimmed-down marketplace. John Hazelton explores the sea change
a slump caused in part by a glut of poorly con- ceived independent projects, sales companies fi nd themselves competing more aggressively than ever for a smaller supply of product. The hot properties now are bigger, more com-
T
mercial fi lms that, thanks to the major studios’ current preference for mega-budget tentpoles, have found a niche at the domestic box offi ce — Limitless, Source Code and Insidious being recent examples — and shown a capacity to act as sales- slate locomotives at Cannes and other markets. And the competition to secure the hot prop-
erties appears to be driving a new round of evo- lution among leading sales companies. “The world has definitely changed in the
last 36 months,” says Graham Taylor, head of WME Global, the packaging, financing and distribution consultancy arm of William Morris Endeavor agency. “It’s become much tougher for [companies doing] just straight third-party sales. The advance of a bunch of sales companies with the ability to fi nance has changed the landscape.” Producers, agents and financiers list a
number of characteristics to look for in an inter- national sales company. Experience and marketplace stature are
often high on the list. “That’s an important consideration for us,” says Bryan LaCour, sen- ior vice-president and manager of the enter- tainment fi nance group at fi lm lender Union Bank. “Is the sales company a consistent pro-
■ 26 Screen International at the Cannes Film Festival May 15, 2011
op US sellers have always had to hustle for international sales assignments on the most desirable properties. But as the international sales market emerges from
vider of quality commercial product? If it’s an important sales company to distributors, it allows it to leverage that position and attain higher sales fi gures.” Marketing ability is also a consideration,
according to Ben Browning, CEO of production and financing company Wayfare Entertain- ment. “The fi rst marketing you ever see is done for the sales company, or in conjunction with the sales company,” he points out, “and it defi nes everything. A bad international sales poster can change the way everyone sees the movie.” A few leading sales operations — among
‘The advance of a bunch of sales companies with the ability to finance has changed the
landscape’ Graham Taylor, WME Global
them Lionsgate, Focus, The Weinstein Com- pany (TWC), Summit and Exclusive — have their own US theatrical-distribution divisions, but those ties are not necessarily an attraction for producers and packaging agents. Some pro- ducers feel their commercial indie fi lms need studio distribution in the US; others prefer to split domestic and international rights between two companies so as to maximise revenue. “You might want to arbitrage those US rights,” says Browning. “That’s where your upside is.” More important, however — and apparently
coming increasingly to the fore as competition for big projects heats up — is a sales company’s fi nancial muscle. Sales companies that are off-shoots of pro-
duction and distribution operations have always had the option of making equity invest- ments in projects as well as handling interna- tional sales. And now new operations such as Exclusive, IM Global and Sierra/Affinity are emerging with the ability to finance and co- fi nance, as well as sell for third-party producers.
and say, ‘Here’s what we feel we can get and we’ll guarantee this amount,’” says Brian Oliver, president of production and fi nance company Cross Creek Pictures, which is setting up domestic distribution and international sales output deals. Cross Creek’s in-production George Clooney project The Ides Of March was helped, Oliver confi rms, by a sales guarantee from Exclusive Films International, whose par- ent is co-fi nancing the project.
The more, the better That sort of fi nancial capability may eventually become a necessity for sales companies looking to compete for projects at the highest level. “There are a lot of very good sellers,” says
WME Global’s Taylor, “but I’m always of the mindset that the more people that can write a cheque for a movie, the better. Some of the sales agents out there that are very good don’t have the ability to fully fi nance movies, and it would be great if they could. It puts pressure on people that don’t have fi nancing if they have to fi gure out fi nance solutions or have equity part- ners that will back them to make a play.” With fi nancial muscle and the other charac-
teristics in mind, international industry players put anything from four to more than a dozen US sales companies in the business’s top tier. Because of its wealth of experience and
extensive track record handling major titles, Summit Entertainment remains the fi rst choice for some producers, though the company’s transformation into an independent studio leaves little room on its sales slate for third- party projects. The sales divisions of indie stu- dios TWC and Lionsgate are also highly rated for their fi nancial strength and often impressive slates. Focus Features International, the UK- based sales division of Universal Pictures’ Focus Features, is seen as a good seller for a certain kind of fi lm and one whose appetite for third- party product may be increasing. Though less equipped than some of its rivals
to provide financing and sales guarantees, FilmNation, sales agent on big Oscar winner The King’s Speech, is often cited because of founder Glen Basner’s track record. Among the top tier’s newest entrants are
three companies with the sort of attributes, executives claim, that will be necessary as the international sales business continues to evolve. Sierra/Affi nity was formed at the start of this
year by Sierra Pictures and Affi nity International and in addition to handling third-party fi lms acts as exclusive sales agent for product from OddLot Entertainment, Bold Films and Sierra, and its
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