FEATURE
Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions’ acquired Colombiana for TriStar
Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (SPWA). The unit has earned a reputation as a shrewd operator and is now well positioned to take advantage of the buoyant market. SPWA is tasked with picking up a wide range
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of genres at varying budgets for the Sony pipe- line: be it Sony Pictures, Sony Classics, Screen Gems or TriStar. It also has distribution rela- tionships with, among others, Samuel Goldwyn Films, Strand Releasing and FilmDistrict, the new distributor led by SPWA president Steve Bersch’s predecessor Peter Schlessel that has close ties to Sony and collaborated to great effect with SPWA on its first two releases, Insidi- ous and Soul Surfer. Given that Paramount and Warner Bros have
recently exited the international acquisitions arena, SPWA’s standing as a nimble buyer that is close to the market has only served to boost its value to the studio. “Sony has a full roster domestically and internationally,” says Bersch, a former entertainment attorney who arrived at the unit in 2008 and has held senior executive positions at five US majors. “Our job is to sup- plement it on pictures that make sense. “We are in very close communication with
the studio. We go to festivals with the authority to conclude deals at a certain level and we can always arrange for something to be screened by movie management the next day.” The high-profile acquisition of Insidious at
Toronto last year involved a level of commit- ment that meant Bersch and his team could move quickly without the need for protracted talks with the head office in Los Angeles. “We try from a domestic and international level to find product we believe in and we
n 30 Screen International at the AFM November 2, 2011
any of the independently made US hits of the last several years, includ- ing District 9, Insidious, Hanna and Soul Surfer, bear the hallmark of
An independent streak
Steve Bersch leads the formidable Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions team, which has made its mark on numerous indie hits in recent years. He tells Jeremy Kay what they are looking for
FACTFILE STEVE BERSCH
n Before joining SPWA in 2008, Bersch served as COO of Fox Home Entertainment.
n He has held senior positions at Paramount, Warner Bros and MGM/UA.
n Bersch started his career as an entertainment attorney at Rosenfeld, Meyer & Susman before moving to Sidley Austin.
n He is a member of the executive branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
believe will work commercially and match it with the right distribution strategy. It’s often Sony. Recent titles such as Hanna went through SPRI [and Focus Features domestically, in a separate deal]. Soul Surfer went through TriStar domestically, but in a marketing partnership with FilmDistrict.” Attack The Block was released in late July
through Screen Gems, with a gross heading towards $350,000, while SPWA’S roster includes Hostel Part III, Quarantine 2: Terminal, Colombiana (through TriStar) and A Good Old Fashioned Orgy (through Samuel Goldwyn). “In terms of international acquisitions, we try
to acquire a large territory footprint so we can bring the scope of a studio to a multi-territory strategy. In some cases that’s very attractive to certain people.” The team closed several deals at Cannes this
year, taking US rights on martial-arts film The Raid from Celluloid Nightmares and world- wide rights on SXSW premiere Detention from ICM. Since then, two SPWA buyers have left to pursue new opportunities: Scott Shooman to head acquisitions at CBS Films, and Lia Buman to lead the buying team at FilmDistrict. The aggressive acquisition activity of resur-
gent older players and new companies means SPWA, Lionsgate, Summit, IFC, Roadside
Steve Bersch
Attractions and others are competing with Rela- tivity, The Weinstein Company, FilmDistrict, Miramax and Open Road. “So it’s still a seller’s market and looks likely to remain so for a while,” Bersch says. This means Bersch and his team will be keep-
ing a close eye on those international players in the business of producing globally appealing product: namely Pathé, StudioCanal, Kinology, EuropaCorp, Wild Bunch and CJ Entertain- ment. n
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