SCREENINGS, PAGE 26
additional library value into the bargain.” Reliance will continue to handle all IM Global titles in India. The IM Global chief will unveil another new ini-
tiative later in the year. “We are also working on an international VoD digital sales platform with our friends at Reliance Digital which we hope to unveil by the end of the year. We aspire to be right at the forefront of the VoD evolution overseas and are lucky enough to be able to draw on our partners’ resources and digital know-how to help get there. “The industry is going to evolve into a place where
you have theatrical movies and everything else will go out on VoD, so for these movies the traditional sales process of sitting down opposite someone face- to-face will become kind of redundant. So the sales process will transact via some kind of business-to- business digital platform. We will acquire a movie, encrypt it and upload it and digital distributors will be able to access it.” There will still be some element of personal interaction in the negotiation process, but by and large this is how Ford sees it going.
An alliance with Reliance The strategic importance of the relationship with Reliance cannot be overstated. “I can’t emphasise enough how supportive Reliance have been and how grateful we are to them for that support,” Ford says. “When I sold them a majority stake in the company two years ago, they made certain mini- mum commitments towards backing our growth as a film financier which at the time I considered to be substantial. Two years on and they’ve channelled more than three times that level of investment into films IM Global were backing. On a day-to-day level they have let me grow the business with minimal interference, but their LA-based associate Deepak Nayar has become a fantastic sounding board and friend. Partnerially, we’re already looking at the next stage of strategic growth.” Reliance is known to most inside Hollywood for
its integral role in the reconstituted DreamWorks, however the ownership stake in IM Global has anchored the Indian giant in the independent com- munity. “If you look at the profile IM Global enjoys today, not to mention the exponential growth in rev- enues and asset value over the past few years, you’d have to consider that investment by Reliance to be an economic as well as a strategic success thus far.” The company’s growing production profile has
led to an impressive slate. Jason Statham thriller Hummingbird and Blood, a co-financed thriller with BBC Films that stars Paul Bettany and Mark Strong, have wrapped production in the UK. IM Global is fully financing the corporate espionage thriller Paranoia starring Liam Hemsworth from The Hunger Games and principal photography is scheduled to begin this summer in Philadelphia. Relativity just acquired US rights and has set a Sep- tember 27, 2013 release date, which did not hurt the project’s international allure one iota. Paranoia was one of three US deals on the roster
to drop within the first week of Cannes, the other two being the CBS Films buy on Ends Of The Earth and FilmDistrict’s move on US rights to Niels Arden Oplev’s $30m romantic thriller Dead Man Down, which IM Global and WWE Studios are financing jointly and stars Colin Farrell and Noomi Rapace. The Automatik production joint venture has
wasted little time hitting its stride. “We partnered with Alliance to set up Automatik Entertainment as a means toward creating an additional tier of pro-
May 22, 2012 Screen International at Cannes 21 n
‘From the outset we had a clear goal… to create a company of real substance that generates volume, cash flow and a tangible asset
base’ Stuart Ford, IM Global
duction activity for the company and of generating an additional pipeline for the foreign sales business. Brian [Kavanaugh-Jones, Automatik president] shares my workaholic tendencies so he’s managed to somehow combine production activity on Alli- ance-backed films like Insidious, Sinister and The Babymakers with executive activity for us on bigger movies like Safe, Bullet To The Head and Dead Man Down and generate his own slate of projects. “I think Welcome To The Punch, which Brian
brought in and nurtured, is on track to be one of the coolest thrillers of the year and Ends Of The Earth will be a big breakout genre success. We couldn’t be happier with the way Automatik has flourished or with Alliance as a partner in that business.” Ford adopts a hands-on approach at the com-
Clockwise from top right: Dead Man Down, Ends Of The Earth, Welcome To The Punch, Blood, Dredd
pany. “But to grow the IM Global operation in a structured way, not to mention allow myself time to focus on strategic matters, I’ve enjoyed handing off more and more day-to-day responsibility to a ter- rifically experienced circle of senior executives like Jonathan Deckter [president of international sales and distribution], Bonnie Voland [head of interna- tional marketing and publicity], Michael Roban [EVP motion picture finance and operations], Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Steve Squillante [head of physical production] and Frank Prugo [SVP tech- nical operations]. We’ve also got some exception- ally capable younger executives on board and it’s been a real source of satisfaction to evolve IM Glo- bal into a sophisticated 30-person team operation across three continents.” n
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