CHICAS PRODUCTIONS: Film Market

Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world. It was once so rich that Concorde used to fly from Caracas to Paris. But in the last three years its economy has collapsed. Hunger has gripped the nation for years. Now, it’s killing people and animals that are dying of starvation. The Venezuelan government knows, but won’t admit it!!! Four in five Venezuelans live in poverty. People queue for hours to buy food. Much of the time they go without. People are also dying from a lack of medicines. Inflation is at 82,766% and there are warnings it could exceed one million per cent by the end of this year. Venezuelans are trying to get out. The UN says 2.3 million people have fled the country - 7% of the population.

Showing posts with label Film Market. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Korean Film Industry: Censorship Rising?

With a conservative gov't in place, bizzers fear the return of the scissors \

The modern South Korean film industry was born in the mid-'90s when the Busan festival helped push back the cloud of censorship that had prevailed for 10 years after the end of military rule.

Since then, Korean directors have reveled in their freedom to shock, tantalize and blindside their audiences — whether coming from Kim Ki-duk's sado-masochistically bizarre "The Isle" and fairly explicit sex in Park Chul-soo's "The Green Chair," to hints of cannibalism in Kim Jee-woon's "I Saw the Devil," or the unremitting but always stylish ultra-violence of Na Hong-jin's "The Chaser" and "The Yellow Sea." Choi Min-sik eating a live octopus in Park Chan-wook's "Oldboy" is still a high point for some genre fans.

Yet there's growing concern that censorship is on the increase since the arrival in February of President Park Geun-hye's deeply conservative government.

Some see the Korea Media Ratings Board as having already become tougher. They cite the near-banning of Kim's "Moebius" as an example. The director, whose stock-in-trade is provocation, only had the film cleared for commercial release after two appeals and the removal of two minutes of footage.

Yet, a single problem film does not necessarily mark a trend. "The new government is less than one year old. Most current films were greenlighted before that," says "Late Autumn" producer Lee Joo-ick. "Maybe there will be more impact in the future. But we are not China."

Others fear that the government will not need to act explicitly and that self-censorship will do much of its work.

Some suggest that politically themed contemporary films are not going to be greenlit and that criticism of the government is becoming harder. For this they look no further than "Project Cheonan Ship," a documentary by Baek Seung-woo, which premiered in May's Jeonju festival. It offers alternative explanations for the 2010 sinking of warship Cheonan, in which 46 sailors died and which the South Korean government says was caused by a North Korean torpedo.

Bereaved families attempted to bar the film with court injunctions, but "Cheonan" made it into limited release in September, only to have the Megabox theater chain remove the film after two days. The exhibitor cited warnings that its cinemas were going to be picketed by conservative groups. Skeptics say with the heads of many big Korean conglomerates in jail, business is simply unwilling to stick its neck out.

Thank you Variety

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Thailand Bringing Film Industry Roadshow to Los Angeles...

The country's deputy prime minister and leading industry reps will host a symposium, business forum and networking party shortly before AFM gets underway.

Thailand is set to bring its first-ever film and animation industry roadshow to Los Angeles in the days leading up to the American Film Market.

Thailand's Oscar Submission 'Countdown' to Get U.S. Release

Stephen Chow Developing Film With Thai Studio GTH
The three-day event, aimed at promoting greater creative and business ties between the Thai and U.S. screen industries,1. It will be hosted by Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce, Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan, along with leading representatives from the Thai industry.
STORY: Thailand's Oscar Submission 'Countdown' to Get U.S. Release
Twenty Thai companies involved in film production, distribution, visual effects and animation will take part in the event in L.A. The three-day program will include a symposium, tours of Hollywood studios, company showcases and business matching sessions.
Participating film companies from Thailand include, the National Federation of Thai Film Associations, Amfine Production, Five Star Production, Kantana Post Production, Klongchai Pictures, M Pictures, M Thirty Nine, Right Content, Studio Aromdi, Sahamongkol Film International. The Thai animation companies making the trip to L.A. are Anya Animation, Creative Bean Studio, Imagimax, Lunch Box Studio, The Monk Studios, G Motif, Teapot Studio, Tomogram Studio, Vithita Animation, Yggdrazil Group.
The program will culminate with a costume Halloween party held at the JW Marriott Santa Monica Le Merigot Hotel, hosted by Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya of Thailand. During the party there will be a screening of new and classic Thai horror films, including Countdown, the smash hit Pee-Mak, Long Weekend, The House, Shutter, 3AM 3D, Art of the Devil I & II, Dorm, Alone, Heaven & Hell, I Miss You, The Coffin, 9-9-81, Ghost Day.

Thank you Hollywood Reporter

Netflix's net gains nettle networks and theater owners...

Netflix seems to be aggravating everyone but the 40 million people who subscribe to its service. The company that started as an innovative deliver-DVDs-by-mail service has become a major player in the television industry, scaring and angering competitors in the process.

This autumn has brought landmark moments for the folks at Netflix. The company has bought rights to reruns of the Showtime series "Dexter," keeping exclusive rights out of the hands of its streaming rivals Amazon Prime and Hulu.

They shook up the Emmy Awards by garnering nominations for the Netflix original series, "House of Cards" – a first for an online-only production company. They have surpassed cable heavyweight HBO in number of U.S. subscribers. And they have ticked off movie theater owners by insisting that theaters should not have the exclusive right to debut new films.

PHOTOS: Horsey on Hollywood

At the 2013 Film Independent Forum, Ted Sarandos, chief content officer at Netflix, said consumers should decide where they want to see a new movie. "Why not premiere movies on Netflix the same day they're opening in theaters?" he asked.

The theater owners' response was that such a development would be the ruin of their business. Netflix already killed off the DVD rental trade, they said, and they do not want to be the next to go the way of blacksmiths and buggy whip manufacturers.

HBO and Fox executives have also criticized Netflix, challenging the company to do as everyone else in the business does and release ratings numbers for their programs. If the Netflix original series "Orange Is the New Black" truly is as popular as Netflix claims, the cable rivals ask, why not prove it with the numbers?

PHOTOS: Billion-dollar box-office club

To that, Sarandos has sharp rejoinders. For one thing, he says, slavish attention to overnight ratings undercuts creativity. (He is a guy who buys entire seasons of shows without even seeing a pilot.)

For another, Netflix is not seeking advertisers, the people who are most obsessed with ratings. And, finally, Netflix does not need a ratings service to provide them with solid numbers; they already know exactly when each subscriber clicks a mouse or track pad to call up another episode of a show.

Netflix is playing by its own rules and, in the process, may be changing the game for everyone else.

Thank you Hollywood Reporter

Korea Is on the Cusp of a New Golden Era...

Fresh talent and diverse pics draw big B.O. as local indies make inroads

New faces behind the films and fresh stories on the screen have reinvigorated the Korean film business. In the first nine months of 2013, two local films have entered the all-time top 10, market share for local titles has hovered around the 60% mark, and Hollywood has seemed powerless to respond to a succession of well-made and diverse local titles.

Making the picture even rosier for Korean cinema, the B.O. boom has been accelerated by new filmmakers, movies (mostly) made on reasonable budgets — up to $4 million in some cases — and the growing influence of five-year-old distributor Next Entertainment World.

The industry's recovery from the slump of 2007-08 feels like it's been a long time coming.

The year kicked o with an unexpected hit, "Miracle in Cell No. 7." Handled by NEW, which was launched by former Showbox employees, the film is by far the biggest of 2013, and with 12.8 million admissions and $84 million, it's one of the biggest Korean titles of all time.

Melodrama "Miracle" joins other local successes that have been edgier and darker; indeed, Korean screens have seen more thrillers and horror, and a markedly lower emphasis on romance and comedies than in the recent past.

"The films are better, they are fresher, they have better ideas," says producer Jonathan Kim. "The scene is vibrant because there are many people having a chance to make big movies in Korea these days."

It's notable that many of this year's hits came from first-time directors.

Two of the biggest were action thriller "The Terror Live," which collected $36 million at the box office, and started as a pitch at the Network of Asian Fantastic Films genre film project market in 2010 before being picked up by giant local distrib Lotte Entertainment; and thriller "Hide and Seek," which was made by Huh Jung, a director with four shorts to his credit, and distribbed by NEW. The latter pic has made $36 millon so far.

Finding newcomers and backing have been deliberate strategies by NEW, which this year ranks as the country's No. 2 distributor, behind traditional market leader CJ, and ahead of the combined might of Disney and Sony.

"NEW has contributed a lot," says Suh Young-joo, head of sales agency Finecut, and who has represented many NEW titles overseas. "Eighty percent of their fi lms are by fi rst-time directors. They are also good at script analysis. They want to work with budgets of $3 million-$4 million, even for new directors."

The success of NEW has been significant in another way too. For many years Korean cinema has been dogged by worries that two or three vertically integrated groups — CJ, Lotte and Megabox — backed by even larger chaebols (Korean-style conglomerates) have dominated the exhibition and distribution scenes.

But NEW has managed to crack the so-called monopoly, with three films so far in the Korean top 10.

"We have strong distribution companies with enormous cinema chains behind them. But this year NEW has been very successful without a cinema chain," says Nam Dong-chul, Korean film programmer for the Busan festival. Nam notes that independent producers and big distrib/exhib companies are working together and achieving B.O. success.

Nevertheless, some are still wary of the big players.

"I'm worried by the number of screens available to arthouse and independent directors," says Lee Tae-hun of Opus Pictures, one of the producers of "Snowpiercer," which was distributed by CJ and has racked up some $62 million in grosses. "The independents are not challenging the hierarchy. Rather the Korean studios are choosing to cooperate with the slaves. Just like Hollywood, they are always looking for new blood. They are not adopting the indie spirit, they are just buying it. I'm worried by that too."

And the Korean films are thrilling local auds only.

"The big overseas markets have shrunk. The Japanese market is again down after the 2010 natural disaster," says Finecut's Suh.

Perhaps the burgeoning indie scene will make monopolies a thing of the past and boost global interest again.

Thank you Hollywood Reporter

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AFM: Indie Hits Fuel Optimism as 2013 Market Kicks Off...

The American Film Market kicks off Wednesday with a kind of cautious bullishness, following the relatively robust business at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival in September.

With 402 films scheduled to screen — including 321 market premieres and 75 world premieres — more than 8,000 buyers and industry professionals are expected to attend, including some 100 distributors, producers and executives repping more than 50 companies from the hot Chinese market.

With "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" opening in two weeks and successes from indie-financed titles like "2 Guns," "Lee Daniels' The Butler," "Now You See Me," "Insidious Chapter 2" and "Olympus Has Fallen," AFM, which runs until Nov. 13, sees more ambitious slates from the indies at the beach mart.

The less-than-dazzling returns of indie-financed films such as "The Fifth Estate" and "The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones" has not deterred financiers from coming on board bigger budget projects.

In a move that underscored the growing clout of the independent sector, QED Intl. and Worldview Entertainment announced Nov. 1 that they would finance and produce the crime thriller "Term Life" — a few weeks after Universal Pictures had backed away from the project. Universal will simply handle U.S. distribution for the Vince Vaughn and Hailee Steinfeld starrer. QED will introduce the film at AFM to international buyers, joining a slate that includes Takashi Miike's Tom Hardy topliner "The Outsider," which is being produced and financed with Worldview; World War II actioner "Fury," starring Brad Pitt, and "Sabotage," starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, which are both directed by David Ayer; and Barry Levinson's "Rock the Kasbah," starring Bill Murray.

"It is our goal to identify high-caliber star-driven films," said John Friedberg, QED's exec VP of international sales. "We think that buyers are coming to AFM with money to spend. We're seeing new buyers in the U.K., China and Latin America. There's even been an upswing in Italy."

Marc Damon of Foresight Unlimited is similarly bullish, following a solid performance by "2 Guns" with $130 million worldwide. Budget was $85 million.

"With something like `2 Guns,' you do generate momentum," Damon said. "And it's helpful that we oversee the campaign so I have 36 different territories on my desk right now."

Last week, Foresight disclosed that it was in talks to bring on Spike Lee to direct Justin Timberlake starrer "Spinning Gold," a biopic about record exec Neil Bogart. It is set to update international buyers at AFM after beginning sales at Cannes.

Foresight Unlimited is one of a growing number of financing-sales-production entities that have emerged during the past decade. the hyper-competitive list includes QED, Worldview, Studiocanal, Voltage, Mister Smith, IM Global, Sierra/Affinity, FilmNation, Exclusive Media, the Solution Entertainment Group, Radiant and Hyde Park.

"We go over 100 to 150 projects a month," Damon said. "We fund development, pre-production, bank loans, oversee production and find the right U.S. distribution. The most difficult part of this is pulling all the pieces together."

That sentiment is echoed by Lisa Wilson at the Solution, now at its second AFM with "The Forger," "How to Make Love Like an Englishman" and a pair of Pierce Brosnan projects — potential franchise starter "November Man" and corporate thriller "The I.T. Man."

"I think we saw fewer packages over the summer," she said. "Buyers don't want to spend the time to read scripts if they're not part of a package. When something like `The Butler' does well, it gives people renewed faith."

Jere Hausfater of Aldamisa Intl., which is screening action thriller "Red Sky," starring Cam Gigandet and Rachael Leigh Cook, said buyers are much more discerning today.

"If you hit the bull's-eye, you can do very well," according to Hausfater. "The problem is that the bull's-eye keeps getting smaller."

Jonathan Wolf, AFM's managing director admits that he's bullish this year.

"One of our key measuring tools is how many participants — bankers, lawyers — are general attendees and that is up 15% this year," Wolf said. "We had 400 in 1998 and we are going to have 2,500 this year. This is a trade show so we have been building programs — just the same way that Disneyland keeps building rides."

The AFM started its conference program three years ago and it's launching a producers forum this year with anticipated attendance at about 300 for 16 sessions Saturday through Tuesday.

Thank you Variety

Hollywood market research evolves to reflect tech-savvy moviegoers...

In an age when the text and the tweet can destroy a movie an hour after it opens, Hollywood market research firms are scrambling to rethink the way they help movie studios promote their films.

That has created new challenges for companies such as Capstone Global Marketing and Research Inc. in Sherman Oaks, which must adapt their testing methods to the changing habits of the tech-savvy moviegoer.

"None of us knows the answers," said veteran marketing strategist and researcher Catherine Paura, Capstone's co-founder. "And when you think about the rapidity of technical change between 1990 and now, who knows what is going to happen in the next 30 years?"

Paura, 62, and her late business partner, Joe Farrell, founded Hollywood powerhouse National Research Group 35 years ago. Paura and Farrell, who died in 2011, sold the firm in 1987 but ran it until 2003.

Such market research companies typically used phone calls, door-to-door surveys and post-screening evaluation cards to help movie studios determine how to tweak their movies and promotional materials to ensure the best possible box-office results.

But in the decade since Paura left NRG, Facebook, Twitter and the iPhone have rapidly changed the way consumers communicate, making word-of-mouth a key factor in determining weekend box-office sales and diminishing the value of traditional research techniques.

"It's a moving target," agreed former Walt Disney Studios Chairman Dick Cook, who knows Paura's work well. He calls the business of movie research "compelling and crazy."

Paura and her sister, Angela, launched Capstone a year ago to provide worldwide market analysis to such clients as Warner Bros., Sony Pictures, DreamWorks Studios and Relativity Media.

Capstone's surveys are partly designed to examine alternate entertainment choices, including video games and online streaming, Paura said. Questions no longer ask simply whether a person will see a movie, she said, but what actor makes them less likely to buy a ticket or how the previews make them feel.

Among Capstone's initiatives is a market research study called "Moviegoers in Theaters."

Last fall, Capstone sent researchers into eight cinemas across the country to talk directly to filmgoers, something that's almost never done. Pollsters asked more than 10,000 audience members a few demographic questions, then asked them to complete an in-depth online survey.

More than 1,200 people responded — a larger sample size than most market researchers typically use.

The age makeup of those surveyed skewed older than it would have 20 or 30 years ago, Paura said. Industry surveys increasingly focus on the oldest quadrant of moviegoers.

Baby boomers are still going to the movies, shifting what for decades has been a youth-dominated business. When NRG started, the company didn't sample moviegoers older than 49. Now, research includes up to those in their mid-60s.

"You can have a big hit and not find one teenager in the audience," Paura said. "That didn't used to be the case." Old and young audiences now go to the movies with roughly the same frequency. Baby boomers, she said, never got out of the habit of going to the movies.

Studios are working harder to create movies that appeal to everyone. For the films that don't, they believe it's best to aim campaigns at specific age groups.

DreamWorks Chief Executive Stacey Snider has begun looking at data that create hypothetical profiles for a targeted audience member, including education, income levels and where someone shops.

"A movie today has to matter to somebody," said Snider, who has worked with Paura for nearly 20 years.

Thank you Los Angeles Times

Nearly 40 films sold at Toronto...

Nearly 40 films sold at Toronto
Robust tally, announced day before fest ends, includes 29 sales to U.S. distribs

Nearly 40 films have been sold at the Toronto International Film Festival, including 29 to U.S. distributors.
The festival made the announcement Saturday, the day before the event closes.

"We're pleased that the Festival continues to provide opportunities for buyers to see films in a strong environment which facilitates film sales," said Justin Cutler, senior manager of TIFF's sales and industry office. "It had been a particularly robust year for sales and we're happy that the Festival's official selection will reach film lovers across the world."

Focus Features' acquisition of cop thriller "The Place Beyond the Pines" on Sept. 8 has been the largest deal so far at an estimated $3 million for U.S. distribution rights. That deal appeared to lead to other acquisitions closing in the subsequent week.

Lionsgate and its partner Roadside Attractions have been the biggest buyers, snapping up U.S. right to historical drama "Emperor" on Friday night to go along with four other acquistions -- Sarah Polley's doc ''Stories We Tell,'' Joss Whedon's ''Much Ado About Nothing,'' Stuart Blumberg's ''Thanks for Sharing,'' and Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman's ''Imogene.''

IFC picked up a quartet of projects -- Neil Jordan's vampire thriller "Byzantium," Mira Nair's "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" and Noah Baumbach's "Frances Ha" and Jamie Babbit's thriller "Breaking the Girls."

Millennium Entertainment acquired U.S. rights on two high-profile films: Josh Boone's comedy-drama "Writers" and Julianne Moore-Alexander Skarsgard starrer "What Maisie Knew." Buyers for significant titles have included Anchor Bay ("Jayne Mansfield's Car"), newly launched Outsource Media Group ("Great Expectations") and 108 Media/Paladin ("The We and I").

HBO Films also snapped up the U.S. television rights on a pair of feature docs -- Liz Garbus' Marilyn Monroe vehicle "Love, Marilyn," beating out bids from Sony Pictures Classics, IFC Films and Magnolia Pictures; and Tom Donahue's casting directors project "Casting By."

Late acquistions closing Friday included Samuel Goldwyn Films' buying Michael McGowan's romancer "Still," starring James Cromwell and Genevieve Bujold; Magnolia Pictures' snagging North American rights to Ramaa Mosley's fantasy-satire "The Brass Teapot"; and Cinedigm buying horror project "Come Out and Play."

Strand, which specializes in foreign titles, bought three films for U.S. distribution -- Pablo Trapero's "White Elephant," "In the Fog" and the "Paradise" trilogy.

Tribeca Films acquired "How to Make Money Selling Drugs" and "Fitzgerald Family Christmas," and MPI Pictures bought U.S. rights to "Therese Desqueyroux," the final film of French director Claude Miller and the closing night film at Cannes this year.

Two days before Toronto started, one of the more intriguing purchases went through, when Annapurna Pictures bought the U.S. distribution rights to Harmony Korine's "Spring Breakers," starring James Franco - even though Annapurna does not yet have a distribution arm.

Some of the unsold titles include Terrence Malick's "To the Wonder," Rola Nashef's "Detroit Unleaded," Deepa Mehta's "Midnight's Children," Sally Potter's "Ginger & Rosa" and Ariel Vromen's "The Iceman."

The festival accredited 4,280 industry delegates, up 9% growth over 2011 and representing 2,563 companies from 81 countries (up from 77 in 2011). TIFF said attendance from Asia increased by 40% from Japan, China, India and South Korea.

"With the Festival's inaugural Asian Film Summit and Mumbai as the focus of the City to City programme, our goal was to attract more interest from delegates in Asia this year and we're very happy with the results," said TIFF artistic director Cameron Bailey.

Sales to international markets included "7 Boxes," "Come Out and Play," "The Deep," "The Deflowering of Eva Van End," "The Fifth Season," "A Hijacking," "Lore," "Out of the Dark," "Reality," "Something in the Air" and "Stories We Tell."

Thank you Hollywood Reporter

Toronto 2012: Robust U.S. Film Sales Reported as Fest Draws to a Close...

TIFF organizers point to 29 indie titles finding U.S. distribution this year as acquisition titles like "Place Beyond the Pines," "Imogene" and "What Maisie Knew" secured buyers.

High-profile deals during the Toronto International Film Festival had organizers on Saturday touting a robust film market this year.

In all, TIFF reported that 29 of its film titles sold into the U.S. market.
That included The Place Beyond the Pines selling to Focus Features, Millenium Entertainment grabbing Writers and Julianne Moore's What Maisie Knew, and Samuel Goldwyn taking the James Cromwell-starrer Still.

STORY: Toronto 2012: THR Celebrates Film at Cocktail Party

Also selling at Toronto's unofficial film market is Thanks for Sharing, Imogene, the historical epic Emperor and Much Ado About Nothing going to Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions, Dangerous Liaisons landing with Well Go U.S.A., Roadside Attractions taking Stories We Tell for itself, and The End of Time going to First Run Features.

Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers, which bowed in Venice before screening in Toronto, went to Annapurna, and IFC Films busily picked up Neil Jordan's vampire pic Byzantium, Something in the Air and Mira Nair's The Reluctant Fundamentalist for North America.

Other Toronto titles nabbing U.S. distribution included the North American rights to The Brass Teapot going to Magnolia, Magnet taking John Dies at the End, and Love, Marilyn going to HBO Doc Films.
PHOTOS: Toronto 2012: Inside THR's Video Diary Featuring the Festival's Leading Talent
In all, 40 TIFF titles this year sold internationally, and more agreements are expected in the lead-up to AFM, as Toronto fest organizers touted the gains of its film market over the last nine days leading up to Sunday, when the festival wraps its 37th edition.

"It's been a particularly robust year for sales and we're happy that the festival's official selection will reach film lovers across the world," Justin Cutler, senior manager of TIFF's sales and industry office, reported Saturday.

Toronto will next hand out its audience and jury awards on Sunday afternoon.

Thank you Hollywood Reporter

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Argentine Gov't Boosts Film Sector to Industry Standards...

President Kirchner announced the creation of an Audiovisual Pole in Buenos Aires and raised the fund limit for local productions.

BUENOS AIRES – Argentine President Cristina Kirchner signed yesterday a series of decrees that categorizes the audiovisual sector as a "cultural industry", an old demand from the film sector which can now benefit from industry legislation and tax regulations.

Taviani Brothers To be Presented With 2012 Nastro d'Argento Prize

"Audiovisual contents must be regarded as one of the country's main industries, because they also transmit Argentine culture and values", said Kirchner in her speech at the Bicentennial Museum in Buenos Aires. "We pass on culture, ideals, and values through our artists, directors, and film crews".
Kirchner, who pointed out Argentina is "the fourth largest exporter of audiovisual contents and formats in the world," also announced the creation of a hub for audiovisual development in Demarchi Island, a vacant 400,000 sq ft industrial borough located by the shore of the Rio de la Plata in Buenos Aires. The initial plan contemplates a 5 million pesos ($1.08 million) investment and a tender to have urban developers rebuilding the area, in order to enable the relocation of studios, sound stages, production companies, film training institutions, and theaters.

According to the President, the ANSES (Social Security Administration Agency) will be in charge of managing the process. The public tender will be put out in 30 days, and the development of the "Audiovisual Pole" will be carried out by a mixed venture between ANSES, the Secretary of Communications, and private real estate capitals.

The second decree signed by Kirchner raises the limit of state funding to local big-budget productions from 3.5 to 5.5 million pesos (USD 1.2 M), a move that aims to "ensure that Argentine film productions are able to compete in the local market and project themselves abroad". The funds are aimed to films selected by Argentina's Film Institute that have a theatrical commercial release.

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Thank you Hollywood Reporter

Toronto 2012: FilmDistrict's Peter Schlessel on the Fest -- 'It's My Favorite Ac

The movie vet talks to THR about nabbing "Looper," leaving Sony and the future for upstart film labels.

This story first appeared in the Sept. 14 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.

Known in the film world as a sharp and savvy consigliere, Peter Schlessel spent 21 years at Sony -- including a stint as president of Columbia Pictures -- before leaving in 2010 to launch FilmDistrict, the domestic distribution company backed by financier-producer Graham King and oil billionaire Tim Headington. Schlessel, who discovered and acquired rights to a string of hits including District 9 while at Sony, continued his winning streak with the low-budget horror pic Insidious, the inspirational Soul Surfer and the Ryan Gosling vehicle Drive. But FilmDistrict hit a speed bump in fall 2011, when experienced execs Bob and Jeanne Berney exited. In an Aug. 27 interview in his Santa Monica office -- bursting with sports, movie and music memorabilia, along with pictures of daughters Stevie, 18, and Sammy, 16 -- the energetic executive discussed how the company has bounced back, growing from a staff of seven to more than 40, including newly installed marketing president Christine Birch. A key milestone for FilmDistrict comes Sept. 6 when Looper, a sci-fi thriller starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis, opens the Toronto International Film Festival.

The Hollywood Reporter: How did you acquire distribution rights to Looper, which you are releasing with TriStar/Sony?

Peter Schlessel: I'd started chasing the script during the early days of FilmDistrict. I love sci-fi movies, and this one had so many layers and the story had such great characters, but what really sold it was meeting with [director] Rian Johnson (Brick) and hearing his vision. I told Jim Stern, a friend who produced and financed the movie through his Endgame Entertainment, that he had to sell me this movie, and I slipped the script to Marc Weinstock [Sony's president of worldwide marketing].

THR: How important has Toronto become in terms of launching a fall film?

Schlessel: It's more important than both Telluride and Venice in terms of the North American market. That's not to take away from either, but more people pay attention to what happens in Toronto, both for awards movies and for films opening in September and October. Look at what happened last year with The Descendants. The drumbeat started at Toronto.

THR: Will you bid on any movies during the festival?

Schlessel: We have no space the rest of this year, but we have room next year. Toronto is my favorite acquisitions market for different reasons. It has bigger available movies -- our focus. We found Insidious there in 2010, when it played in the Midnight Madness section. We made our offer at 2 a.m. after the screening and closed the deal at 4:30 a.m.

THR: What does the near future look like for companies like yours as the major studios cut back on the number of films they make?

Schlessel: I don't know if studios have ceded any ground, but clearly they are concentrating on bigger tentpoles. It was clear to me watching what was happening in the marketplace that theater owners wanted more movies. And with all the new equity money coming into Hollywood, I realized you could run a smart business and figure out how to get these movies to the marketplace in a cost-effective way.

STORY: Toronto 2012: The A-List With Films For Sale

THR: Why did you decide to pick up MGM's Red Dawn remake after many of your competitors passed?

Schlessel: I wrote a memo to myself two years ago after I saw an early version saying the movie was good but the cast wasn't known. Then I saw the movie six or seven months later, and all of a sudden the cast was great, between Chris Hemsworth of Thor and Josh Hutcherson of The Hunger Games. It was like buying a good bottle of cabernet and letting it sit on the shelf.
THR: Will there be some heat because MGM changed the villains from the Chinese to the North Koreans?

Schlessel: No, but I think people will talk about it. It's a villain who people won't disagree is a villain.
THR: Why did you decide to leave the protection of a Hollywood studio for a more risky upstart?
Schlessel: I didn't look at it that way. It was time to take the next step. There wasn't room to create my own label, and my personal satisfaction had plateaued. I thought long and hard and had a lot of dinners with Amy [Pascal]. If ever I was going to leave, this was the time. To stay would have felt like a capitulation.

STORY: Toronto 2012: The New Hotspots In Town

IN THE OFFICE

While still heading Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions, the exec snapped up U.S. rights to District 9, a tiny South African film that went on to gross north of $115 million in North America, one of the most profitable movies of 2009.

The piece hanging behind Schlessel's desk in his Santa Monica office is from pop illustrator Burton Morris, who designed the poster for the 76th annual Academy Awards.

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More info: www.hollywoodreporter.com
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How to Shoot a Project in Canada...

THR's city-by-city guide to Hollywood's neighbor to the north, from Vancouver to Hamilton, Ontario.
Toronto 2012: Canada's Alliance Films Launches Online Portal for Festival Launch Titles
Toronto 2012: Where to Shop If You're in a Clothing Jam
Toronto 2012: The A-List With Films for Sale

Toronto 2012: FilmDistrict's Peter Schlessel on the Fest -- 'It's My Favorite Acquisitions Market'
As it doubles for New York, Moscow and elsewhere, Hollywood's neighbor to the north plays host to Twilight and scads of TV series.

VANCOUVER

Recent Shoots: The CW's Supernatural and its upcoming Arrow, the TNT sci-fi drama Falling Skies, Fox's Fringe and the ABC fantasy series Once Upon a Time.
PHOTOS: Toronto Film Fest's Top Ten Fashion Statements
British Columbia has, for well more than a generation, served as Hollywood's backlot for its varied locations, from arid deserts and cattle ranches to rural ghost towns and glittering skyscrapers. Multicultural Vancouver has doubled for Moscow, Los Angeles, Shanghai and London. While the city offers a range of diverse settings, popular shooting locations include Chinatown, the University of British Columbia and Stanley Park.

That, plus local tax incentives, saw The CW shoot five of its eight pilots for the 2012-13 season in Vancouver, including Arrow, Cult and First Cut.
Shooting in the city also offers proximity to the coastal beaches and rainforests of Vancouver Island. In recent years, the island has played host to shoots for The Big Year, with Owen Wilson and Jack Black, and The Twilight Saga: New Moon.

In addition to a developed film and TV production infrastructure, backed by about 30 soundstages, Vancouver has a growing digital animation and visual effects industry, complete with dedicated tax credits and a talent pool. That makes British Columbia a top production center for the major Hollywood studios, one that rivals Los Angeles and New York. Says Tim Iacofano, producer on the upcoming ABC drama Red Widow: "Vancouver is a short flight and in the same time zone as Los Angeles. If need be, you can have people on the first flight out of Los Angeles and have them working in the afternoon."

Toronto 2012: Canada's Alliance Films Launches Online Portal for Festival Launch Titles

MONTREAL

Recent Shoots: ABC Studios' Zero Hour pilot, Relativity Media's Mirror Mirror and the Bradley Cooper starrer The Words.
Source Code producer Hawk Koch recalls how shooting the psychological thriller in Montreal was made easier because much of the film takes place inside a relocated Chicago commuter train. That meant the Jake Gyllenhaal starrer could be produced on a soundstage at Mel's Cite du Cinema complex, with cost savings to boot. Before choosing the Canadian city, Koch and his team scouted Pennsylvania, New York and Atlanta. So why Montreal? In part because of Quebec's generous 25 percent all-spend tax credit. Says Koch, the new president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, "We went there because the movie took place 90 percent in a train and we needed a stage and, from a monetary standpoint, it made the most sense."
Foreign location shooting helps fuel annual production volume of about $800 million in Montreal, most of it coming from French-language film and TV projects. So the local crews and acting talent are busy, experienced and speak fluent English. In addition to its greenscreen soundstages, Montreal has a historical old quarter, providing a wide range of settings for modern or period shoots on locations that can appear North American or European. The city also has more than 40 visual effects companies, making it the world's seventh-largest postproduction hub.

Toronto 2012: Where to Shop If You're in a Clothing Jam

TORONTO

Recent Shoots: Silent Hill: Revelation 3D, the RoboCop reboot, the Jake Gyllenhaal starrer An Enemy and the Stephen King novel adaptation Carrie.

Genre auteur Guillermo del Toro didn't just shoot his sci-fi epic Pacific Rim on a few of the stages at Pinewood Toronto Studios. The creature feature was shot on all seven stages of the megastudio, with one stage divided into two to create yet more space for del Toro to move his cameras. The shoot follows a busy year for Canada's largest production center as it continues to entice L.A. producers with a potential 54 percent of labor expenditure savings, thanks to traditional and digital tax credits and the federal government's 16 percent tax credit. Toronto also has a slew of studio facilities and a vast supply of technical and creative talent, and it routinely doubles for New York, Boston, Washington and Chicago while offering an array of services to help calm anxious filmmakers. Says Pacific Rim executive producer Callum Greene, "It's not just a tax break that steers a film of this size into port -- it's also the needed security of knowing we'll be taken care of at a higher level wherever we land."

HALIFAX

Recent Shoots: The William Shatner TV show Weird or What?, the Jason Buxton debut feature Blackbird and the third season of stand-up series The Candy Show.
Tom Selleck should qualify for a Canadian passport by now. The actor was recently in Nova Scotia to shoot Jesse Stone: Benefit of the Doubt for CBS, the eighth in the series of TV movies shooting there since 2004 that has the Atlantic province double as Massachusetts. There's strong local government support for foreign location shooting, with Nova Scotia offering some of Canada's most generous tax incentives. The province also offers a regional and frequent filming bonus to entice returning shoots like Jesse Stone. Nova Scotia boasts varied locations, from urban streets in Halifax to historic villages and scenic coastal towns like Lunenburg.

Says producer Mark Montefiore, who shot Picnicface, a series for Canada's The Comedy Network, in Halifax, "It's one of the only places in Canada where you get invited over to dinner by the crew after you wrap."

Toronto 2012: The A-List With Films for Sale

HAMILTON

Recent Shoots: The Universal sci-fi series Rewind, Resident Evil: Retribution and Lifetime telefilm The Cold Spring.
When Anthony Zuiker, the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation creator, teamed with Yahoo to make the online thriller Cybergeddon, a 90-minute scripted drama, he didn't follow the herd and shoot in Toronto. Instead, he took his crew and talent an hour south to Hamilton, Ontario, to tap a 10 percent regional tax-credit bonus. Other advantages include skilled technical and creative talent, readily available soundstages and equipment, diverse locations and a local film commission to help at every turn.

Says Zuiker, "We're still stretching every dollar we can to make the best content possible, but that's all part of the fun."

BY THE NUMBERS

16% of tax credits that can be combined with the Quebec film and TV tax credit.
10% of the regional tax-credit bonus offered by Hamilton.

Toronto 2012: FilmDistrict's Peter Schlessel on the Fest -- 'It's My Favorite Acquisitions Market'

SHOOTING NORTH OF THE BORDER:

Canada is so competitive that even the major urban centers vie with one another for location shoots. Here's what each specializes in.
Montreal: European Settings
Old Montreal has period buildings and cobblestone streets dating to the 17th century. The Words, starring Bradley Cooper and Olivia Wilde, saw the city pass for Paris and New York.
Halifax: New England
The city's marine setting on the Atlantic makes it ripe to double for New England, as on the Syfy drama Haven and in the Angela Bassett starrer Jumping the Broom, in which Halifax stood in for Martha's Vineyard.

Toronto: Visual Effects

As Canada's top visual effects hub, the city lures Hollywood to bring FX-heavy movies such as Still Seas and Total Recall to take advantage of tax credits that can chop off 60 percent of a project's budget.
Hamilton: Working-Class Grit
They don't call it "Steeltown" for nothing. The 2005 action film Four Brothers used the Stelco and Dofasco steel mills as a backdrop, and Ron Howard's Cinderella Man shot a dockside scene at Hamilton Harbour.

Vancouver: Big-Budget Shoots
With about 30 soundstages, the city routinely hosts tentpoles such as Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol, Man of Steel and Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Thank you Hollywood Reporter

New coin boosts African filmmakers

New coin boosts African filmmakers
Sub-Saharan region still lags in growth of film industry
By CHRISTOPHER VOURLIAS

"Soul Boy," from Tom Tykwer's Nairobi-based One Fine Day Films, was a hit at international film festivals, including Berlin.

S. Africa pic biz looks for solid ground

Despite producing such auteurs as Ousmane Sembene, Souleymane Cisse and Djibril Diop Mambety, the slow growth of film in sub-Saharan Africa is largely a story of unrealized potential.

While film industries have blossomed in developing nations from Southeast Asia to Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa lags far behind the rest of the world. Apart from an emerging biz in South Africa, African countries are struggling to develop sustainable industries, with just a handful finding modest success with the low-cost, straight-to-DVD model pioneered by Nigeria.

Yet African filmmakers today have more access to funding than ever before, and a host of initiatives are spurring a quiet revolution that, in the next few years, will herald the arrival of a generation of new voices telling a continent's untold stories.

Global film funds like the Berlinale's World Cinema Fund, Rotterdam's Hubert Bals Fund, the French-funded World Cinema Support and the Global Film Initiative continue to provide vital financial support to filmmakers in Africa and across the developing world. A growing number of satellite festivals -- and Africa programs at established fests -- are pushing emerging talent into the global eye.

Combined with a host of smaller initiatives targeting the support of local businesses, these developments are giving filmmakers the skills and knowledge to connect to established industries, says Matthijs Wouter Knol, of the Berlinale's Talent Campus, which for the past five years has run a pan-African campus in collaboration with the Durban Film Festival. On a continent where formal film schools are lacking, such programs are often the first chance aspiring filmmakers get to learn about the mechanisms of international financing and distribution.

The benefits are also more tangible. Participants in Focus Features' buzz-generating Africa First program get U.S. distribution, which helps bring exposure to a film that might otherwise not have gotten it, says Completion Films prexy Kisha Cameron-Dingle, who runs the program.

At this year's Durban fest, French TV network Canal France Intl. introduced an initiative called Haraka! that will award €10,000 ($12,293) to 12 African filmmakers to produce short films, which Canal will distribute across its platforms in Africa and Europe.

The broader impact on local film industries in Africa is hard to quantify. Rotterdam's Janneke Langelaan says that part of the Hubert Bals Fund's success lies in the possibilities it creates for aspiring filmmakers. "(It sets) into motion an awareness that this is the sort of film that they can do," he says.

Berlin's Knol notes that most of the program's graduates not only work with and develop local talent when they return to their countries, but transfer vital knowledge and creative energy to their peers.

"They're sort of the epicenter of a lot of things happening around them," Knol says.

Deeper engagement has been happening on a smaller scale. In the past few years, East Africa has become a hub of up-and-coming talent, thanks to collaborations between local industries and foreign filmmakers.

Indian helmer Mira Nair's Maisha Film Lab in Kampala has brought a wave of emerging talents to the Ugandan capital. Tom Tykwer's Nairobi-based One Fine Day Films draws participants from more than a dozen countries for its annual workshops, which result in collaboration on a feature film. The group's first pic, "Soul Boy," has screened at several big festivals around the world, including Berlin, Edinburgh and Palm Springs, since its release last year; their sophomore effort, "Nairobi Half Life," by Kenyan helmer Tosh Gitonga, was one of the most talked-about films at this year's Durban Film Fest.

In Rwanda, American helmer Lee Isaac Chung's shingle, Almond Tree Rwanda, has helped put that small country on the map, with a number of promising shorts screening in fests like Tribeca and Rotterdam. Encouraged by Chung's support, the Almond Tree team has gone on to offer its own training and mentoring programs, enabling an energetic production base to grow around them.

Where small, homegrown industries exist, these programs can act as a catalyst. In the words of Cameron-Dingle, "We can't stimulate something that doesn't already exist in some form."

Perhaps most importantly, a generation of young filmmakers is emerging across Africa with a global vision that reflects the realities of life on the continent today. Rapid urbanization, the continent-wide penetration of Web-enabled mobile phones, and the ubiquity of satellite TV in middle-class African homes means that a young filmmaker in Nairobi might feel a stronger creative kinship to his peers in Mexico City, Sao Paolo or Jakarta than to a cousin in rural Kenya -- or to the so-called "calabash cinema" of past African greats.

Knol says that the young helmers he meets at the Talent Campus are asking the same questions as their American and European counterparts about crowdfunding, VOD platforms and cheaper, more nimble technologies.

Thank you Variety

More info: www.variety.com
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Movie ticket prices reach new high in U.S. and Canada...

By Richard Verrier

If you thought going to the movie theater was more expensive this year, you weren't imagining it.

Average ticket prices in the U.S. and Canada climbed to an all time high in the second quarter, reaching $8.12, up from $7.92 in the first quarter and $8.06 in the second quarter of 2011, according the National Assn. of Theatre Owners.

That average might seem remarkably low to moviegoers in L.A., where ticket prices are well above $10, but the trade group's analysis is based on a survey of theaters nationwide and also includes lower-cost matinee tickets and tickets discounted for seniors and students.

The spike in ticket prices reflected the surge in premium-priced 3-D and Imax ticket sales from such movies as "The Avengers," "Men in Black 3" and "Brave."

"We had just some big 3-D pictures and a lot of people attended them,'' said Patrick Corcoran, spokesman for the trade association.

Still, average ticket prices rose during a quarter when box office revenue dropped 1.2%, to $2.8 billion, while theater admissions dropped 2% to $351.1 million. Year to date, box office revenue is up 5%; admissions have increased 4%.

Thank you Los Angeles Times

More info: www.latimes.com
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Toronto 2012: Festival Director Piers Handling Expects Strong Film Market...

Hot TIFF titles for U.S. buyers include the latest works by Robert Redford, Brian De Palma, Terrence Malick, Harmony Korine, Derek Cianfrance and Liz Garbus.

TORONTO - After lengthening its red carpets to help star-driven titles debut to foreign buyers, Toronto International Film Festival organizers are pumping up the volume on their unofficial market.

Toronto 2012: Sarah Polley and Brandon Cronenberg Films Added to Lineup

TIFF 2012: Paul Thomas Anderson's 'The Master' to Play Toronto Fest

"I don't think it's just going to be OK. I think it's going to be a very strong year," TIFF director Piers Handling told The Hollywood Reporter about the slew of sales companies headed to Toronto to close deals with key distributors from around the globe.

Robert Redford's The Company You Keep and Brian De Palma's Passion will both arrive in Toronto for a North American debut without U.S. distribution, and, as things stand today, so too will Derek Cianfrance's The Place Beyond The Pines and Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers.

STORY: Julian Assange Telepic 'Underground' Confirmed for TIFF Premiere

Despite a flat economy, Handling expects an exceptional year for film sales in Toronto, which is well on its way to recovering from the deep market trough experienced in 2008-09.
"There's no question the industry has become more healthy. It certainly went into a deep drought and I don't think it has come back out entirely," Handling said.

As in past years, TIFF programmers are front-end loading the festival with sales titles, many of which are star-driven to boost buyer appeal.

These include: What Maisie Knew, by directors Scott McGhee and David Siegel; Shola Lynch's Free Angela and All Political Prisoners; Liz Garbus' Love, Marilyn, To the Wonder, by Terrence Malick; and Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing.

Handling insisted mid-range indie titles with budgets of between $20 million to $40 million, the range in which most international filmmakers screening in Toronto work, remain the most challenged in finding buyers.

"They're not working with the big budgets, the tentpole summer films. And they're not making the low-budget $10-million-dollar pictures. They've done that, been there, seen it. So they're in the mid-range," Handling said of mid-budget indie filmmakers.

Other hot films for U.S. buyers include Mira Nair's The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Deepa Mehta's Midnight's Children, Sally Potter's Ginger and Rosa, Mike Newell's Great Expectations and Thanks for Sharing, by Stuart Blumberg.

U.S. distributors will also have their pick of Ramaa Mosley's Brass Teapot, the tennis doc Venus and Serena by Maiken Baird, Kon-Tiki, by directors Joachim Roenning and Espen Sandberg, Chinese director Hur Jin-Ho's Dangerous Liaisons and Ariel Vromen's The Iceman.

Thank you Hollywood Reporter

More info: www.hollywoodreporter.com

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