TIFF: Top sellers say old indie film model is over
The old way of paying for an independent film no longer works.
That was the message from two leading sales agents on Saturday, 12 September, at TIFF: The Market in Toronto, during a session billed as The Global Sales Playbook, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The Hollywood Reporter
Roeg Sutherland, co-head of CAA's media finance department and co-head of its International Film Group, said the era of pre-selling up to 80 percent of a budget is over. Pre-selling means selling distribution rights country by country before a film is finished, to raise production money. That era is over.
Sellers once closed most of a budget at Toronto, Berlin or Cannes. Now they are lucky to pre-sell four or five major territories, Sutherland told the panel, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The Hollywood Reporter
Glen Basner, founder and CEO of FilmNation Entertainment, pointed to packaging. Packaging means assembling the actor, director and other elements used to sell a project. He argued the biggest problem is a too-traditional approach that ties a film's value to a name actor, a director and set elements, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The Hollywood Reporter
A star helps. It does not guarantee. Basner said a big-name actor on a package is welcome but may not be the secret sauce for an independent project. He urged buyers and financiers to take a more holistic approach to building films.
He drew a line between streaming and cinemas. Building movies for streaming companies may work great on streamers, Basner said, but it is not the same as building a theatrical proposition. FilmNation, he said, aims to package films to compel theatre viewing and to keep working across home video, pay TV and free television, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The Hollywood Reporter
Sutherland also addressed exhibitor-led distribution, in which cinema owners release a film directly rather than through a traditional studio or distributor. It worked for the Taylor Swift and Beyonce concert films. It has not yet worked really well with a major movie, he said.
Basner said he is bullish on theatrical box office through the end of 2026 and into next year, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The Hollywood Reporter
What makes this stand out is the setting. TIFF lists Sutherland and Basner as participants in the session, which it describes as a discussion about evolving cinema networks. TIFF For fans, this means the business behind what reaches cinemas is changing, even if the aim described on stage is still a crowded room and a big screen.
