january february2013 newsletter

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© Copyright Business Strategies February 2013 (http://www.moviemoney.com)

No reproductions without permission.

TFE THE FILM ENTREPRENEUR: A Newsletter for Independent Filmmakers and Investors

LOUISE LEVISON, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER

VOL 20 NO. 1 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2013

SUNDANCE 2013: SALES GOOD, BUYERS BUSY

Buyer activity at the 29th

edition of the Sundance Film Festival indicates that the indie film

market is staying strong. Attendees were more interested in seeing films than going to late night

parties. They were there to buy, acquiring 45 films – the second highest number in this century.

While 2011 saw 51 films sold with buyers starting to refill inventories, the total fell to 39 films

in 2012, with the next highest being 30 in 2009.

Nor has that old canard of “too many independent movies being made” seemed to dampen

anyone’s desire to create more. The success of a film like Beasts of the Southern Wild has more

impact on filmmakers than anything from the naysayers. There were 12,146 submissions (429

more than 2012) for the 2013 festival, including 3,033 feature–length films and 8,102 short

films. Of the feature film submissions, 2,070 were from the U.S. and 1,974 were international.

103 feature films at the Festival were world premieres. Those numbers show how slim the

chances are of being accepted to the festival. Having gone to the festival since 1988, I fight

against the idea that you have to know someone to be accepted. Considering the number of slots

for features, it can be that the odds are high. For short films, the odds are astronomical. In

speaking to the difficulty of making these decisions, Sundance Director John Cooper, who has

worked as a programmer there for 23 years, told Variety, “There’s as much pressure, if not more.

We reject films that would have been shown 20 years ago.”

Having attended the festival since 1988 myself, I also should note that the viewpoint of the

programmers tends to change from year to year. Whether or not there is a planned genre theme,

many films will tend to fit into a few categories. New this year was the number of comedies.

Fourteen comedies and comedic dramas played in three of the festival’s most prominent sections

― U.S. Dramatic, Premieres and Park City at Midnight. Compare that number to the five

comedic movies in those divisions in 2010. Really exciting to me is that eight of the sixteen

competition films were directed by women. Director of Programming Trevor Groth said that

they did not plan it. The 50/50 split was not noticed until after all the films had been accepted.

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SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL SALES – 2013

FILMS ACQUIRED DECEMBER. 6TH

TO JANUARY 16TH

FILM DISTRIBUTOR TERRITORY Estimated

Purchase

Price

(Dollars)

After Tiller Ro*Co Films International n/a

American Promise Ro*Co Films International n/a

Future, The Visit Films International n/a

Halley Visit Films International n/a

Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete,

The

Aldamisa International International n/a

It Felt Like Love Visit Films International n/a

jOBS* Open Road –service deal Five Star

10M*

Metro Manila Haut et Court France n/a

Peach Fuzz Blumhouse Productions World n/a, partner

on film

Sound City Gravitas Ventures International VOD

Teacher, A Visit Films International n/a

*Open Road, which is owned by theater chains AMC and Regal, is joining with the producer Five Star

Feature Films to release the movie in April. Five Star will pick up the costs of marketing, estimated to be

around $10 million.

FILMS ACQUIRED JANUARY 17th

to JANUARY 26th

FILM DISTRIBUTOR TERRITORY Estimated

Purchase

Price

(Dollars)

99% -The Occupy Wall St.

Collaborative Film

Participant (theatrical &

Participant’s TV network)

U.S. n/a

Ain’t Them Bodies Saints IFC Films U.S. 1M+

Austenland Sony Pictures Classics &

Sony Pictures

Acquisitions Worldwide

World 4M+

Before Midnight Sony Pictures Classics North America, UK n/a

Blackfish Magnolia & CNN Films U.S. 1M+

Computer Chess AMC/Sundance Channel Linear and on-demand n/a

Concession Radius-TWC

Content

North America

International

n/a

Cutie and the Boxer Radius-TWC North America, France

King Records

n/a

Japan

Dirty Wars Sundance Selects North America n/a

Fruitvale The Weinstein Company North America, English-

speaking territories

4M

25M P&A

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Halley AMC/Sundance Channel Linear and on-demand n/a

History of the Eagles: Part 1 Showtime U.S. cable n/a

It Felt Like Love AMC/Sundance Channel Linear and on-demand n/a

I Used to Be Darker Monterey Media

AMC/Sundance Channel

Theatrical, home video

Linear and on-demand

n/a

Inequality for All Radius-TWC North America, UK,

South Africa, Australia

0.75M

Kill Your Darlings Sony Pictures Classics U.S., Australia, New

Zealand, South Africa,

African TV, Eastern

Europe

<2M

Look of Love, The IFC North America n/a

Lovelace Radius-TWC North America n/a

Machine that Makes Everything

Disappear, The

Icarus Films North America n/a

Milkshake Phase 4 U.S. n/a

Morning Anchor Bay North America n/a

Mother of George Oscilloscope North America

Newlyweeds Phase 4 North America n/a

Prince Avalanche Magnolia North America n/a

Pussy Riot-A Punk Prayer HBO Documentary Films U.S. cable 1M+

Rambler, The Anchor Bay North America n/a

Spectacular Now, The A24 North American n/a

Summit, The IFC Selects North America 1M+

S-VHS Magnolia U.S. 1M+

This Is Martin Bonner AMC/Sundance Channel Linear and on-demand n/a

Toy's House CBS Films

QED

Domestic

International

n/a

n/a

Twenty Feet from Stardom

Radius-TWC

Elle Driver

North America

Rest of the World

1M+

n/a

Two Mothers Exclusive Releasing U.S., UK, CIS n/a

Way, Way Back, The Fox Searchlight World 9.75M

We Are What We Are eOne U.S. 1M+

Who Is Dayani Cristal? Mundial U.S. n/a

Notes:

Halley and The Look of Love are each counted once.

Linear services are services that present programs at specific times as part of a program schedule, such as

a conventional over-the-air television service. Non-linear services are services for which the consumer

selects the viewing time, such as video-on-demand

CIS is the Commonwealth of Independent States, which is a loose association of former Soviet Republics

formed during the breakup of the Soviet Union.

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AND THE SUNDANCE PRIZE GOES TO . . .

AWARDS/PRIZES FILM FILMMAKER

U.S. Grand Jury Dramatic Fruitvale Ryan Coogler

U.S. Grand Jury Documentary Blood Brother Steve Hoover

U.S. Dramatic Special Jury for Acting The Spectacular Now Miles Teller

Shailene Woodley

Waldo Salt Screenwriting In A World Lake Bell

U.S. Dramatic Directing Afternoon Delight Jill Soloway

U.S. Documentary Directing Cutie and the Boxer Zachary Heinzerling

U. S. Dramatic Cinematography Ain’t Them Bodies Saints

Mother of George

Bradford Young (both)

U.S. Documentary Cinematography Dirty Wars Richard Rowley

U.S. Special Jury Sound Design Upstream Color Shane Carruth

Johnny Marshall

U.S. Documentary Editing Gideon’s Army Dawn Porter

U.S. Documentary Award/Special

Achievement in Filmmaking

Inequality for All

American Promise

Jacob Kornbluth

Joe Brewster,

Michèle Stephenson

Audience U.S. Dramatic Fruitvale Ryan Coogler

Audience U.S. Documentary Blood Brother Steve Hoover

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Audience Best of NEXT This Is Martin Bonner Chad Hartigan

Audience World Dramatic Metro Manila Sean Ellis

Audience World Documentary The Square Jehane Noujaim

World Jury Dramatic Jiseul Muel O

World Jury Documentary A River Changes Course Kalyanee Mam

World Directing Dramatic Crystal Fairy Sebastián Silva

World Directing Documentary The Machine Which Makes

Everything Disappear

Tinatin Gurchiani

World Screenwriting Dramatic Wajma (An Afghan Love

Story)

Barmak Akram

World Cinematography Dramatic Lasting Jacek Borcuch

World Cinematography Documentary Who Is Dayani Crystal? Marc Silver

World Dramatic Special Jury Circles Srdan Golubovic

World Documentary Special Jury for

Punk Spirit

Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer Mike Lerner

Maxim Pozdorovkin

World Documentary Editing The Summit Nick Ryan

Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Computer Chess Andrew Bujalski

Sundance Institute/NHK Spectacled Tiger Kentaro Hagiwara

Audience Shorts (YouTube) Catnip: Egress to Oblivion? Jason Willis

Short Film Grand Jury Prize The Whistle Grzegorz Zariczny

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Short Film Jury U.S. Fiction Whiplash Damien Chazelle

Short Film Jury International Fiction The Date Jenni Toivoniemi

Short Film Jury Non-Fiction Skinningrove Michael Almereyda

Short Film Jury Animation Irish Folk Furniture Tony Donoghue

Short Film Special Jury for Acting Palimpest Joel Naglein

Short Film Special Jury Until the Quiet Comes Kahlil Joseph

◙

COMINGS AND GOINGS

Visual effects studio Rhythm & Hues filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on February 11, 2013.

The BAFTA and Annie Award-winning VES company is the lead on Fox's Life of Pi, the film

that won the Visual Effects Oscar for R+H’s work just hours after disgruntled unpaid former

employees staged a protest outside the Dolby Theatre, where the Oscars were held. In the

meantime, all of R+H’s offices were remaining open and they have obtained commitments for

financing to complete projects in house, according a press statement from President of the Film

Division Lee Berger. “Following the filing, R+H will be seeking to secure financing for future

growth. I believe that we are going to come out of this situation stronger, more efficient, and as

prolific as we are now.” On Feb. 15th

Universal and Fox obtained permission from the bank to

make $17 million in loans to the beleaguered VFX house to complete work on the studios’

R.I.P.D. and Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, respectively. In addition, Legendary was able to

pay $4.9 million to have Seventh Son finished.

Participant Media has formed the Participant PanAmerica film fund and expects to develop

and co-finance 10-12 Spanish-language films a year with Mexico’s Canana, Chile’s Fabula and

Colombia’s Dynamo. The five-year agreement follows Participant Media‘s recent co-financing

of Canana’s Chavez and Fabula’s No, an Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language film.

Participant CEO Jim Berk said the deal will enable the company to expand its reach into the fast

growing Spanish-speaking market and give it access to a talent pool of “fresh and highly creative

filmmakers who are looking to explore important contemporary issues in exciting ways.” The

initiative will be led by Jonathan King, EVP of narrative production for Participant. Canana was

founded in 2005 by Diego Luna, Gael Garcia Bernal and Pablo Cruz.

Producers Nick Taussig and Paul Van Carter are leaving Revolver Entertainment to set up their

own finance and production outfit, Salon Pictures. The new London-based company is backed

http://www.deadline.com/tag/participant-media/

http://www.deadline.com/tag/no/

http://www.deadline.com/tag/diego-luna/

http://www.deadline.com/tag/gael-garcia-bernal/

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by private equity. The aim is to work on films budgeted at $1 million to $10 million that have

international reach. They plan to work with some EIS funding for productions, as well as

accessing public funding and tax rebates in the UK or abroad. The initial slate of projects

includes five films. First up is an untitled cop thriller set in Los Angeles, to be directed by James

Nunn and likely to shoot by the end of 2013, according to Taussig. The other projects will be

readied for shoots in 2014 and beyond.

Indomina Releasing has closed its North American operations. The move comes three years

after parent company The Indomina Group established the branch to acquire and distribute genre

fare for his new company. Still in its library is Sundance 2012 pickup Filly Brown for which the

company has been seeking a third-party to release. The Indomina Group told deadline.com that

it was still planning on sending a team to Berlin and plans to focus on producing original content

out of its Dominican Republic facilities, shifting to feature films with more commercial studio

appeal. ◙

SUNDANCE FINANCING PANEL ADDS PITCH FEST

The popular Sundance Film Festival panel “Financing Your Film: Avoiding Pitfalls from

Development to Distribution” was extended this year to include a pitch competition. The

panelists, including your editor, held a seminar in the morning; then in the afternoon, we

reconvened to hear pitches from various filmmakers. The winning pitch received $1,500

graciously offered by Crowe Horwath, and a second winner received $500.

The day was such a success that the panel and pitch session are coming to the Showbiz Store and

Café in Los Angeles on March 29-30. “Financing Your Film: Avoiding Pitfalls from

Development to Distribution” will take place on Friday, March 29th

from 2 -5 PM. The panelists

will include Louise Levison, President of Business Strategies; Hal “Corky” Kessler,

Entertainment Attorney, DL&E ; Todd Hein, Senior Manager Federal Tax Unit, Crowe Horwath;

Ronnie Yeskel, Casting Director; Gil Aglaure, Executive Producer & President of Koan

Distribution; David McDonald, Phaz2; John Corser, Producer; and Moderator: Marshall Bear .

The Pitch Fest takes place on Saturday, March 30th

from 10 AM to 4 PM for a maximum of 75

participants. The judges will be Louise Levison, Hal “Corky” Kessler, Tamara Aglaure of Koan

Distribution, Ronnie Yeskel, David McDonald, John Corser, Bill Duke, Director/Actor and Tony

Eldridge, Producer. There will be three prizes: $1,500 for Best Pitch plus donations of services

by members of the panel, $750 for 2nd

Best Pitch and $500 for 3rd

Best Pitch.

For information on content for both days, prices and directions go to:

http://www.eventbrite.com/event/5453760344/ ◙

http://www.eventbrite.com/event/5453760344/

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NUMBERS! NUMBERS! NUMBERS!

LOW-BUDGET INDEPENDENT FILMS ($8.5M and under)

FILM DISTRIBUTOR REVENUE COST

thous. $ thous. $

2016 Obama’s America Rocky Mountain

Pictures

9,347 2,500

Beasts of the Southern Wild* Fox Searchlight 12,572 1,500

Bernie Millennium 9,206 6,000

Celeste and Jesse Forever Sony Pictures Classics 3,095 850

Dark Skies* Dimension 8,189 3,500

End of Watch Open Road 41,003 7,500

Haunted House, A* Open Road 39,864 2,500

Hit and Run Open Road 13,749 1,300

Holy Motors Indomina Releasing 511 5,400

Insidious FilmDistrict 54,009 1,500

Magic Mike Warner Bros. 113,197 7,000

Middle of Nowhere (2012) AFFRM 123 200

October Baby IDP/Samuel Goldwyn 5,357 800

Other Son, The Cohen Media Group 1,250 3,900

Royal Affair, A*

*

Magnolia Pictures 1,331 7,200

Samsara Oscilloscope Pictures

res

2,654 4,000

Sessions, The* Fox Searchlight 5,972

72

1,000

Sinister Lionsgate/Summit 48,087 5,000

Sleepwalk With Me IFC Films 2,266 1,200

Undefeated The Weinstein Co. 561 1,000

Words, The CBS Films 11,495 6,000

You Sister’s Sister IFC Films 1,597 125

*Still in North American distribution as of February 24, 2013. Revenues are from Variety, Box Office and

boxofficemojo.com. Negative costs (production prior to prints and ads) are approximate, based either on

conversations with filmmaker, production company or industry estimates.

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MORE NUMBERS! NUMBERS! NUMBERS!

HIGH-BUDGET INDEPENDENT FILMS (Over $8.5M )

FILM DISTRIBUTOR REV. COST

thous.

$ $

thous.

$ Amour* Sony Pictures Classics 5,147 9,900

Anna Karenina (2012)* Focus Features 12,803 49,700

Beautiful Creatures* Warner Brothers 16,570

50,000

Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, The Fox Searchlight 45,827 10,000

Broken City* 20th

Century Fox

19,583 35,000

Django Unchained* The Weinstein Co. 158,783 83,000

Escape From Planet Earth* The Weinstein Co. 34,813 40,000

Killing Them Softly The Weinstein Co. 15,003 15,000

Last Stand, The* Lionsgate 12,027 30,000

Lawless The Weinstein Co 137,399 26,000

Lincoln* The Walt Disney Co, 178,604 65,000

Looper Sony/TriStar 66,486 30,000

Master, The The Weinstein Co. 16,259 30,000

ParaNorman Focus Features 56,001 83,000

Parker* FilmDistrict 17,365 30,000

Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Lionsgate/Summit 17,743 12,000

Pitch Perfect Universal 65,001 17,000

Red Dawn (2012)* FilmDistrict 44,794 65,000

Rise of the Guardians* Paramount

ks

102,017 145,000

Safe Haven* Relativity Media 47,916 28,000

Side Effects (2013)* Open Road 25,100 30,000

Silver Linings Playbook* The Weinstein Co. 107,176 21,000

Taken 2 Fox Searchlight 139,039 45,000

Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D* Lionsgate 34,334 20,000

Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn-Part 2* Summit 292,123 120,000

Warm Bodies* Lionsgate/Summit 58,243 30,000

Zero Dark Thirty* Sony/Columbia 91,539 45,000

Note: Same references as low-budget table.

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LARGE FORMAT FILMS

FILM DISTRIBUTION REV. COST

thous.

$

thous. $

Air Racers 3D

3D Entertainment 1,310 5,000

Aliens of the Deep BV LSF 8,969 5,000

Apollo 13: The Imax Experience IMAX 1,737 n/a

Bugs! SK Films, Inc. 18,114 9,000

Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man Sony Pictures

Classics

15,628 9,000

Deep Sea 3D* Warner Bros. 45,432 1,000

Galapagos: The Enchanted Voyage IMAX 18,096 7,000

Ghosts of the Abyss Buena Vista 17,041 13,000

Haunted Castle nWave 13,652 n/a

Hubble 3D* Warner Bros.

36,532

n/a

Magnificent Desolation IMAX 34,109 3,000

NASCAR 3D Warner Bros./IMAX 21,337 10,000

Ocean Wonderland 3D 3D Entertainment 11,035 3,000

Roar: Lions of the Kalahari Destination Cinema 2,166 n/a/w

Roving Mars Buena Vista 10,408 1,000

Sea Monsters 3D: A Prehistoric Adven. National Geographic 23,746 n/a

Sea Rex: Journey to a Prehistoric

World

3D Entertainment 6,097 n/a

Space Station 3D* IMAX 87,249 1,000

Thrill Ride Sony Classics 18,795 9,000

To the Arctic 3D* Warner Bros. 11,388

n/a

T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous IMAX 53,323 14,500

U2 3D National Geographic 10,362 13,000

Under the Sea 3D* Warner Bros. 32,576

n/a

Wildest Dream: Conquest of Everest National Geographic 898 n/a

Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill Shadow 3,058 n/a

Wild Safari 3D nWave 16,621 4,500

Young Black Stallion Buena Vista 6,751 n/a

Note: Same references as low-budget table. ◙

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Need Money for a Movie? Don’t Go in Empty-Handed. Have a Business Plan.

The benefit of using a reliable business plan to raise financing for a film is that it allows the

investors and the filmmaker to gauge the potential success of a film. A polished business plan

with projections based on the worldwide results of other films and with clear explanations about

the industry, markets and production personnel attached to the film is far more effective than an

incomplete document that leaves prospective investors wanting more information. Contact

Louise Levison at [email protected] to find out how you can put her more than 20 years of

experience as a Film Business Consultant to work creating a business plan for your film.

Louise Levison, President of Business Strategies, specializes in creating business plans for film

and consulting on other aspects of independent filmmaking and distribution. Levison is the

author of Filmmakers & Financing: Business Plans for Independents (Seventh Edition, Focal

Press ). The sixth edition of this book is available in a Chinese edition published by Hindabook

(www.hindabook.com) in Beijing, China. She also is publisher/editor of the web publication

you’re reading now, The Film Entrepreneur: A Newsletter for the Independent Filmmaker and

Investors. Levison’s clients have raised money for low-budget films such as The Blair Witch

Project, the most profitable independent film in history, and for companies raising as much as

$300 million. Among other clients’ projects are The Prophet (an animated film based on Kahlil

Gibran’s book), Unlimited (Nathan Frankowski), Redemption (Clayton Miller), Moving Midway,

Redemption Road, Haunted (2012), High School Sweethearts, The First of May, The Open Road,

Aluna, Yak: The Giant King, Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman, My Father

and the Man in Black and Michael Winslow Live. Among her corporate clients are Danny

Glover’s Louverture Films (2008 nominee for Best Documentary Academy Award Trouble the

Water) and his Louverture Film Fund I, The Pamplin Film Company (Hoover), Hurricane Film

Partners, LLC and Tokuma International Ltd (Shall We Dance, Princess Mononoke). Among

other entertainment companies is The Lifton Institute of Media Arts and Sciences (Los Angeles).

Levison is an affiliate of the Berlin-based consulting company Peacefulfish (peacefulfish.com)

and writes an industry blog for Baseline Intelligence (www.baselineintel.com). Levison is an

Instructor in the Extension Program at UCLA. She also has been a Visiting Professor at the

Taipei (Taiwan) National University of the Arts, Chapman University (Orange County, CA) and

the University of Montana (Missoula). She has presented seminars and/or been on panels at

festivals and markets around the world. (Additional information is available at

http//www.moviemoney.com).

THE FILM ENTREPRENEUR is published by Business Strategies

Louise Levison, Editor

Faryl Saliman Reingold, Assistant Editor

Office: 4454 Ventura Cyn. Ave. Suite 305

Sherman Oaks, CA 91423

Phone (818) 990-7774; E-mail: [email protected] ; http://www.moviemoney.com

Have your scripts professionally read and analyzed by TFE’s Assistant Editor Faryl Saliman

Reingold. For more information, e-mail her at [email protected].

mailto:[email protected]

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