Market spotlights new business model amid biz nervousness
As the 32nd American Film Market wraps, the indie sector is feeling optimistic about the Hollywood studios’ move away from mid-budget projects, though sellers are feeling the pinch from worldwide economic woes.
“We are continuing to filling a void for what used to be studio projects,” noted Myriad Pictures CEO Kirk D’Amico after his sales-financing banner came on to co-finance Neil LaBute’s “Seconds of Pleasure,” with Mike Figgis to direct a cast including Matt Dillon, Julia Stiles, Brendan Fraser, Kristin Scott Thomas and Christina Hendricks.
“Seconds,” due to go into production next summer, was developed and is produced by Scottish broadcaster STV. Myriad’s already sold Switzerland and Turkey but hasn’t sold major markets since buyers want to review LaBute’s script.
“It’s not like the old days, when you could get a director onboard and start making deals on selling territories,” D’Amico noted. “Everyone’s much more careful. The European financial crisis has created volatility, and that doesn’t help this market, but for Myriad, AFM has been a continuum of the good Sundance and Berlin, a very solid Cannes and a very positive Toronto.”
Stuart Ford of IM Global reported more than respectable response on a quartet of new projects — Jason Statham actioner “Hummingbird”; “Dead Man Down,” starring Colin Farrell and Noomi Rapace with Neil Moritz producing; “Blood,” starring Paul Bettany, Brian Cox and Stephen Graham; and 3D musical “Walking on Sunshine.”
“Performance has been very solid on new big titles,” Ford told Variety . “There were no big surprises — and anyone who came in expecting a bumper market was going to be disappointed because the economic situation in Western Europe has been impacting pricing. The buyer appetite is there, but they’re also limited by economic restrictions.”
That’s the emerging consensus at the end of AFM — sales were solid but not spectacular, particularly given the high level of sales earlier in the year at Cannes. “People bought so much earlier in the year that a lot of their slots for 2012 are already filled,” noted Camelot Entertainment prexy Jessica Kelly, who closed a deal with U.K.’s Showbox Media Group for “A Warrior’s Heart,” “Attack of the Herbals” and “Norman.”