Duncan Clark puffs tentatively at his only cigarette of the day. "Every ex-smoker is a liar," he jests, and grins. President of Columbia TriStar International Distribution, Clark is a mover-and-a-shaker: in the former category, he jogs; for the latter, he swings a useful golf club; qualifying for both, he's also an executive behind one of the most pivotal industry moves sensed at this year's Berlin Festival: the US studios' drive into local production.
First, last week, it was the creation of a German production arm at Babelsberg. Now Columbia TriStar aims to set up a film production arm in China. The Hong Kong-based facility would make indigenous pictures aimed primarily at the South East Asian market. Although an exec with specific production responsibilities for the area has yet to be appointed, Columbia TriStar is "close" to a deal, Clark added.
For Clark, "Making indigenous films, you can integrate them far better into a society. If you make them at the right price, there is a remarkable chance of breaking even." This production strategy would also build library assets: "If you have a library for 10 years, there has to be a potential for the many blossoming satellite and cable operations.
"Apart from Australia, the whole international market is under-screened. German admissions could go up 30% to 40%," Clark calculates.
Columbia TriStar's idea is to expand this market still further. But you don't sense that Clark is a man in a grey suit. Jovial, a sharp listener, his "greatest pleasure is recognising good talent," he says.
He reckons he could be on to a winner with Still Crazy, the story of a group of forty-something rock'n'rollers who re-form to try to recapture their glory days of youth. Directed by Brian Gilbert from a Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais script, it toplines Jimmy Nail, Stephen Rea and Billy Connolly. Columbia TriStar made a negative pick-up on the film for the world.
"I read it on a plane and I laughed so much that I had to apologise to the person sitting next to me," Clark recalls, and grins. JH/SS
[Home ] [Content] ] [The Team ] [Comments ]
