American Film Market Dailies

A discussion of the independent film landscape, which used case studies of specific financing models to identify a sustainable way forward for LGBTQ representation in cinema.

Lucy Mukerjee

Moderator

Director of Programming, Outfest & Newfest

Christine D’Souza Gelb

Agent, Endeavor Content

[on waiting for festival premieres to sell your film]  “When you have the right distributor with the right plan, you just want to sign up right away and get everyone on board as early as possible.”

“It’s been such a year for that movie [Moonlight] and the community in itself, for a gay black man to tell that personal story. I know tons of people in town who passed on it […] That was not a film that was easy to put out there.  But those movies are working.”

[on budgeting your film] “A big piece of the financing is always trying to tap into tax rebates in different states.”

“It’s just being as collaborative as possible with your partners [on finance partners].”

Ian Bricke

Director, Content Acquisition, Netflix

“With any project, we [Netflix] look to how large we think our audience is for the film. That sets the size of the box: that’s the outside variable. The inside variable is the budget and time we have, and hopefully those two things align.”

“We do see that there’s actually way more audiences around the world than the market will tell you: the trick is getting the content to them.”

“Making a film is inevitably a risky financial undertaking. Every filmmaker should know as much as possible about the market to be able to communicate those risks with investors.  The odds are better that if you then lose your money, they will still come back. If you were honest, it’s a shared risk – and they don’t’ feel burnt.”

“It’s very important to figure out how to make your movie as economically as possible – how little can you get away with?”

Rebecca Arzoian

VP Production, Focus Features

“When we pick up a film we pick it up because we believe in the film and the filmmaker, so we always look to work with them again.”

Valerie Stadler

Producer

“Something that is still a presser point in the industry is that there is higher budget work that’s being done, but typically a lot of those talent are not queer.  The stories are being told, but we haven’t been yet able to advance those filmmakers.”

“As a producer a lot of the times you’re very supportive, but you’re simultaneously setting limits and dream killing. You’re like a parent saying to your kids that you may not get the candy you want, but we will make a meal.”

“It’s a long trajectory for many people who aren’t straight white males, to be candid. It’s a longer trajectory. But there is sometimes a tipping point that these filmmakers are reaching now.”

“You have to find someone that’s got your kind of crazy. It goes beyond financial gain because most of the time, if someone feels very invested in telling a particular story, that’s the person to reach for.”

“There is no formula for the million dollar range.”

“There’s a gap that exists right now between marketable queer talent [talent that is going to trigger financing], and those films driven by queer storytelling but that employ allies. Because of that gap, it’s harder to get those films financed. You have a lot of non-gay people that can greenlight a movie at a million dollars.”

“This is such a relationship-based industry. Who do you know? Part of it is sitting down and going through that list of people who want to help you.”