American Film Market Dailies

November 6, 2017: Los Angeles:   the AFM hosted:

• Production Conference, featuring the following two sessions:
  • Producing for the Pre-Sales Marketplace
  • What They Want: Inside the Major Studios  
• How to Get the Best Music for Your Project and Save Time & Money
• Distributing & Monetizing Feature Documentaries
• Romania Welcomes Hollywood

WHAT THEY WANT: INSIDE THE MAJOR STUDIOS  (11.15am)

Sam Brown

Head of Production, STXfilms

“We have a somewhat unorthodox and strategic approach to development. We want to unlock the power of an audience talent have already established. We often start with an actor/actress who we feel has a meaningful relationship with their audience and then help him/her build a story from the ground up.”

“We also look to producers and agents to bring us packages with a missing piece whether that be financing or distribution.”

“At STX we’re really focused on talent driven content and building stories around that.”

“Audiences are rewarding originality and freshness, there is something a bit unoriginal and fatigued about much of the content out there and the box office, for the most part, reflects that.”

“The rise of the limited mini-series is attractive to talent, they can still maintain their film career and cross over to the TV world without the various year commitment that usually comes along with a series.”

“There are fewer opportunities at studios for actors outside of a specific type of film. Those that want to work more are looking to independent models for opportunities.”

“We make movies exclusively for a theatrical experience, and it’s becoming harder to compel people to go to the theatre. That being said, we believe there is still value in a communal theatrical experience and there is still an opportunity to win in the theatrical model. There is more value in short-from serialized content than a stand-alone feature. In the feature business we’re less concerned about what they are doing [OTT Platforms] than someone who would be a direct competitor.”

Gerren Croche

Packaging Agent, Film Finance & Distribution, The Gersh Agency

“It takes four things to make a movie: a script, a director, a producer and money.”

“I believe in the power of good content, regardless of wherever you are in the world – if you have quality content or content that already has some sort of audience, no matter how obscure, it will find its way to us [the agency].”

“Content is content.” (Advice to filmmakers who pigeon whole their projects to just film or TV)

“Understanding the global ‘value’ of an actor or cast helps guide the estimated budget and financing needs of a project.”

“There is a lot of international traction in the marketplace right now with high-concept, fresh ideas which carry value at its core versus trying to find one specific actor for the value in a film.”

“The world has never been more thirsty for content. Actors want good projects, the walls are starting to come down and talent is starting to care less about who is distributing and how.”

“There are more digital players beyond Netflix, Hulu and Amazon…come 2020 you better believe there are going to be some big players who don’t care about selling tickets but rather engagement with the consumer.”

“One thing that is not working – social media stars are not converting sales for subscription services.”

Anjay Nagpal

SVP Production & Distribution, Bron Studios

“It all starts with loving the project, supporting directors that we believe in and then figuring out how we can get involved.”

“We lean on agencies for our content, they find material from a ground level which we can then select and build from.”

“Literary agents are key. There is a lot of material out there and it’s all about filtering.”

“More and more there is an openness and willingness to ‘cross the line’ between film and television as long as you can demonstrate it’s going to be done the right way and maintain the integrity of the content.”

“The SVOD ‘all you can eat’ pricing model has had the biggest effect on this industry…I’m fearful of the SVOD model, that’s why I made the switch to a production company who can create content for those platforms versus working for a studio in a much more traditional and transactional form.”

“At the end of the day they [Netflix] are offering the consumer what they want, which is high-quality content at a good price.”