Most people think of Cannes as a glamorous film festival
where stars in elegant backless evening gowns pause on the red
carpeted stairway for the paparazzi to snap their pictures.
That's half of Cannes, the other half is the film market.
Hundreds of indie producers flock the beach resort to sell their
films in a flea market atmosphere. Topless starlets, billboards,
giant balloons, crazy publicity stunts, and all night parties.
Anything to sell the film. Bruce Willis may say he's at Cannes
to attend the festival, but much of his time will be spent at the
market shaking hands with buyers to promote sales of his new
film. For a very funny look at the Cannes Market (and film
markets in general) check out Michael Ritchie s 1979 film "An
Almost Perfect Affair".
Eighteen years ago, a group of American Indie Producers
decided to start their own market. Why fly to France when the
French can fly here?
Every year since then for nine days in March, Indie
Producers from all over the world take over the Leows Hotel in
Santa Monica to sell their films. Beds are replaced with office
furnishings, turning the luxury hotel into the world's most
exclusive office building. Security guards are posted at the
elevators and stairwells, to keep uninvited riff-raff (like you
and me) off the sales floors. Almost a hundred security guards
are hired for the event, blocking every entrance. Only those
with badges are allowed. American producers selling films to
foreign countries, or foreign producers selling films to America.
Every Indie film made in the world is sold here at AFM, in
Cannes, or at Italy's MIFED market. As one of the few to get
past the security guards and up to the sales floors, I'll share
what I learned.
CONFUSION
I've attended the last eleven American Film Markets, but
this year was different. There was an undercurrent of fear on
every floor. Producers and distributors were scrambling to find
the formula for success. For almost twenty years, producers
could depend on domestic video for half of their income. A two
million dollar Michael Pare action film could make a million
dollars in US video sales, and would have no trouble making the
other million (plus some profit) from foreign distribs. But the
domestic video business has slowed, and Blockbuster and other big
chains are solving their financial problems by cutting back on
inventory. Despite evidence in Video Store Magazine that non-
theatrical titles are more profitable as video rentals than big
budget studio films, "Blockbuster is not willing to buy genre
pictures", says Nu Image's Avi Lerner. With the big video chains
buying fewer B titles, Indie producers are searching for the key
to profit.
Some producers have cut the cost of their films. Cutting
the number of shooting days in half and spending a higher
percentage on names. Or cutting out the names completely and
making cheap exploitation films like "Bikini Barbecue". Others
have taken the opposite approach, trying to pass off their B
movies as A pictures by casting stars like Alec Baldwin and
Charlie Sheen. This has resulted in a market with no middle
ground: films either cost under a million, or over twenty
million. Flooding the market with films that are either too
cheap or too expensive.
The last time Indie film budgets climbed to such heights was
in the go-go 1980s, when the expanding video market flooded the
business with quick cash. Small companies like Vestron, Orion,
Hemdale and Cannon who'd become rich making inexpensive genre
films decided to hire big name stars and compete with the
studios. Vestron Video, which had a policy of never spending
over $4 million on a film, had a huge hit with "Dirty Dancing"
and decided to spend more money and hire bigger stars. They cast
Nick Nolte (hot off "48 Hours") to star in an epic adventure film
called "Farwell To The King". Their average film budget began to
rival the studios. "Farewell" and their other expensive films
flopped, and within a year they were filing for bankruptcy.
Cannon, Hemdale, and Orion suffered similar fates. If a $2
million action film flops, cable, video and foreign will cover
your costs. But a $30 million flop can sink the entire company!
I fear that many of these companies spending $10 million on stars
may be out of business within a few years.
Other companies are trying to make "art films" in the hope
that critical attention will help sell their films. This year
over 700 films tried for a spot at Sundance, only 66 were chosen,
and out of that group, only 43 found distribution of any kind in
the United States. That means 650 art films are sitting in their
producer's garages!
Here are the titles and log lines of one producer's new
films. Would you walk into Blockbuster and rent any of these?
"A Fish In The Bathtub" (comedy) When a husband brings home his
prize catch, his marriage falls apart. "Home Before Dark" (drama)
The passionate tale of the struggle and triumph of a family.
"Kitchen Party" (comedy) With his parents away for the evening a
teen throws a wild party in his kitchen. "Little Boy Blue"
(drama) A young man struggles for survival in a family with a
long buried secret. "The Souler Opposite" (romance) A man's
universe is turned upside down when he falls head over heels in
love. These may be the greatest films in the world, but it's
hard to imagine renting a film where the video box shows a middle
aged couple and a salmon.
INDIE TRENDS?
Amidst all of this confusion, a couple of trends did
surface. My article last year debated reports that Erotic
Thrillers were dead, and this year The Hollywood Reporter had a
story on the resurgence of this genre. Michelle Gahagan from
North American Releasing told me, "There's a lot of interest in
Erotic Thrillers from some territories like Malaysia. This is
still a popular genre."
The other trend comes as no surprise. Despite rocky
economies in both Japan and South Korea (the two largest markets
for American action movies)... "Action is what sells", Patrick
Choi from Interlight Pictures told me. Only their second year at
market, and Interlight scored a coup: They partnered with Steven
Seagal's new company and will be releasing all of his new films.
"It's always been action", Judy Gold from Nu Image
explained. "Family films have begun to fade, but action remains
strong. We also have a psychological thriller starring Mickey
Rourke that's been selling well." Nu Image claims that their
films are "staff written" but offered no method for becoming a
staff writer.
Michelle Gahagan from North American, "Action Adventures are
number one. Our new title, "Code Of Dishonor" is selling really
well. It's a post Cold-War story about a group of retired spies
called back into action to recover a stolen high tech bomb.
Though everyone says science fiction is a soft market, our sci-fi
titles are selling well."
Science fiction suffered a big hit earlier this year when
UPN decided to cancel their proposed sci-fi movie night, opting
for a night of action movies and thrillers instead. David
Silberg from Hit Entertainment noted, "The foreign market today
is in satellite and cable broadcasting. As this market continues
to expand, there's going to be more call for TV friendly
programming. Less violence. Thrillers and suspense films are
becoming more popular than blood and guts action".
Thriller specialist Image Organization agrees. "We have all
genres, from romantic comedies to family films, but most of our
titles are thrillers", Lisa Johnson told me. Image's "Little
Men" was picked up for theatrical release by Warner Brothers.
Where does Image get their scripts? "We have produced projects
from spec scripts, from pitches from known writers, and from
ideas generated in-house. I think the only thing we don't do is
buy books. The script is the most important element," Johnson
said. "Actors want to do good scripts, where they can identify
with the characters. Talia Shire really wanted to play the role
(in "The Landlady"), that s why she s doing it. The script
attracts the actors."
The one question guaranteed to get me kicked out of a
producers office was: "There are actor driven films and director
driven films, do you have any WRITER driven films?"
Steve Klain at Miramax pointed to "Scream"s Kevin
Williamson, who the company is promoting like a movie star.
Miramax has a policy of finding writer driven projects, from
successes like "Good Will Hunting" to failures like "The Boondock
Saints" (where the writer's ego proved more powerful than his
script, according to the LA Times.).
When I asked about writer driven films at Trimark, I was
practically tossed out. Nu Image told me, "There is star driven,
there is director driven, there is no such thing as writer
driven." Almost every other company I talked to echoed this
opinion. Could the reason for the B movie market's slowing sales
be this complete disregard for writers?
"What many of these producers don't seem to understand is
that the same scripts being offered to them are also under
consideration at the studios," a fellow writer told me. "They
don't realize they are competing with Warner Brothers and
Paramount for scripts." Another writer who wished to remain
anonymous told me, "Some of there producers end up being their
own worst enemies. The very things the studios like about the
script are the first things they remove. They can take a script
I almost sold to a studio for $400,000 and turn it into a
schlocky $400,000 movie they can't even sell to Malaysia."
Michelle Gahagan from North American offered a ray of hope,
"We have a great writer we've been working with for several
years, but we are always reading, always looking for good
scripts."
THEY HAVE CABLE
The expanding domestic cable market may be the solution to
the AFM's problems. The Fox Family Channel has announced plans
to spend $125 million on 26 original movies for a Sunday film
night. These films range from standard family fare like "Casper
Meets Wendy" to action thrillers like "Earthquake In New York"
starring Greg Evigan. HBO has expanded their World Premiere
program to 36 films a year, spending as much as $1 million for B
action thrillers. The Sci-Fi Channel pays up to half a million
for its monthly Premiere movies. TBS will buy or make four
original films for next season. Lifetime continues to be on the
look out for "girl flicks". The Sundance Channel debuted with
Jeff Burr's scathing Hollywood satire "Eddy Presley" and
continues to buy quirky indie films. Cable is the new market for
any film which costs less than $50 million and doesn't feature a
major star.
SELLING TO INDIES
Most writers got their starts selling to Indie producers,
from John Sayles' work for Roger Corman ("Piranha", "Battle
Beyond The Stars") to Pat Duncan's first sale ("Beach Girls") to
November's cover writer John Lee Hancock's first film "Hard Time
Romance". Unlike the big studios, Indie producers are more than
willing to read scripts from unknown writers... provided the
scripts have a limited number of locations and a limited number
of speaking roles. If the Sci-Fi Channel is paying half a
million for a movie, that film's total budget is probably only a
million. That translates to no more than 8 locations, 10-15
speaking roles and very few special effects. Concept is the
star, here, so be creative... not expensive.
The Hollywood Reporter publishes a special "bumper" issue
for AFM (in late February), the Cannes Market (mid-May), and
MIFED (in October) that lists all of the Production Companies
attending, key personnel, and films offered. The cast list of
film's offered will give you a clue to the budgets: Does the film
star Sam J. Or Tommy Lee Jones? The bigger the names, the bigger
the budgets. Read over the listings until you find a producer
who specializes in the genre you are writing. Then send them a
query letter with a brief description of your script.
Personalize your letter by mentioning the company's current
productions. There's a good chance they will ask to read your
script. If you have a great script, it will sell. You can't get
rich writing for Indie films, but they do make movies. Lots of
them. One of their next films may even be yours.
END
