April 24, 2024

Buyers’ Most Wanted Shows

Looking at the sales and receptions at recent film festivals, buyers are taking safe bets while seeking to diversify their catalogues. By Ching Wai.

US, Europe - Film buyers are always on the lookout for up and coming movies; titles that are of high demand. And so far, film festivals this year have been bustling with activity, with lively engagement from filmmakers and buyers. Recent past events include the Sundance Film Festival in January, the European Film Market in February, and MIPTV in April.

The Sundance Film Festival is where independent film makers try to find buyers. The market shift from films to be screened at theatres to films for the small screen could be felt. Additionally, Comscore media analyst Paul Dergarabedian observed that consumers are shifting away from superhero features and generally dislike movies titled with roman numerals - or sequel movies. The independent filmmakers also had hopes to submit their titles for awards. At this year’s event, Netflix reportedly purchased Sundance’s horror movie It’s What’s Inside for US$17 million.

Bigger markets like the European Film Market saw a record attendance of 12 000 and big acquisitions, although attending buyers dropped to 1263. Paramount had paid US$25 million for North American rights to the musical biopic Better Man in a deal with CAA Media Finance right before the market. Sony Pictures had reportedly bought worldwide rights to Kogonada’s fantasy romance A Big Bold Beautiful Journey in a deal with 30West and CAA Media Finance for around US$50 million. The company also acquired international rights to A24’s upcoming romantic comedy Materialist, directed by Celine Song.

Titles like Sugar Bandits, Epiphany and The Mother have also shown popularity amongst buyers. Festival titles like Ray Yeung’s All Shall Be Well and JJ Lin’s Brief History Of A Family, as well as biopics like Franz have also gained attention.

New projects from Asia, including South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China have also made progress at the market, with South Korea’s The Roundup: Punishment closing sales in the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

At the same time, a trend of buying bigger titles has been observed. Acquisition teams are now ready to leave the market without buying smaller titles or “programmers”. Tatyana Joffe, president of international sales and distribution at XYZ Films, said, “Buyers are going after projects that are safe bets and are not looking to take the risks they did before the pandemic.”

The recently concluded final edition of MIPTV saw fewer buyers, but greater deals and productive meetings, even for smaller players. Titles such as Fallout, Becoming Karl Lagerfeld and The Zweiflers received great responses. New launches like Studiocanal’s Families Like Ours have also generated much sales buzz. Popular genres seem to be comedy, biopics, and book to screen adaptations. Additionally, while promotions and event programming for documentaries are difficult, titles like The Americas have been well received.

Overall, it seems that at recent film festivals this year, buyers have been taking safe bets while trying to diversify, with more acquisitions of titles from bigger players and across genres, including thrillers, horror, comedies, biopics, book to screen adaptations, and documentaries. Buyers are also opening up to smaller players and international productions, keeping up with the dynamic demand of viewers.

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