Today I want to get into some questions I’ve been fielding on submitting to sales agents in the lead up to EFM.
But first - a big thank you to everyone who responded to my last newsletter on A Sundance Lightbulb Moment. All I can say is WOW - I haven’t received that many comments, emails, and positive emoji’s in a long time. Felt good to hit on something clearly in the zeitgeist!
I also teased a series called Film Economics where we peel back the curtain on just how all these films are getting financed and made. Way too much ‘scratching of heads’ going on these days only amplified by all the hoopla around Sundance - when in reality, most of us are struggling to stay afloat and get things into production. So let’s see if we can highlight some case studies that give us possible paths forward and hope.
If you’d like to submit your project as a case study to Film Economics you can do so here.
I’ll also be soliciting case studies from people I think you should hear from and am trying to round those up asap. In the mean time, I’ll put it out to the community and see what comes back!
International Distribution Demand
This week I was working on getting foreign sales agency representation for a film that had a pretty good domestic release last year followed by a few international deals that we were able to do directly. The producers got busy on other things after that and the rest of international distribution sort of went by the wayside.
Until now - we find ourselves in a situation where post-strikes there is increased demand for completed films from international sales agents who need new product to launch at EFM and Cannes, particularly in certain genres with decent cast. However in times past, once a film has been out for almost a year and has already been shopped to some international territories, it’s very difficult to find a sales agent to represent it. Sort of like they don’t want sloppy seconds 🤷🏻♀️
So it’s this weird moment in time where if you have a film that is completed and already had a good domestic release in the last year but is available in foreign territories, you might be able to get some juice out of it. It’s worth submitting to sales agents with your trailer and website and see if they’re willing to take a look and consider it for their slates.
If you need help, we offer a Submissions Service but you can also DIY it by researching companies on Cinando or IMDB.
Let me know how you get on and if you have any questions, feel free to email me at stacey@filmspecific.com
Coming Up Next….
Next week I want to get into the underrated superpower called Production Planning. Orchestrating the pieces of a production from where to shoot to max out tax incentives, to partnering with the right service companies or co-pro partners, to bringing in the right sales agent at the right time and everything in between.
We’ll also be deep diving on Finance and Production Plans in the Funding Strategies Playbook course next week if you want to join us there.
Until then! Have a lovely rest of the week and speak soon…
Stacey
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