I’m on my terrace watching what will probably be my last New York sunrise before I move to Berlin. Later, I learn that my early morning insomnia coincided with not just any sunrise, but a total lunar eclipse, which is technically called syzygy — when the sun, earth, and moon are aligned to form an almost or exact straight line. I couldn’t have contrived an experience more poetic — my final New York sunrise, my first and probably last syzygy. Like all perfect New York moments, this feels like the most perfect New York moment, which is another way of […]
by Taylor Hess on Dec 2, 2014This article originally appeared in our Summer, 2013 issue. With substantial revenue (sometimes well above 50 percent) coming from exploitation outside of a film’s home country, it is vital that producers know how to target and then structure deals with foreign sales agents. For those beginning to explore international distribution, here are some very basic ideas and concepts about the business of foreign sales to know going in. What is an international sales agent? In simplest terms, an international sales agent is the conduit to your film’s distribution outside of its country of origin. The sales agent will acquire a […]
by Ryan Kampe on Jul 18, 2013L.A.-based independent filmmaker Jeffrey Travis (Flatlands) brought his latest short, Pollution, to the Short Film Corner at Cannes, and he’s using the trip to also look for a foreign sales agent for his new independent feature, Dragon Day. Below he talks about stalking the aisles of the Cannes Film Market, and why he hopes international buyers will warm to a dystopian near-future drama that imagines a U.S. destroyed by a cyber attack from China. Filmmaker: So how has the Cannes Film Market been for you? Jeff Travis: It’s been interesting. Before I knew very little about the whole world of […]
by Scott Macaulay on May 26, 2012Troublemaker Studio’s Aaron Kaufman hosted a panel titled “Making it Happen: Financing an Independent Film” at SXSW this year, gathering together fellow execs Katie McNeill (V.P. of Production, Electric City Entertainment, the new venture between producers Lynette Howell and Jamie Patricof) and Garrick Dion, Senior Vice President of Development at Bold Films, and a co-producer of Drive (pictured). (Troublemaker, of course, is the production company of Robert Rodriguez.) The three offered thoughts on how to develop and put together projects able to financed in today’s independent film marketplace as well as tips on keeping that development on track. Here are […]
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 15, 2012