At the European Film Market, an Industrial Debate on independent distributors and their role in film financing (and marketing) took place, so here is what was mentioned and discussed that might be of interest for us, especially in regards to Cherrybomb.

Nowadays, buyers are interesting in the appeal to the future audience, and how many people might consider watching the film. Currently, there are stories of vampires coming up everywhere, about ten years ago it was the time of family-fantasy films (Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Lemony Snicket, Golden Compass, Narnia, …). Stories about the cruel reality of teenage life are somewhat rare at the moment. Unless of course a bunch of people start campaigning and collecting signatures to prove that there is an interested audience…

Also, there are far less distributors for independent films than a few years ago. This entails that less films are being sold, and only the best films are being released in theaters.

Many films already have a distributor prior to the start of production. Since these distributors often take part in funding the film, they have a bigger interest in eventually releasing the film to regain their money, hence distribution is more likely for these films. Harry Potter, for example, is being funded AND (in most countries) distributed by Warner Bros.
On the other hand, those distributors like to have a say during the production, and stop the directors from taking films into territory that might not appeal to the audience they have in mind. The story of Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow and Disney’s initial reaction is well known.

This also means that directors and actors cannot always do what they want if they have a financing distributor. If they do, the films might be incredibly great, but not see the light of theatres if no distributor finds it marketable enough. These films have to rely on distributors believing in the film as it is – or in the future audience.
Cherrybomb did not have any distributors among the funding companies.

Additionally, foreign distributors prefer buying films that already have other distributors, in particular, US films. For one, the costs for promotion are incredibly high (especially in the US), and (since word goes around), can be less for European distributors if a film has already been released in the states, and second, they have a reference if a film might be successful. As an example: A few films of Jim Carrey’s were flops in the US and never made it across the Atlantic, because nobody wanted to buy them. In contrast to that, they even had problems finding international distributors for Dr. Parnassus before they were able to show the box office numbers from the UK (and with a cast of Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law, one would think it would be easy…).

So hopefully, with the UK release in the near future, some other distributors might gain confidence in Cherrybomb as well…

Also, the costs for promotion are immense. Posters, interviews, premieres, trailers, TV spots, online promotion,… all needs to be paid. Particularly promotion in the US is very expensive, as to buy up a film that has other distributors and, by the time it will be released,  has already had media coverage from other releases, is popular. Also, Twitter has become a very interesting tool to reach the audience and keep them up to date.

Nowadays, online marketing can take up up to 20% of marketing costs. So, you might have an idea of what we’ve been working on… And Cherrybomb does have a Twitter, and Facebook, AND Myspace…

The financial crisis has also left its mark on the film industry, in addition to other difficulties:
The US market is “in tatters” when it comes to independent film, and many European productions do not make it to the US because the art divisions of distributors are cut down due to financial issues.

The European market has been less affected, e.g. France and Germany (along with the UK, the biggest markets in film business after the US): In France, about 50% of all distributions are local (= French), and “only” 50% are imported. Germany has about 26-27% of local distributions. Those market have been able to be at least somewhat steady as well .

In comparison, Japan’s local productions are pretty close to non-existent, and almost all films are imported.
While the UK is much less patriotical than France or Germany, they are struggling less than the US. However, the UK has the difficulty of having the same language, and audiences are more interested in US films unless they have a typical British appeal (set in London, British accent, well-known British actors, British humor…)

Russian distributors are hesitant to buy independent films because they have a huge piracy problem, which of course, reduces the number of sold tickets.

Difficulties for deals in China include that there is a restricted number of international films that can be sold, and that particularly films with drug usage, violence and political themes are hard to sell.

So, what’s the outlook for Cherrybomb? UK: check. Germany: check. US: fingers crossed/looking good. China: possibly difficult due to the amount of drugs and swearing and violence. The others?
Let’s just keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best.

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*Karo was very lucky to have seen Wild Target at the EFM! For more info, check out her review on our Press Archives, get tons of info about Wild Target on the Filmography pages, and lots of spoiler-y goodies in the forums!

“Being in Harry Potter is like living in a bubble, and it slightly hinders your independence. [...] You have got a lot of people doing stuff for you. So I guess that doesn’t help.”

Question 2:  Best new fact

Karo:  While still not officially confirmed, I’ll take the Eddie the Eagle rumours. Ski jumping is one of my favourite sports to watch, and I remember Eddie at the Olympics a little (I was 5 when he was at Calgary ). And my fave actor in that part would just be aaaaawesome.

Question 3:  Best photoshoot

Karo:  BLAG. Rupert has such an amazing face, and we barely get to see it. So yay for Blag! (And Live, but Blag had more pics…)

Question 4:  Best interview

Karo:  This one of course! Duh!

icm_rupert_interview_berlin

Question 5:  Best appearence/event outing

Karo:  The Rally of Britain . It was great to see him out with his family in a totally different environment than the glitzy showbiz.

Question 6:  Best candid shot of Rupert

Karo:  As Alex at Halloween

Question 7:  Best Cherrybomb scene

Karo:  I’d say the entire sequence at Luke’s place on Sunday. First we get smug Mal, luchy Mal, smitten Mal, whipped! Mal, sad Mal, confused Mal… there’s so much emotional uproar in that scene, and the three just had amazing chemistry.

Question 8:  Best Half-Blood Prince scene

Karo:  Quidditch. Both training and the game, since he got to do the full range from scared to hero-like. And he just owned those scenes.  I did like the shot of Ron/Lav kissing on the dormitory staircase, but that wasn’t really a full scene…

Question 7:  Best movie promo still

Karo:  Oh dear… Tony and his gun? Wet Mal covered in blood? Nah. This one, or this one!

Question 8:  Best picture from a premier this year

Karo:  Priceless. Absolutely priceless

“I’m definitely a character actor”. (The Man himself)

Karo:  Not just because I think this is totally true, but also because it’s proof of how much he has developed from 2000, when he said he just wanted to be Ron in the films because it would be so cool. J

Question 2:  Best Photoshoot

Karo:  Parade 2006. Very simple, very effective, very Rupert. God, that smile…

Question 3:  Best Interview

Karo:  Unscripted with Jeremy Brock. First time Rupert mentioned he’s quite shy, and he giggled. The one with Emma and Dan was brilliant, too, though.

Question 4:  Best Appereance/Event Outing

Karo:  Wearing the Harry shirt to the OotP premiere. Has any other actor ever dared to do something like that?!

Question 5:  Funniest thing Rupert did on camera

Karo:  On Al Murray, back in 2005. When he was there with the twins and Al asked him how old he was to get a pint. That entire thing was hilarious.

Question 6:  Best T-shirt

Karo:  Keep calm and carry on. The slogan is so perfect for Rupert, and we’ve used it quite a bit on the site as well. And he looks great in it.

Question 7:  Best Rupert moment

Karo:  Seeing Rupert and me getting a hug at Berlin . J The entire premiere in general.

Question 8:  Best Ron moment

Karo:  Destroying the Locket Horcrux. If they screw this up in the film…

Question 9:  Best Hairstyle

Karo:  Prisoner of Azkaban. The slightly shorter, more shaggy style. I love it to actually see more of his face (as is the case in PoA and CB), and PoA seems to be more suitable for Rupert than Malachy’s quiff.

Question 10:  Movie Role you’re dying to see right now!

Karo:  Wild Target. Cause Eddie has not officially been confirmed by Rupert’s people, and I’ve already seen Cherrybomb.

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