“Notably, Protagonist Pictures is launching the premiere of “Horrid Henry: The Movie,” starring Angelica Huston and Richard E. Grant, marking the first 3D pic to showcase at Film Focus. The pic is produced by Novel Entertainment and Vertigo Films, which is also distributing the film in Blighty.”
[By DIANA LODDERHOSE, Variety]
The eighth London U.K. Film Focus unspools against a background of turbulence as well as great success within the Brit pic biz.
Government cuts over the past year led to the shuttering of the U.K. Film Council and transfer of its duties to the British Film Institute, while departments under the old banner, such as Film Export, which promoted Brit pics internationally, are under review and without funding.
So this year’s Focus is more important than ever.
“I think the fact that LUFF is happening is extremely significant. If we had lost that, export really would be in the doldrums,” says Stephen Kelliher, head of sales and marketing at Bankside Films.
Kelliher adds that in a year when the British export biz is having to battle a bit harder to promote its pics, the Film Focus gains in significance.
“I wish the whole international sales sector in the U.K. was celebrated more like it is in other countries. But for now, it’s good to recognize what we’re doing and have people in town and enjoying London.”
The event was launched in 2004 as a vehicle for U.K. sales agents to offer up Brit pics to international buyers.
“It’s the only event of its kind in the U.K.,” says Adrian Wootton, chief exec of Film London, which organizes the event. “There isn’t another U.K. event that is profiling and showcasing British films in terms of a sales context. LUFF was created out of industry need.”
Last year, for the first time, the Film Focus programmed a small amount of non-UK films handled by Brit sales agents and some Brit pics sold by non-U.K. sales agents — an initiative that’s been put in place again this year.
The four-day showcase, which kicks off June 27, expects to have more than 300 delegates in attendance, of which 120 are international buyers, including the likes of U.S. distribs Magnolia and Tribeca Film.
Situated on the BFI Southbank, the event costs around £150,000 ($240,000) to stage, and last year generated around $4.8 million in business — a pretty high rate of return.
“At the moment, it’s the only business event that receives public money from both the BFI and (London’s) mayor’s office that is devoted to film export,” Wootton says.
This week, more than 40 pics — a slew of them preems — will be unveiled to international buyers. Titles such as Dana Lustig’s “A Thousand Kisses Deep,” John Malkovich starrer “Drunkboat” and British gang pic “Sket,” helmed by Nirpal Bhogal, will preem for buyers.
Notably, Protagonist Pictures is launching the premiere of “Horrid Henry: The Movie,” starring Angelica Huston and Richard E. Grant, marking the first 3D pic to showcase at Film Focus. The pic is produced by Novel Entertainment and Vertigo Films, which is also distributing the film in Blighty.
“Vertigo is releasing ‘Horrid Henry’ at the height of summer in July, and the complicated 3D and special effects will only be completed this month,” says Protagonist head of sales Charlotte Van Weede. “So LUFF gives us an opportunity we wouldn’t otherwise have to showcase the film in all its glory to scores of distributors.”
Goldcrest head of sales Penny Wolf says Film Focus is one of the most important events in the U.K. calendar for British film, adding that its positioning, after a crowded Cannes market, makes it an ideal place to showcase Brit pics.
“For British films that are sometimes difficult in an international marketplace, such as a gritty Northern drama, screening it in Cannes can be quite difficult because it’s expensive and you’re at the mercy of hundreds of distributors who are all there dipping in their toes to screenings left, right and center,” she says.
Buyers rarely leave screenings at Film Focus, says Wolf, while in less intimate marketplaces, distribs are likely to watch just segments of a pic.
Wolf adds that the decision to premiere “A Thousand Kisses Deep” in London rather than Cannes a month earlier is down to a more conducive environment for that film.
“I think there are more and more sales agents that are saying ‘You know what? It’s better to be a big fish in a small pond than vice versa,’ ” says Wolf.
Bankside is screening Irish dancing docu “Jig” to buyers at the event, which Screen Media Films has already released theatrically in the U.S.
“LUFF is the perfect opportunity for us to screen our U.K. films, because it’s all about us for four days,” he says. “It’s really valuable, especially when you look at how well supported the French, Germans and Italians are. It is critical that British films are given that profile.”
See the original story here: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118039102?refCatId=13