Cannes Market Flies Through Economic Turbulence news
Although there is visible emptiness at this year's Cannes Film Festival, the economic downturn has not really cast it big bad shadow on the market, an extremely important segment of the annual 12-day event. At least the silver lining can be seen quite clearly, and movie buyers and sellers are hoping to turn what seemed like a city of despair into one of hope and dream. Amazing as it may sound, there is still money to be had. As one trade journal said "coin continues to roll into Hollywood (as perhaps elsewhere). You just have to know where to find it".
Much of the mullah is arriving from companies and individuals in America, Europe and the Middle East. They have seen optimistic indicators amid the economic gloom, and predict that movies would post better returns. This is already happening.
Undoubtedly, it is a tough market as we saw in Berlin. With foreign presales in the deepest of pits, banks are not lending. Cannes could well be a make or mar point. It may well be the first; the Cannes Film Market chief, Jerome Paillard, said that the opening day alone saw 9100 registered participants.
Roughly 1,500 markets screenings were held this year - a number that was only 30 less than last year's. There were as many exhibitors this time as there were in 2008. Companies still came to Cannes, because a no-show at the Market could have well damaged the image.
Here is a bird's eye view of what went on at the Market. Two years after Abu Dhabi disclosed its intentions of becoming a global player, the country's executives unveiled a clutch of new schemes. Abu Dhabi's new Film Commissioner, David Shepheard, said that they would nurture talent and serve as a central conduit for the nation's movie initiatives. The Commission will also promote local producers and directors.
India came up with even more ambitious plans. The country that made 1300 films last year flew its "Kites" at Cannes with Reliance Big Pictures outlining details of its first Indian work, which will be truly international and aim at the tastes of global audiences. To be shot in Hindi, English and Spanish, "Kites" stars Bollywood hunk Hrithik Roshan with Mexican/Japanese actress, Barbara Mori.
Reliance plans to acquire multiple screens in the U.S. and Malaysia and try and exhibit Indian movies. What it keenly plans to tap is the 50 million Indian diaspora in South Asia and the Gulf. The company's chairman, Amit Khanna, said that this would be the first independent circuit for Indian cinema. "In the past year, Reliance has inked deals with Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks, Nicolas Cage's Saturn Films, Jim Carrey's JC 23 Entertainment, George Clooney's Smokehouse Productions, Chris Columbus's 1492 Pictures, Julia Roberts' Red Om Films, Tom Hanks' Playtone Productions, Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment and Bred Ratner's Rat Entertainment."
Some of the movies being planned are "Voodoo Child" by Jonathan Lemkin, "O'Gunn" and "Things they left Behind", which is based on a Stephen King short story about 9/11 survivors. Reliance has also entered into a pact with Deepak Nayar, whose credits include "Bend It Like Beckham" and "Bride and Prejudice" (starring Aishwarya Rai).
Reliance plans to spend $ 300 million - out of the $ 1 billion it has earmarked for its expansion schemes - on about 20 wholly Indian projects.
Away from the Gulf and South Asia, international sales companies such as Focus Features, Mandate, Pathe, Studio Canal and Summit Entertainment did good business. The most prolific buyers were Sony Classics and IFC Films, and they signed several deals, with key territories like France, Germany and the U.K. seeing a lot of action.(Gautaman Bhaskaran now writes from Cannes)
