MIP TV & MIPDOC - Cannes April 9 - 15, 2005
DOCUMENTARY
Report by Susan MacKinnon
There is no doubt that MIPTV is a fantastic showcase for the wealth of
global inventiveness. This year it kicked off with the 8th MIPDOC gone digital, then MIPTV and MILIA sharing the Palais for the week.
Run prior to MIPTV for buyers and sellers, the 8th MIPDOC screenings
come to Cannes at a time when factual programming is enjoying an
increasingly higher profile. A handful of feature documentaries have
drawn large audiences to the cinema and created a high DVD sales
demand. A few factual film-makers are becoming celebrities and the
new cheaper production techniques are contributing to high profit
margins.
Michael Moore and Morgan Spurlock have both found fame with the lowbudget, high earning theatrical documentaries Fahrenheit 9/ 11 and
Super Size Me – the former costing US$6 million and taking US$222
million; the latter costing just US$65,000 and taking US$28million.
Both are now enjoying a longer life on DVD.
However, these two, and a dozen or so other docs, are the tip of the
iceberg of the documentary industry. For the most part, public
broadcasters, large cable networks, distribution companies and
government subsidy still fund the bulk of the business for the
television market.
Controversy and in-your-face storytelling are key elements in the
theatrical successes, while new film-making technologies are what
attracted nine million viewers to France 3 for the ground-breaking
series Homo sapiens at the beginning of this year. Making heavy use
of CGI, the series shows the trend for re-enactment using such
technology is still drawing big audiences.
However, not all think that the rise of the blue chip documentary
series, theatrical releases and new channels is good news for
documentary makers. Some of the new channels have very little money
and pay very low fees per hour. It is still the public broadcasters
who are the main clients for documentaries. New initiatives such as
documentary shorts, animated documentaries and embedded filmmakers can
result in interesting authenticity.
Since 9/11, films about the Middle East and war have been evident at
all markets and festivals. 9/11 has emerged as a watershed event in
world history changing our perceptions of global politics and power.
9/11 marks a tipping point for current-affairs documentaries. It
increased Americans’ awareness of the impact of world events on their
lives and paved the way for production and distribution of
documentaries of films dealing with terrorism, Third World grievances
and cultural differences. The 9/11 era has increased interest in
military and other war matters. WGBH was selling The Soldier’s Heart
that examines how soldiers are trained to kill other humans and the
impact this has on their mental well being. Channel Four broadcast
Beneath the Veil in 2001, a documentary by an English filmmaker who
entered Afghanistan secretly to film what life under the Taliban.
After 9/11 the film sold everywhere and was hugely influential on
later films.
Reality television programming still abounded however; some believe
that audiences are turning away from ‘mean-spirited, elimination-style
reality’ in favour of the ‘take-away’ factor such as pro-social or
aspirational programming and self-improvement television. Pro-social
programming has gained popularity as people’s passion to improve
things makes for compelling viewing as well as the program’s influence
continues after the television has been switched off. Healthy eating
and obesity were a common subject at MIPTV with Jamie Oliver’s Jamie’s
School Dinners as one of the highest sellers at the market.
Aging-up or programming for an older audience was also evident in
shows such as Your Real Age, where your health is assessed and ideas
are given on improving your lifestyle. Supernanny attempts to improve
the knowledge and quality of life for the participants and the
viewers. Indeed the notion that one’s life is out of balance and
needs redirecting pervaded a wide range of titles – How Clean is Your
House, Grand Designs and You Are What You Eat. These programs resonate
with slightly older viewers but do not look out of place in primetime
slots. As further evidence of aging-up, currently the BBC’s toprating Saturday night show is Strictly Come Dancing fronted by the 76year old entertainer Bruce Forsyth.
The demand for documentaries has remained high and the genre
has become important for all channels; specialist and
thematic, cable and satellite. This year the MIPDOC
screenings were 100 per cent digital with a staggering 22,650
programs being screened on-site by 369 international buyers.
This represented a 156 per cent increase on last year.
The digital system reduced time spent moving from one program
to another, finding tapes etc. The system also logs and
provides vital information to distributors about who is
watching what.
All styles of documentary program were on sale with the most
watched programs being the Fremantle International’s The Story
of 1, the Channel Four International program The Real Da Vinci
Code, AETN’s Beyond The Da Vinci Code and TeleImage’s Miracle
Planet 11. All of these programs are history and civilisation
films. The next three most watched programs, two from the UK
and one from Australia were 5th Dimension, Beatles Biggest
Secrets and Beyond Tomorrow. Coming in at the 20, 21 and 22
most watched were 1001 Golf Dreams from Germany, Kamasutra
from the USA and Penis Dimentia from Canada. MIPDOC
statistics show that buyers still wanted more history, current
affairs and entertaining programming.
MEAD Ridem reported that over 12,000 delegates attended from
99 countries, consolidating MIPTV’s reputation (including
MILIA) as the international platform for global TV and digital
content professionals.
Dawn Airey’s message in her MIPTV keynote speech, Fast Forward
to TV 2015, was clear: in the multimedia business of the
future, the prices of TV content will have to go down.
“Prices will fall as programs become ubiquitous,” said Airey,
managing director of UK-based Sky Networks. “If movies are
available on mobile, why would broadcasters pay high prices
for the same content?”
It was reported that Airey argued however, that consumers will
ultimately benefit from the greater choice of content and
distribution devices. Moreover, new technology and the greater
storage capacity on home-entertainment equipment, such as
personal video recorders (PVRs), will give consumers more
power to determine what to watch, when and how. “Consider the
wealth of creativity in this room” she added. “Why do we
continue to churn out linear storylines?” But Airey covered
her tracks by also stating that big-brand TV channels,
traditional news programming, reality and event programs will
continue to dominate TV content in 2015.
The digital revolution has entered people’s homes and
broadcasters must learn to live with the changes. That was
the message delivered in three MIPTV keynote speeches. Both
Kevin Corbett, chief technology officer at Intel’s digital
home group, and Joe Belfiore, general manager of Microsoft’s
Windows eHome division, stressed the importance of the
computer.
It was reported - “The PC represents the single greatest
opportunity for content creators” Belfiore said. “It’s a highpowered device that people buy with their own money, with an
open architecture. That is in contrast with low-powered,
subsidised set-top boxes with individual architectures.” “The
entertainment PC is at the centre of our vision of the digital
home, controlling different media streams to different media”
Corbett said.
Simon Spalding, CEO of Fremantle Media Licensing Worldwide,
depicted a future in which the consumer is king and producers
need to evolve new business models. He was reported saying
“Advertisers tell us they will cut spend when PVR penetration
reaches 30 per cent” said Spalding. “That’s a challenge for
broadcasters and producers alike.” New strategies and
partnerships could beat the threats. Potential strategies
include game shows offering real-time competitions, awarding
loyalty points for live viewing and accumulating data on
viewers’ programming preferences to better target the most
appropriate advertising. “For producers and broadcasters to
reap the rewards of these innovations, they must learn to
master the new technologies and crucially the data that
emerges.”
The increasingly niche nature of the pay-TV channel
environment and the emergence of broadband and mobile as
viewing platforms have implications for everyone in the
business. Some felt that even in an on-demand environment
people will choose to watch flagship programming live. Others
worried about ‘future proofing’ programming in terms of rights
and ad revenue while others felt there wasn’t enough time to
watch television at all. Digital platforms siphon off
advertising revenue from traditional broadcasters – revenue
that can be ploughed into original programming. Some
broadcasters are launching their own digital platforms to
retain control of the advertising market. An alternative
would be to sell content directly to consumers, like a boxoffice-on-TV.
The first ever 'Made for Mobile' screenings were packed out.
12 programs were presented, and three projects were awarded
prizes: Eurovision Playback Star by Beckoffice Germany, Diving
Competition by Manchester United plc, UK, and Who Kidnapped
Rachel B., by Chooz Active Content, Israel.
The United Nations was at MIPTV to encourage the production of
AIDS awareness-raising programming. The UN held its second
meeting of the UN-backed Global Media AIDS Initiative (GMAI)
with some of the world’s most important media and television
CEOs. This is at a time when UNAIDS and the World Health
Organisation consider as many as two thirds of the worldwide
45 million new HIV infections expected to occur by 2015 could
be avoided by better prevention and education. The UN was
encouraging broadcasters to show AIDS-related programming as a
global response to a world crisis. MTV, an active promoter of
AIDS awareness, offers its AIDS-focussed ‘Staying Alive’
programming free.
Caroline Petit, promotion and distribution manager for the UN,
brought 25 media representatives from 12 UN agencies to MIPTV,
to discuss co-productions and strategic alliances with
broadcasters.
The UN also asked TV producers to present AIDS-related
programming ideas to a panel of broadcasters in a special
pitching session. Two documentary film proposals on HIV/AIDS
won €5,000 of seed development funding at the AIDS Programming
Pitch. The long-form winner was Article Z’s Sinesipho: Why
Must I Die? - 52 minutes, directed by Pierre Peyrott and
produced by Patrice Barrat. The project, which celebrates the
life of an AIDS orphan from South Africa, has backing from,
among others, France 2 and Australia’s SBS, and web
distribution via the Mad Mundo network.
Documentaries offer less of a distribution market than they did five
years ago; the economics of the genre and market require piecing
finance together from numerous territories reducing the sales
potential. Licence fees are lower due to the fractured market.
The BBC is widely regarded as the driving force behind the full-blown
docu-drama. Factual films like the BBC’s Pompeii: The Last Day and
Supervolcano are dropping many of the traditional characteristics of a
documentary and resemble telemovies. Both these were co-productions
with Discovery in the first case and Discovery, ProSieben, Mediaset
and NHK for the second. Docu-drama can be seen as trying to find the
modern way of combining dramatic narrative with factual content. All
filmmakers know that to go the next step and add dialogue to drama is
a perilous step. A lot of money needs to be spent on talent. Reenactments are just pictures, but crossing the line into movie making
is dangerous as it only works if it is very good. Without the budgets
the danger is that they will look like cheap movies. The best films
are still coming from teams of people who know what they are doing.
The film-maker, the access they have, and a good story are still king.
With the new code of practice and increased rights in the UK,
independent companies are open to the business of distribution.
Producers are now wary of handing over rights wholesale to any single
distributor.
UK free-to-air broadcasters will now rarely fully fund
a program and the NGC and Discoveries will be where the rest of the
money will often be found. By licensing to a global player the sellon potential of the program is greatly diminished.
Some Australian documentary filmmakers and industry people at MIPTV
included:
NSW
Ian Collie, Essential Viewing
Chris Hilton, Essential Viewing
Sonja Armstrong, Essential Viewing
Juliet Rosser, Essential Viewing
Margie Bryant, Serendipity Productions
Carlos Alperin, El Zorro Distribution - Poverty of Abundance
Cynthia Connop, Byron Bay
Rosemary Blight, RB Films
Tim Clucas, Channel 10
Michael Healy, Channel 9
Augustus Dulgaro, Manager Content Sales, ABC Content Sales,
ABC
Marena Manzoufas, Programmer, ABC
VIC
Ross Tatarka Film Victoria,
Steve Amezdroz, December Films Pty Ltd
QLD
Mark Chapman, Big Island Pictures
Ruth Berry, Big Island Pictures
Melissa Kelly, Big Island Pictures
Brett Shorthouse
Norm Wilkinson
Karen Berkman
NT
Jacqui North, Executive Producer, CAAMA Productions Pty Ltd
WA
Ed Punchard, Prospero Productions
Julia Redwood, Prospero Productions
Andrew Ogilvie, Electric Pictures
Brian Beaton, Artemis Films
Celia Tait, Artemis Films
Aiden O'Bryan doco/multimedia
I had meetings with commissioning editors and sales people that
included the following:
Ann Julienne, Director of Programs & Co-productions, France 5
ajulienne@france5.fr
Ann is looking for strong high budget programs. 90-minute films or a
2xhour series is of interest. Science, archaeology, dinosaurs, wildlife
and disaster programs work well for France 5. Too many interviews in
English are a problem for them. Maximum price paid by France 5 is EU
50,000 including the French adaptation. Usual price will be EU 8,800
for two runs over three years and they will window with other French
broadcasters. Recent copros: Penguins Under Siege (Parthenon) and The
First Americans (Wall to Wall).
Jennifer Buzzelli, Senior Director, International Distribution and Coproduction, Court TV, NY
Buzzellij@courttv.com
Court TV began with broadcasting the OJ Simpson trial. In 1998 it had
new management and since then has gone from strength to strength. There
are 83 million subscribers. It sees itself as the network of record for
trials and justice. It relies on advertising and ratings to function.
Jennifer is looking for one-hour single topic films about murder
investigations that have been adjudicated. It must have lots of twists
and turns and a US connection. Facing the Demon is the only FFC film to
sell to Court TV to date. Court TV will pay US$200,000 for a commission
and UD$50K – 90K for an Acquisition.
Lilla Hurst, Head of Co-production, Five
lilla.hurst@five.tv
www.five.tv
In the new era of UK television where the producers keep their
program rights, Lilla Hurst has become a valuable facilitator
of co-productions. She brought Bravo in on the second series
of The Gadget Show and has attracted funds for The Greatest
Ever and The History of. Channel Five’s factual output is
increasingly consolidating into series despite having the
lowest programming budget of any terrestrial channel, with 190
million pounds. Key themes for Five are royalty, crime and a
new series called Shock Docs. Five is running at 11pm a
series called All New Cosmetic Surgery Live.
Dan Chambers is the Director of Programs at Five. Alex
Sutherland is the commissioning editor for history
alex.sutherland@five.tv and Justine Kirshaw the commissioning
editor for science justine.kershaw@five.tv. For acquisitions
contact Bethan Corney with a synopsis and she will determine
whether to send a viewing tape. Bethan.Corney@five.tv
Jane Latman, Manager, Programming & Acquisitions, Discovery Times
Channel
jane_latman@discovery.com
Discovery Times Channel, launched in March 2003, is a joint venture
between The New York Times Company and Discovery Communications, Inc.,
offering documentaries that explore the ‘why’ behind what’s happening
and examine the events that shape the world. It operates from DCI
headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland. It looks for one hour proposals
and series in subject areas from world events to popular culture
including:
 Contemporary history (post WW11) with an angle on today;
 Current social and political issues (US or international);
 Profiles of news makers or important figures of contemporary history
 Important events and entertaining trends that impact the times we
live in.
 They do not want health or science programs or personal journey
films.
Each night there is a different anthology series.
Monday - World Wire for stories on international society, politics and
culture
Tuesday – New York Times Reporting – provocative news making stories
on contemporary and historical issues. Doping to Win was screened
here.
Wednesday – Our Times in History – a strand for screening the back
catalogue.
Thursday – Screening Room – for creative festival type films but not
personal or sentimental films.
Friday – Risk Factor – topical news making stories with intense human
dramas. From heroes who perform dangerous jobs to elite military
teams. (A more traditional Discovery slot) skewed to a male audience
interested in technology, war, action.
Saturday – American Pulse unique American culture stories. They have
done a co-production with Channel Five UK.
Licence fees for original programming will range from US$100,000 to
$200,000 for US rights and acquisitions will attract US$15 – 60,000.
David Bradbury’s film, Fond Memories of Cuba has screened on DTC.
All proposals are to be submitted online at
http://producers.discovery.com
Acquisitions are accepted by mail at;
Discovery Times Channel Acquisitions
One Discovery Place Silver Spring, MD 20910 USA
Krishan Arora, Senior Commissioning Executive, Independents & Nations
(Regions), Specialist Factual, BBC
krishan.arora@bbc.co.uk
He is trying to make dense subjects in popular ways. He said the
pressure of trying to deliver 2.3 million audiences for a 9pm screening
determines commissioning. One-offs will not work in these primetime
slots. For the BBC to work with Australian filmmakers there, needs to
be a broadcasting objective for the BBC and an Australian broadcaster.
Andy Halper, Senior Producer, News and Public Affairs, Wide
Angle, WNET Thirteen New York
halper@thirteen.org
www.thirteen.org
The Wide Angle documentary series will enter its fourth season
on PBS this summer in the US. It delivers 45-minute reports
from global hotspots to give television viewers a forum for
understanding the complex and dramatic stories that are shaping
the world.
Topics under consideration for this season include:
Vietnam/ Thailand: the global health risk and the economic
catastrophe in Southeast Asia, of the Avian Flu.
India: the boom in high-tech service jobs, and the cultural
repercussions of ‘outsourcing’.
China: as the market economy takes hold, the legal system is in
the process of rapid change and adaptation, to follow new
lawyers and judges in the court system as they create it.
Haiti: elections are planned again for October 2005: who are the
candidates campaigning to run a country that has collapsed
repeatedly?
Belarus: is another post-Soviet state on the verge of a revolution?
Diane Rotteau, Commissioning Editor, CBC Newsworld, CBC Radio-Canada
Diane_rotteau@cbc.ca
www.cbc.ca/docs
Diane works with Catherine Olsen whose strand, Passionate Eye, has 6 –
8 hours for Canadian co-productions to be commissioned. Witness has 6
– 8 hours commissioned a year.
Christoph Jorg, ARTE Thema Specialist Factual, ARTE France.
Christoph Jörg is a commissioning executive in the Arte France
Specialist Factual department, handling history, science, religion and
sport ideas. He is in charge of international development and
international co-productions. He is looking for cutting edge, arts
and cultural programs for a large audience. His themed nights have
covered terrorism, economic crises and globalisation. He is presently
involved in four co-financed productions with Australia.
Danny Cohen, Head of Documentaries, Channel Four, UK
d.cohen@channel4.uk
Danny took over from Peter Dale who has moved to head up Channel
Four’s new free-to-air digital factual channel, More Four, which
launches in October. More Four’s budget will be £33 million pounds,
20 million of which is for programming. Peter Dale wants to spend
large amounts of money on a few key pieces providing authorship for
the channel. The channel will also show smaller-scale documentaries,
acquired programming and updated Channel Four shows at 9pm. More Four
will also repeat Channel Four’s lifestyle and leisure shows such as
Location, Location, Location. It will launch on all platforms and air
fresh content each day between 4pm and 12am with repeats until 6am.
The popularity of shows like Jamie’s School Dinners and the UN import
Desperate Housewives has helped Channel Four become the only channel
to grow its audience for the first three months of the year. Danny is
looking for contemporary documentaries as well as formats, big docudramas such as Born with Two Mothers which screened last week. Simon
Dixon who works with Danny as commissioning editor, formed his
signature style with The Boy Whose Skin Fell Off. Simon is looking
for strong and dramatic stories. He has commissioned a two part
series on adoption, another about mentally ill children. Meredith
Chambers commissions major series such as access to the family court,
popular documentaries as well as working with the documentary stars
such as Angus McQueen and Kevin McDonald. Once a month on a Thursday,
a big documentary will be screened such as 9/11 or Super Size Me.
Richard Life, Head of Programs. Channel Four International
60 per cent of C4I’s catalogue is factual programming. In
April they launched several drama titles, a smattering of
kids’ shows and formats and a new comedy/ entertainment show,
World Shut Your Mouth that C4I is representing for BBC. On the
drama side they show cased two Australian productions, Hilton
Cordell’s telemovie, Hell Has Harbour Views, and the Channel 7
Network’s 22x1-hour Last Man Standing.
Unique among European public broadcasters, Channel 4 is state
owned but it receives no license fee or state funds. It
operates as a completely independent firm that is entirely
funded by advertising and whatever revenues it can raise from
its commercial activities, such as international program
sales, DVDs or merchandising.
Richard said that his company has been acquiring international
distribution rights from producers, including those creating
product for other channels. C4I has a remit to expand the
business and more programs that aired on ITV, Channel 5 and
the BBC. It is building up its format business as well. The
Channel’s format That Will Teach ‘Em was a big hit in France
last year, and it has sold its Supernanny format to the US.
Channel Four is best known for boundary pushing like Anatomy
for Beginners 4x50 minutes, featuring human dissections by
Gunther von Hagens. Born with Two Mothers 1 x 76 minutes is
from Windfall. Jump Britain 1 x 50 minutes literally leaping
from roof to roof in death defying yet beautiful series of
jumps slides and somersaults.
C4I is able to offer development and investment funding to
quite a high level; it has a development fund of £2 million,
£15 million of deficit funding and £3 million for coproduction. This season’s C4I catalogue begins with HBO
titles. Ancient Plastic Surgery, a 2 x 50-minute film uncovers
ancient face-lifts, breast reductions and eye lift operations
without anaesthetics. The startling Anatomy for Beginners is
event television with controversial anatomist Gunther von
Hagens who performs dissections on real human bodies. The
Curse of Debbie Does Dallas revisits the original film, once
dubbed ‘happy porn’. The film is shrouded in mystery – who
made all the money? What happened to Bambi Woods? What
became of the cast?
Catherine Le Clef, Doc & Co, Paris
Doc@doc-co.com
www.doc-co.com
Created in 1996 by eight French independent producers to
distribute their documentaries. Under the management of
Catherine Le Clef since July 1999,
DOC & CO has broadened its mandate and today distributes
internationally documentaries from all over the world. DOC &
CO represents a large catalogue of quality titles in the
following categories:
Society, Current Affairs, History, Arts & Culture, Science,
Discovery & Adventure.
Catherine is selling The Mademoiselle and the Doctor as her
first Australian film and hopes to find more.
Huw Walters, Head of Co-Productions, S4C International
huw.walters@s4c.co.uk
www.s4ci.com
S4C is an active co-production partner in international
documentary and animation, with a strong sense of story and
high production values. S4C will provide a licence fee and
S4C International will provide an advance against
international distribution rights. S4C will work with its coproducers to help version the Welsh version. It is always
looking for hooks such as anniversaries to hang screenings on.
This is reflected in the recent two-hour series by December
Films – Revealing Gallipoli.
Mark Reynolds, Head of International Factual, Granada
International
mark.reynolds@granadamedia.com
Granada’s latest big factual production is Titanic, a docudrama focusing on the engineering achievement and construction
of the ship, rather than its doomed voyage. It is financed by
ITV, Discovery US and NDR Germany.
David Lawley Managing Director & Rosi Krupa, Head of Sales and
Factual Manager, Indigo Film, UK
Rosikrupa@indigofilm.com
www.indigofilm.com
Based in London Indigo Film & Television has established
itself as an alternative independent distribution company
offering a more ‘hands on’ approach. It is a co-producer of
films, drama series, documentaries, entertainment series and
children’s programming. Indigo primarily exploits TV, video,
DVD and Non-theatrical rights worldwide but is extending its
business interests to include licensing, internet and
publishing activities. They are looking to represent
documentaries in all genres including culture, lifestyle,
history, music, natural history, reality, science, social
documentaries, supernatural and travel series.
Ellen Windemuth, Managing Director, Off the Fence, Amsterdam
ellen@offthefence.com
www.offthefence.com
Ellen sold this company in 2000 to the German media company
RTV but bought it back again two years later. Since then it
has been a period of growth including securing the
distribution rights to NHNZ. She also has a production
company in the UK. Two of the films that she is making are
Jaws and Me: Journey of a Shark Man and Secrets of the
Humpbacks, about how those whales transfer knowledge to each
other. This company works mainly in the areas of natural
history, history (contemporary and ancient) and science.
Ellen is keen to meet Australian producers and consider
projects that may be suitable. Off The Fence has a Sales
Executive based in Melbourne, Nha-Uyen Chau. Her email is nhauyen@didimau.com
Jan Rofekamp, CEO, Films Transit, Montreal and Barbara Truyen,
Amsterdam www.filmstransit.com
Films Transit is presently selling The President versus David Hicks,
The Man Who Stole My Mother’s Face, The Men Who Would Conquer China
and Molly and Mobarak all financed by the FFC.
The company is keen
on a number of productions presented at the recent AIDC in Adelaide
and are tracking the development with the filmmakers.
Ian Jones, President, National Geographic Television International,
London
Previously from Granada, Ian Jones joined NGTI over a year ago when it
was called Explore. It was renamed to reflect the strong media brand.
The brand stands for high quality history, science, culture,
civilisation and natural history. NGTI will make high-end blue-chip
programs with CGI costing millions as well as low cost, long running
series, all of which will be factually accurate. King Tut’s Curse is
one of its recent major events. For the 90-minute special, the famous
mummy was removed from its tomb for the first time and underwent a CT
scan, which shows King Tut internally and externally. They are hoping
to reconstruct what he looked liked and his cause of death. NGTI has
recently co-invested with the FFC on the Electric Pictures production
Superflu.
Marina Matteoni, Head of Programming, TVF International, London
marina.matteoni@tvf.co.uk www.tvfinternational.com
TVF is a London-based sales company. Marina Matteoni has taken over
from Pippa Lambert who was well known to Australian film-makers.
Marina said that UK broadcasters were spending less money on high
budget documentaries, as they no longer get the rights. TVF has sold
a number of FFC-financed films and is interested doing more with
filmmakers. Australian titles include Beyond Sorry, Jimmy’s Kitchen
and Beer: An Insider’s Guide.
Jane Millichip, Head of Acquisitions, RDF International, UK
www.rdfinternational.com
Next month RDF will float on the London Stock Exchange with a
valuation of around 55 million pounds. It was reported that the
listing was to give the company better fundraising capabilities to
appoint new executives and buy other independents, primarily drama and
comedy producers. The company is best known for its formats Wife Swap
and Faking It for Channel Four. Recent titles about medical, science
and technology include Allergic to Life and Boy in a Million for
Channel Four, and Plastic Surgery Ruined My Marriage for Channel 5.
RDF is an important sales company for Australian documentaries in
providing the deficit finance to trigger FFC equity. It has many FFC
financed productions including Sonja Armstrong’s Heat in the Kitchen,
Hilton Cordell’s series The Colony and Dust to Dust, the Electric
Pictures series, Submariners and the Prospero’s series Shipwreck
Detectives 1 & 2.
Lucy Dawkins, Acquisitions Co-ordinator, All3Media
International UK
lucy.dawkins@all3media.com
www.all3media.com
This company is selling the Hilton Cordell production A Case
for the Coroner and is keen to be involved with more
independent Australian production. They do put up advances to
help finance production. Titles include Airport Series 7, The
Book Show, Fifth Gear Series, The Snip, Vegas Virgins, Coach.
Augustus Dulgaro, Manager Content Sales, ABC Content Sales,
ABC
dulgaro.augustus@abc.net.au
ABC Content Sales was representing a number of FFC documentary
titles – The End Game, I Told You I Was Ill - Spike Milligan,
All Points of the Compass, Poverty Of Abundance, The Shearers
and Tug Of Love.
Kate Falconer, Acquisitions & Development Manager, MetroDome
kfalconer@metrodomegroup.com
www.metrodomegroup.com
There are 20 people working at Metrodome, their biggest
competitor in the UK being Tartan and Soda. The larger sales
companies are Momentum, Optimum, Pathe and Red Bus.
Metrodome’s audience is Arthouse and it aims to counter
program to the mainstream cinemas. American documentaries do
well as audiences are fascinated with American culture. They
try to pick up 12 documentary titles a year. They take the
theatrical and DVD rights for ten years for the UK and
includes Gibraltar, Malta and Ireland. For documentaries it
can pay up to US$25,000 for these rights. Kate was very keen
to hear from Australian film-makers and will be attending
Cannes.
Metrodome is about to release Bus 174 (three prints).
The
Corporation took £ 300,000 at the box office while Spellbound
too £500,000. At Berlin they acquired Mad Hot Ballroom liking
it for its warm heartedness. She believes it taps into the
Zeitgeist. They don’t attend Sundance as they believe the
prices are inflated.
Himesh Kar, Senior Executive, New Cinema Fund, UK Film Council
Himesh.kar@ukfilmcouncil.org.uk
www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk
The New Cinema Fund supports innovation, new talent and
cutting edge filmmaking. Its budget is £5 million per annum.
The contact for documentaries is Himesh Car.
The Fund has supported 8 feature theatrical documentaries
including John Dower's documentary Live Forever, Soffie
Feinne’s Hoover Street Revival, the very successful Kevin
Macdonald's BAFTA winner, Touching the Void, Game Over and the
Diameter of the Bomb. The Film Council was part of the World
Documentary Fund with the BBC and the Canadian National Film
Board that financed the later two films. This Fund is now
defunct because the need for Canadian content for the NFB
defeated the purpose of a world fund and the NFB sales arm was
not set up for the theatrical needs of the Film Council. The
deal structures to date for theatrical documentaries have been
mixed but the most straightforward have been an international
sales agent for ROW, a domestic sales agent for the UK, a UK
TV licence and equity, and the Film Council equity.
The Council is presently working on two documentaries that
were chosen after assessing the director’s previous work and
the strength of the treatment. The budgets are both over a
million pounds. The treatment must show evidence of structure
and what will make it work as a film. In both cases the
Council financed pilots to test the material. In one case the
Council paid for Empire Design, the number one film trailer
company in the UK, to cut a pilot from hours of footage. Each
pilot has a different rationale but it is always to ‘unlock
the block’. The Council asks the filmmakers to do this when
they feel a proposal is interesting but not sufficiently
convincing. There is a £10, 000 cap on pilots, which is
classified as production finance not development monies.
Filmmakers must make the pilot as well as provide a report
that covers the following three areas:
1. the director must provide a detailed production plan to
finish the film;
2. a details narrative structure;
3. the producer must provide a report on the process of
producing the pilot and what it will take to finish the film
as well as a detailed budget.
To date the Council has financed 12 pilots, six of which were
for documentaries.
Mark Urman – Head of US Theatrical, Daniel Katz, Vice
President of Acquisitions, ThinkFilm, New York
murman@thinkfilmcompany.com dkatz@thinkfilmcompany.com
ThinkFilm has been in the business for four years, moving into
distribution three years ago. The company has specialised in
foreign language and independent US feature films. Over the
past three years the catalogue has switch from 12 or so
features a year to 12 or more documentaries and only a few
features. Spellbound was the first documentary that ThinkFilm
sold as it provided all the elements of entertainment that
features aim to do – good structure, big heart and
suspenseful.
ThinkFilms has Born into Brothels which received this year’s
Oscar for docs. Mark estimates it will do US$3.5 million at
the box office. He sees it as an old style documentary but it
has uplift at the end. ThinkFilm did well with The Story of
the Weeping Camel which took US$2 million and received an
Oscar nomination.
Mark is excited by the theatrical possibilities and economies
for documentaries. He said a failed dramatic movie is worth
nothing but a second rate documentary still has potential.
The ancillary, DVD, television and niche opportunities are
greater than features or more reliable. He is selling a film
about chess that can plug into the niche DVD market for avid
players. The Sundance hit, Murder Ball was fully financed by
ThinkFilm taking all rights. He sold the television rights to
A&E more than covering the cost of the film. He sold the
distribution rights for Australia to Hopscotch. He has been
approached by an insurance company offering advertising the
broadcaster. Aristocrats was sold to Pathe in the UK for a
substantial amount more than covering costs again. Three of
Hearts has a US theatrical release in October.
Mark believes that feature documentaries need to be made for
the cinema by creative film-makers who need to avoid producing
flat-footed television. Talent is everything, with the
technology being so affordable and available; anyone can make
a film with no money. If they have no talent they will make
shit.
In choosing theatrical films in development, can be sure about
the subject matter for certain markets, eg the DVD market for
a wine film he picked up called Mondo Vino. One has to ask
“Why will someone pay $20 to buy a DVD?” People are burnt out
on politics. Bus 174 didn’t work, too down beat and heavy.
Lisa Heller, Home Box Office Inc (HBO), New York, Vice
President, Documentary & Family Programming & Atiyahi
Muhammad, Assistant
lisa.heller@hbo.com
atiyahi.muhammad@hbo.com
HBO has two Documentary strands – America Undercover where
they presale up to 100 per cent of the budget and it is nearly
always American stories. The Cinemax strand is more for
acquisitions of arts and festival programs. To gain a presale
from HBO, a filmmaker must represent footage. Lisa said this
is because the people she must persuade respond to tape/
visuals.
Satnam Maiharu, Deputy Chairman for Documentary, Aljazeera
Channel.
Aljazeera was launched in 1996 and is seen as the most trusted
Arab news source in the Middle East and is applauded by
journalists and human rights organisations. It has a global
focus on humanitarian and political issues. Despite being
banned in Saudia Arabia, Syria and Iran, it is carried on
three Arab Satellites and there are 30 bureaus worldwide.
Globally there are over 40 million viewers. It is planned to
launch a Documentary Channel that runs 24 hours a day,
broadcast in Arabic.
Cara Mertes, Executive Producer, POV PBS
mertes@pov.org www.pov.org
Cara is looking for documentaries and series that fit the POV
strands. POV films are personal and unvarnished reportage on
people’s lives. The three recent international productions
commissioned or acquired were War Feels Like War, The Brooklyn
Connection and Afghanistan Year 1380. The average acquisition
price paid is US$30,000 an hour. POV can co-present with WNET
and ITVS. More than 600 programs are submitted for
consideration each year, but only 12-14 programs are chosen.
Despite mostly commissioning from US citizens, POV's Executive
Director may solicit works from foreign producers on topics of
international significance. POV's next Call for Entries
deadline is July 1, 2005. The online and downloadable
submission forms will be available at the end of April.