Feature GENRE
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nce spotted only in the midnight programmes of mainstream film festivals, genre films have broken out over the last few years and are starting to make their mark across every section of the programme. Cannes is one such example; think Antichrist and Only God Forgives in Competition in 2009 and 2013, respectively, or Sightseers in 2012 in Directors’ Fortnight. This year sees the launch of Cannes’ first Fantastic Mixer networking event as part of the Marché, bringing together film-makers, producers and sales agents among others. Julian Richards of the UK’s Jinga Films, whose slate includes Jeremy Wooding’s Blood Moon and Alejandro Hidalgo’s The House At The End Of Time, says Cannes is a “one-stop shop” for genre films. “Cannes is still the market to launch a genre film because you can cover all territories, while also getting the attention of festival programmers and press worldwide.” “Cannes is a great market for us because we offer a specific elevated brand that the buyers have come to respect. You won’t find a romantic comedy or cheap knock-off in our booth,” adds Michael Paszt, managing partner of Canada’s Raven Banner, whose biggest draw here is Lowell Dean’s WolfCop, centring on an alcoholic cop who turns into a werewolf. “It’s a wonderful market and provides a platform for so many international distributors,” says Los Angeles-based Jason Blum, founder and CEO of Blumhouse Productions. “Cannes’ strength as an overall market translates into being a great market for genre as well.” This year Blumhouse International is overseeing sales of Sinister 2, Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman’s Viral, Kevin Greutert’s Visions and Brad Peyton’s Incarnate. Lloyd Kaufman, president and cofounder of Troma Entertainment, is less convinced about Cannes as a genre market: “Genre films used to ride the back of the bus at Cannes, now they’re not even on the bus.” To that end, Troma is in Cannes with a crowd-sourced documentary Occupy Cannes, which will deal largely with genre films and how they are treated at Cannes. In celebration of Troma’s 40th anniversary, Kaufman will also launch the trailer for Return To Nuke ’Em High: Vol 2 on the Croisette. Twist in the tale Talking of the current genre film-making scene, XYZ Films partner Nate Bolotin believes “it’s exciting and always changing because new film-makers are developing content all over the world, with different twists and takes on conventional genres”, citing countries like Indonesia
30 Screen International May 18, 2014
WolfCop
Genre bares its teeth As Cannes Marché launches its first Fantastic Mixer networking event, Ian Sandwell talks to some of the key players in genre film-making
Blood Moon
(Gareth Evans’ The Raid 2) and Australia (Zak Hilditch’s These Final Hours). Bolotin adds that current genre trends vary from country to country and in terms of XYZ’s approach, “the goal for us is to present the market with elements of genre they haven’t seen before. We’re constantly hearing from buyers that the same old stuff isn’t working well. We’re attempting to differentiate ourselves by identifying and supporting films and film-makers that aren’t afraid to take risks while still working within a commercial structure of storytelling.” XYZ’s diverse Cannes slate bears this out. The company will be introducing Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s Spring with a promo, footage from Ernesto Diaz Espinoza’s Redeemer and selling titles including Kevin Smith’s Tusk, Christopher Denham’s Preservation and Nicholas McCarthy’s Home. If there’s a trend to be found in genre at the moment, it’s that the films are more “director driven,” notes Sam Englebardt of Demarest Films, who is financing and producing Tusk: “That’s exactly how we structured Tusk where it was basically a creative bet on his [Kevin Smith’s] vision as a film-maker.” Blum, who is in Cannes for Directors’ Fortnight screenings of Sundance award winner Whiplash, says “things that make a great horror movie are always the same”, adding that characters and story should not become “secondary to the scares. Audiences are always interested in seeing new and different variations in genre. Film-makers and creators have to be more creative to hit their audiences and make sure they are creating great stories that will cut through the clutter.” Braving the battlefield Kaufman suggests the current scene is both booming and suffering from a distinctly modern conflict. “The innovators are making hundreds of genre movies and from this group come the gems that are visionary and game-changing. Unfortunately, very few of them get to play in movie theatres and are ignored. This is why the battlefield is littered with the dead careers of too many talented film-makers and the carcasses of independent movie studios,” he says. Englebardt agrees that genre films are not as safe financially as casual observers might expect. “Without a theatrical release, there’s not the same protective floor from foreign sales and the domestic DVD markets that there used to be,” says Englebardt. “So if you make a bad or even mediocre genre film, you can take a much bigger loss than most people realise.” However, the recent boom of genrefocused co-production markets — such »
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