World Screen European Film Market Edition 2017

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European Film Market Edition

WWW.WORLDSCREEN.COM

THE MAGAZINE OF INTERNATIONAL MEDIA • FEBRUARY 2017

European Drama / Artist View’s Scott Jones / New Films’ Nesim Hason

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CONTENTS

FEBRUARY 2017/EUROPEAN FILM MARKET EDITION DEPARTMENTS WORLD VIEW

By Mansha Daswani.

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UPFRONTS New content on the market.

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MARKET TRENDS Artist View’s Scott Jones.

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SPOTLIGHT New Films’ Nesim Hason.

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WORLD’S END In the stars.

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Publisher Ricardo Seguin Guise Group Editorial Director Anna Carugati Editor Mansha Daswani Executive Editor Kristin Brzoznowski Managing Editor Joanna Padovano Tong

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Associate Editor Sara Alessi Editor, Spanish-Language Publications Elizabeth Bowen-Tombari

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Associate Editors, Spanish-Language Publications Rafael Blanco Robert Valencia Contributing Editor Elizabeth Guider Production & Design Director Victor L. Cuevas Online Director Simon Weaver Art Director Phyllis Q. Busell Senior Sales & Marketing Manager Dana Mattison Business Affairs Manager Andrea Moreno Contributing Writers Steve Clarke Andy Fry Jane Marlow Joanna Stephens Jay Stuart David Wood Copy Editor Amy Canonico

Ricardo Seguin Guise President Anna Carugati Executive VP Mansha Daswani Associate Publisher & VP of Strategic Development WORLD SCREEN is published ten times per year: January, February, March, April, May, June/July, September, October, November and December.

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SPECIAL REPORT

10 EUROPE’S FINEST Mansha Daswani explores the latest trends in the European drama business.

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WORLD VIEW

BY MANSHA DASWANI

Dramatic Showdown Many industry watchers spent a lot of time debating the peak-TV question last year. Is there too much drama? Will people continue to tune in and sample new fare when there’s a seemingly endless array of shows to choose from? As viewership continues to fragment, how will platforms be able to afford high-end drama investments?

“Peak TV” officially joined the media lexicon in 2015, when there were 409 original scripted titles across the U.S. landscape. Fast-forward 12 months and Julie Piepenkotter, the executive VP of research at FX Networks, confirmed that U.S. scripted hadn’t peaked yet. “Peak TV was once again far from peaky in 2016, with a record 455 scripted original series across broadcast, cable and streaming sources.” That marks an 8-percent gain on 2015 and a 71-percent increase since 2011.

The fact that there was so much drama coming out of the U.S., though, wasn’t the only game-changer in 2016; indeed, European scripted’s light grew even brighter. As my report in this edition shows, European drama is in fine form, with hits emerging from across the continent and a wealth of new co-pro opportunities available. As it turns out, drama is in fine form in a lot of places. Turkey’s exports have broken new ground, Latin American broadcasters are innovating with “super series” and several Asian dramas are being formatted across the globe. (Notable examples: Nippon TV’s Mother becoming a Turkish hit and ABC in the U.S. ordering a murder mystery based on a Korean series.)

What other trends are shaping the drama business in 2017? In the quest for breakout hits, producers are eagerly snapping up book rights as they look for new ways to clamber through the clutter. Some of the productions in the works include adaptations of Michel Bussi’s Le Temps est Assassin (Time is a Killer), Maria Semple’s Today Will Be Different (starring Julia Roberts in her first major TV role), Swedish author Jan Guillou’s best-selling Hamilton books, Chloe Benjamin’s The Immortalists (with that deal sealed before the book was even on shelves), Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, Robert Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land and John le Carré’s The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (on the heels of the critical and commercial success of AMC/BBC’s The Night Manager).

Plus, the BBC has inked a significant deal with Agatha Christie Productions for seven new adaptations of the author’s work over the next four years. Networks and producers are even dealing directly with famed authors— James Patterson has an agreement with ID and Harlan Coben set up his own outfit with the U.K.’s RED Production Company. The reboot/spin-off/inspired-by trend is another one to keep watching. Some of the projects in the works for 2017 are a Sons of Anarchy spin-off, a

European drama is in fine form, with hits emerging from across the continent and

a wealth of co-pro opportunities available.

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Snowpiercer series, new versions of Knight Rider and Dynasty, an adaptation of The Lost Boys, and Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan for Amazon. Star Trek: Discovery and a Good Wife spin-off are part of CBS’s efforts to make its All Access SVOD service a must-have subscription. And Twin Peaks fans will be eagerly awaiting David Lynch’s return to that story this year on Showtime.

While serialized shows are making the most headlines, the demand for compelling procedurals remains high—some of the market’s biggest have come to an end (think Castle) or will end soon (Bones). Several companies are looking to fill that gap in the market.

Entertainment One’s Ransom began rolling out this year with RTL, CBS, TF1 and Global as anchor partners.

RTL and TF1 are also on board NBCUniversal International Studios’ new procedural drama series, Gone, based on Chelsea Cain’s novel One Kick.

What else will we be keeping our eyes on this year?

Netflix’s global production strategy, as the platform steps up its localization efforts around the world. We’ll also be eagerly watching the now-global Amazon Prime on the heels of its big content investments like Deutschland 86. And how will HBO fill the gap left

by Game of Thrones (the most-pirated show in the world), which will end with season eight?

Co-production is still the word of the moment, even though the very nature of drama co-pros is in a constant state of flux. How will alliances shift and evolve as broadcasters and platforms look to control as many rights as possible?

For those making and selling drama these days, there’s much to be excited about. The genres in demand are as diverse as the countries providing shows to the global market. Episode counts and durations are in flux as storytellers play with the freedom afforded them by online platforms. Master showrunners like Ryan Murphy, Shonda Rhimes, Dick Wolf and Steven Moffat still command a lot of airtime, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for new breakout talent (à la the Duffer Brothers with Netflix’s summer binge hit Stranger Things). But in an era of peak TV, there are challenges ahead. As Rebecca Eaton, the executive producer of Masterpiece on PBS, told me early last year, “What will be the fate of all this product? How will the audience, even with time shifting, be able to manage it? It does seem a little unsustainable to me, and I speak from a focus group of one, myself, just trying to keep up with the [shows] I want to watch. With all this drama, I don’t know how anybody can keep up in the numbers we need them to keep up.”

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UPFRONTS

Artist View Entertainment Chokehold / Z-Rex / Dead Draw Among the selection of films Artist View Entertainment has to offer is the mixed martial arts (MMA) movie Chokehold. “We are very pleased to be promoting our new MMA movie Chokehold, a high-action feature that will complete post-production in early spring 2017,” says Scott Jones, the president of Artist View. There are also the creature features Z-Rex and Tsunambee. “We have had very positive feedback and interest in our creature features and believe they fill an important niche in the marketplace,” Jones notes. Artist View’s slate also includes the action thriller Dead Draw, the horror ghost story The Domicile, the faith-based drama Don’t Look Back, the female-driven thriller Her Secret Sessions and the action-infused thriller Desiree.

“We will continue to look for strong content to bring to the market.”

—Scott Jones

Chokehold

Series Mania Co-Production Forum April 18–21, 2017 The next edition of the Series Mania Co-Production Forum, organized by Forum des images, will take place from April 18 to 21, having been extended from three days to four following the success of the 2016 event. “For the last edition, we received 209 projects and selected 15,” says Laurence Herszberg, the director of Forum des images and founder of the Series Mania Festival. “This year, with the reputation of the Series Mania Co-Production Forum getting bigger, and with the announcement of a €50,000 prize going to the producer of the best project, we are expecting even more entries.” A total of 16 series in development will be presented to an audience of 400 international industry executives. A jury will select the best project, and the producer will be awarded prize money for development.

“This Co-Production Forum...is now becoming the event for networking, discussing projects and having time in a friendly environment to do some business.”

—Laurence Herszberg

Series Mania The Fall

ZDF Enterprises Tempel / Dance Academy: The Comeback / The Fall Ken Duken stars in the Berlin-set crime series Tempel, on offer from ZDF Enterprises (ZDFE). The show centers on a 41-year-old male nurse who rejoins a criminal organization in order to save his family from financial ruin. ZDF and ZDFE teamed up with Australia’s Werner Film Productions to co-produce Dance Academy: The Comeback, a featurelength movie based on the teen drama series Dance Academy. A third highlight for ZDFE is The Fall, a cat-andmouse thriller led by Gillian Anderson and Jamie Dornan.

The series delivers “a huge serving of glamor and suspense, of dark and rainy days in a Belfast that still vibrates with a vague feeling of uneasiness,” says Alexander Coridass, the president and CEO of ZDFE. He adds that both stars bring “megawatt charisma and looks to their roles.”

“These programs clearly bear the stamp of the finest European productions.”

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Red Arrow’s Farang.

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EUROPE’S

FINEST Mansha Daswani spotlights the latest trends in the European drama business. here were two major business developments in 2016 that are expected to have significant ramifications for European drama this year, and it should come as no surprise that they involve the world’s two biggest streaming platforms: Netflix and Amazon.

Netflix, on the heels of its whopping $100 million investment in its first U.K.-based original, The Crown, premiered its first French commission and unveiled plans for original series in Germany, Spain, Scandinavia and Italy.

Amazon Prime Video, meanwhile, which wrapped its global rollout at the end of the year, made headlines when it announced it would be backing the continuation of Deutschland 83, Deutschland 86.

A critical darling that found a U.S. co-production partner in SundanceTV and sold well globally (courtesy of FremantleMedia International), Deutschland 83 failed to make waves for its original commissioning broadcaster, RTL. The expansion of the European content slates at these two platforms opens up a wealth of new opportunities, both in terms of original commissions and creating new windows. That development, many executives believe, will impact the creative process and forms of storytelling in Continental European drama.

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“In the more traditional markets, like Germany, France and Italy, the content has been very much defined by the broadcasters,” observes Amelie von Kienlin, the senior VP of scripted acquisitions and co-productions at Red Arrow International. The arrival of OTT platforms provides an environment where “creatives can break down barriers in terms of the storytelling.

This is going to refresh the market creatively, and it will change the traditional broadcasters.”

STREAMING SENSIBILITIES “You can produce more highquality drama that is not necessarily dependent on a focus group,” says Fredrik af Malmborg, the managing director of Eccho Rights, on the impact of OTT platforms.

“There is more room for storytelling and there are more clients at the moment.”

Robert Franke, the VP of ZDFE.drama at ZDF Enterprises, expresses a similar opinion about the impact of OTT, noting, “There is certainly a shift toward nontraditional players from the digital world entering the markets and disrupting traditional production models. We believe that co-pros with big SVOD platforms will continue to become more important for gap financing or even as originators of new programs.”

While the OTT platforms are certainly making headlines with

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their European scripted investments, the majority of drama from Continental Europe is being backed by linear broadcasters, free and pay. And much of it is making its way well beyond national borders, being licensed to outlets across the region and, increasingly, around the world.

“We are seeing that there is an ongoing trend to produce highquality drama where top-notch storytelling is the paramount goal,” reports Alexander Coridass, the president and CEO of ZDF Enterprises. “Germany is just a canvas for these new types of sophisticated narratives and programs.

Ku’damm 56 or Deutschland 83 are good examples of series that have the power to travel the world and find audiences everywhere.”

Reflecting the scripted opportunities in the German market, all3media International, a major supplier of British and Australian series, is touting its first local drama, Heidelberg’s Brain, a coproduction between Germany’s Filmpool Fiction and the U.K.’s Lime Pictures.

MADE IN SPAIN Spanish shows, too, are finding new windows. ATRESMEDIA Televisión, for example, sold Velvet to the U.S., France, Italy, Brazil, Russia, Finland and Korea, among other markets, while The Secret of Old Bridge has traveled extensively

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From Bambú Producciones for Antena 3 in Spain, the period piece Velvet has been one of ATRESMEDIA’s top sellers internationally, rolling out across Europe and Latin America and clinching a deal in Korea. across Eastern Europe and was even sold into Nigeria. On what’s happening in Spanish fiction today, José Antonio Salso, head of sales and acquisitions at ATRESMEDIA Televisión, comments, “Stories are more internationally appealing and less oriented to a local audience.

On the one hand, romantic stories such as Velvet are trendy, [as are] thrillers such as Plastic Sea.” Salso says that the international profile of Spanish drama has seen tremendous gains over the last three years, and ATRESMEDIA is working hard to expand its business in the U.S. and Asia in 2017 and build on its strong presence in Europe and Latin America.

At Eccho Rights, Turkish dramas have been strong sellers alongside a number of series from Western Europe. A lead title recently was Flight HS13, commissioned by Dutch pubcaster KRO NCRV and based on the Ay Yapim Turkish hit The End. “It was the best-rating series on that channel during the fall,” says af Malmborg. “We’ve sold it to Walter Presents in the U.K. and we have a deal in France.”

The End is also being adapted in Spain and Russia, af Malmborg notes, adding, “It’s amazing that we have the same script in three different European markets.”

Another scripted format doing well for Eccho Rights is Nurses, which first aired in Finland and has since rolled out with a Swedish edition on TV4. Eccho Rights has been actively distributing both versions. It sold the Finnish show to

ProSiebenSat.1 in Germany, marking the first time a Nordic drama has aired on a commercial channel in that country.

“We haven’t had too many conflicts” with selling the two editions of Nurses, af Malmborg says.

“Obviously, there is some cannibalization, but not as much as we would expect. You either like one version or the other, and you can even sell both.”

Of the major developments in Western European drama taking place these days, af Malmborg observes, “More relationship and family issues are interesting at the moment. We’ve seen a lot of Scandinavian crime, but there’s more of a social element or more time is spent developing the characters. You can give the characters even more time to grow.”

SCANDI SUCCESS Scandinavian dramas remain among the region’s most popular exports, with several distributors eager to land a hit Nordic noir series.

Red Arrow International has been active in the sector, showcasing properties like Farang, a TV4 and C More production starring Ola Rapace. “It’s a kind of Nordic noir, but it goes beyond that because it’s set in Thailand,” von Kienlin says. “It’s a European project but still crossing borders to a different region.”

Red Arrow is also looking to extend its alliance with Iceland’s Sagafilm on the heels of the success of the psychological crime

drama Case. “Even in the small territories like Iceland, you can find great talent,” von Kienlin adds.

Similarly, Red Arrow took on the Austrian drama Pregau.

The examples cited from Red Arrow are all local-language dramas with global appeal. Red Arrow is also keen on showcasing European projects in English like Embassy Down, an eight-hour thriller penned

by Danish screenwriter Anders Frithiof August for premiere on Viaplay in the Nordics in 2018. “It has a very international story,” von Kienlin reports. “This is what we’re looking for, European-based projects and European-financed shows that then have the possibility to also cross over to the U.S.” ZDF Enterprises has also been diversifying its scripted lineup.

“We’re involved in many projects with Italian, Belgian, Central European, French, British and Spanish partners, to name a few,” Coridass notes. “ZDF Enterprises is a European company at its core and we take pride in our strong Euro-centric lineup and in the fact that we specialize in bringing European-produced highquality drama to media outlets around the world. Consequently, we will continue to invest in European products.”

The distribution arm of German pubcaster ZDF was among the first to see the international potential of Scandi series, which remain an integral part of its portfolio. On how that genre is evolving, ZDFE.drama’s Franke notes,

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“We are seeing that Scandinavian producers are working hard to expand their lineup beyond the traditional Scandi-noir type of shows.”

IT TAKES TWO… ZDF Enterprises has also been embracing co-production models as it expands its drama portfolio.

“In times of fragmenting markets, it gets harder and harder to produce quality fiction with only one or two partners at hand, which leads to a situation where multi-territory co-pros will increasingly become the norm rather than the exception,” Franke notes. “ZDF Enterprises has always been a leader and an expert in navigating these extremely complex co-production scenarios, so we feel very well prepared to cope with this market development.”

Red Arrow’s von Kienlin says that there are two forces at play in European drama. On the one hand, keen to entertain audiences with relevant stories, platforms are investing in highly local dramas with limited global appeal, outside of potential format sales. On the other, broadcasters anxious to deliver the highest quality possible while working with limited budgets are increasingly open to sharing costs, and potentially creative control, with international partners to get the shows they want.

“This is where producers become more and more open to co-productions in terms of getting other partners on board or shooting

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somewhere else in order to access funds and tax breaks,” von Kienlin notes. “It’s becoming more like film financing. Equity partners are more interested in TV financing as well. The model has become more complex, but I also think there are opportunities for bigger budgets and then one can compete with U.S. content to get the kind of cast on board that you need to stand out. What’s also very exciting about European co-productions is that you can tap into talent from different territories. You have a bigger pool [to draw from] now.”

As Franke and von Kienlin note, co-pros can be tricky affairs. The number one tactic for keeping them on course is having a single creative lead, von Kienlin stresses.

“There are different ways of coproducing—it can be just getting financing partners on board. But when it’s a proper co-production with creative parts involved on

several sides, then you need to make sure that there aren’t too many cooks. You need to have one strong coordinator who manages this.”

SERIAL WOES One of the more high-profile copros in the works is Gone, based on Chelsea Cain’s novel One Kick, from NBCUniversal International Studios with RTL and TF1 as partners. The show emerged out of the 2015 pact between the three companies to develop U.S.-style procedurals. That move by NBCUniversal came in response to major European broadcasters seeking out hit procedurals and seeing that supply start to shrivel from the U.S. “All the creatives want to work on serialized content,” Red Arrow’s von Kienlin says. “At the same time, there is such a demand for procedurals. We want to find a way to cater to that demand.”

She continues, “Our world is becoming so much darker. We feel that people who used to say, We want very edgy [content], are becoming more open and saying, Actually, a bit more blue-sky could work as well. Having more accessible stories might be a trend.”

Innovation is also happening in episode counts, with an abundance of both limited event series and reliable returnable drama.

“A lot of people ask for limited series because then you have the opportunity to attach higherlevel talent,” von Kienlin says.

“Talent might not be so interested to attach themselves to a longerrunning series. But then again, from the distribution side it’s better if you have several seasons.

Greenlighting another season already feels like success. The more seasons you have, the more attractive [the show] becomes to platforms.”

ZDF Enterprises’ Coridass sees a move toward more niche content in the scripted space. “In times where a lot of consumption is happening on nonlinear outlets, these players need to cater to the content needs of their users, who tend to become increasingly selective as to which programs they invest their time in,” he observes. “It will become more difficult to reach everybody at once, so genre fragmentation will become the norm, and we will see more smaller shows for niche audiences being produced for that purpose.”

Niche or mainstream, linear or streaming, platforms across Europe show no signs of letting up on their drama investments, and, as von Kienlin notes, “great fresh voices” are emerging all the time. “It’s about always being open and looking around” for wherever the next big hit will emerge from. Eccho Rights’ af Malmborg stresses, “A good drama can sell anywhere.”

While ZDF Enterprises has diversified its scripted portfolio significantly, German drama remains a key offering from the distributor with highlights like the movie trilogy Ku’damm 56.

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MARKET TRENDS

SCOTT JONES

ARTIST VIEW ENTERTAINMENT

By Kristin Brzoznowski

When Scott Jones founded Artist View Entertainment in 1991, he already had a long history in the video business, including owning retail stores. Today, in his role as president of Artist View, Jones is navigating the company through a movie marketplace that has moved far beyond the brick-and-mortar outlets and into the digital world. He talks to World Screen about the complexities of working in the VOD arena, including managing windows, and the importance of delivering platforms the type of niche content they’re looking for.

WS: What are the greatest shifts you’ve had to deal with in the marketplace since founding Artist View some 25 years ago?

JONES: The biggest change, especially for us in the independent world, has been the reality that video stores are gone. Besides Blockbuster and Hollywood Video, there were

a lot of smaller chains and a fantastic business to be had there. People were acquiring a lot more titles for the Walmart bins, Target shelves, etc. That income stream is now down to a very small percentage of what it once was. Because I was in the video business for so long, I could see that downturn starting to happen. We got very heavily involved in the television side of things, especially pay TV. That has allowed us to continue on down the river.

Dealing with new media and the VOD world is complex.

It’s tricky because our job is to manage the properties that we represent in the best way possible, and every film now seems to take its own path. It’s no longer the good-old days when you would put [a movie] out onto video, then pay-per-view, pay TV and free TV, and those windows were all set. Now it’s the Wild West. Sometimes you have to jump over different windows, and you realize that maybe you’re leaving a little bit of money on the table in one spot, but you have to deal with what’s in front of you on a day-to-day and week-to-week basis as you try to figure out what the right path is for each title.

Along with the new technology, the market has also become a lot more sophisticated. “Joe Public” is a lot more sophisticated. [The everyday viewer] used to be happy to rent and watch all sorts of different programming, but because the business has grown up and it is so niche-driven, audiences are no longer compromising and saying, “I’ll just watch that.”

Now they’re saying, “I’m going to watch exactly what I want.”

For us in the independent business, we’re very fortunate to have channels like Lifetime, Syfy and UP that still buy features from independents. But they want round pegs in round holes.

They know their consumer and if you have that product they’re happy to do business with you. It used to be that you could put something out and if it had good art, had a beginning, middle and end, and was in focus, you could make money!

Now you have to have content that the [platforms and their consumers] want and it has to be the right thing.

WS: Are VOD and digital sales taking over from where sales of physical formats once were?

JONES: We still lean on our traditional “sure thing.” If you’re lucky enough to do a deal with HBO, Showtime, Starz or Sky, there is a very specific license fee for a very specific window, and you know what the deal is. In a lot of the VOD situations, unless it’s SVOD—which is paying flat license fees—you don’t know! It’s a little bit like throwing it up in the air and waiting to see what comes down. There is not enough history to make good decisions. In the older days of DVD, if you represented, say, an action movie with a couple of recognizable names,

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you would have a pretty good idea that you would be able to sell x number of DVDs. When [video stores were thriving], the most DVDs that you could sell as an independent into Blockbuster was 20,000 units, and the most that Hollywood Video would take was 18,000 units. You knew that if you had a good independent movie you could get 38,000 units out of those two retailers. Today, it’s not unusual that if you have a good independent movie Redbox may take 35,000 to 36,000. So the number isn’t that much different; that main source of rental in society has just taken on a different shape. With VOD, you put a movie up and it sits there. How it’s getting out to the general public depends so much on social media and what’s going on behind the scenes. Does the movie have something interesting that’s going to hit social media and cause people to find it and watch it?

There are a lot of steps down that path to get to a dollar, versus putting something in a physical format in a store and knowing people are going to rent it.

WS: Is having a wide breadth of genres to offer more important nowadays?

JONES: Artist View is unique in the fact that from the beginning I always acquired movies in the fashion of [having something for everyone], largely because I originally owned video stores. When I was filling the video stores, I would think in terms of, we need a new horror film or we need a new romantic comedy. Each person coming through the door had a different interest in what they were looking for and you wanted to keep those different categories refreshed. So from the day I started Artist View I always had that feeling. One minute I’m talking to Disney Channel and the next I’m talking to a Japanese DVD client. They want completely different product, and as a sales company, we want to be able to have both of those clients active with us. My goal has always been to get two to three new titles for each genre every year in order to have something to show [our various clients]. I’m obviously not showing Disney Channel my new martial arts movie, and it’s unlikely that my Japanese DVD client wants the girl-and-her-horse story.

WS: What kinds of films are you looking to acquire?

JONES: The goal for us is to find product that is family friendly, that can be played on a Sunday afternoon, perhaps. This is keeping in mind that TV is still alive and well! A lot of producers don’t like to hear this, but free TV’s main business is advertising. You need to have product that’s not going to offend Ford, McDonald’s or Kleenex. You want to have programming that draws in the audience but is also advertiser friendly. It doesn’t necessarily have to be about a boy and his dog; it just has to be something that anybody from ages 8 to 80 can watch and not be offended by. It can be actionadventure. Action is a very strong genre for us, but rather than it being violent, you want to think of it more like action that could play at 8 or 9 p.m. on television. Part of the problem with some young filmmakers is that they push hard toward the horror genre; I get way too many movies that are, Let’s take four good-looking Americans in the woods and how can we kill one? There is not a need for hundreds of those titles a year!

WS: How are you working to cultivate relationships within the independent production community?

JONES: If you’re fortunate enough to build a relationship with a good filmmaker—and it only takes one movie to prove if you’ll be [together] for a long time or not—you want to be careful with the creative ego. You want them to be open and full of great ideas, but at the same time, there are two words that we have to focus on, “film” and “business,” and every once in a while we have to talk about that second word. What I push with my producers is that by working with us they have a sales and marketing department.

Why would you want to raise the money and spend a good half a year of your life, or more, producing a project that you’re not sure if people want, when you’ve got a sales team that can say, There’s a need for that in the market, or Yes, that’s the right person to put in the cast? A little bit of homework allows them a much higher chance of success with what they make. That’s always been my model with the producers we work with. There are now 14 or 15 production companies that I have at least three movies from and five that I have ten or more from. In one of my oldest relationships, we’re on our 17th film together.

I’m working with a group [of producers] right now who just did two horror films and they pitched me a third. I said, “Why don’t you do something different? Don’t get your company stuck in a niche.” One of the guys then told me he just directed a Lifetime movie and I said, “There you go!” For the sake of me not having too much of the same product and them being able to expand their horizons, I wanted to talk about other ideas and they were completely open to it. If a producer is willing to ask those questions, I’m obviously going to say what’s best for both of us.

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Action movies are a key part of the Artist View catalog, which includes the thriller Desiree.

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SPOTLIGHT

WS: Are output deals still core to your business in many markets?

HASON: It depends. For example, the output deal we have with Lionsgate for Latin America is still one of the good ones, and it will continue. We’re very happy with them as a partner; they are very cooperative. We were also very happy with the deal we had a few years ago with Warner Bros. Japan. But the deal has expired and we are not continuing it. It was a good deal five years ago, but not anymore. We have great output deals with digital and cable [platforms], our biggest being with Amazon, iN DEMAND, Vubiquity and DIRECTV. WS: Are you finding more opportunities to work with international players in today’s increasingly globalized media landscape?

HASON: Yes, and we’re doing this on a very different level nowadays. For example, I have put together a partnership between four companies: Mediaset in Italy, Lagardère in France, MTG’s Nova TV in Bulgaria and Dori Media in Israel. Together, we are producing a TV show in Europe; it will be done in English, but in all there will be five different languages. The series is called Torque and it’s about illegal car racing.

WS: What are some of the other new production highlights you can share with us?

NESIM HASON NEW FILMS INTERNATIONAL

By Kristin Brzoznowski

Founded in 1996 by Nesim Hason, New Films International has spent the last two decades working to cement its position as a key supplier of quality commercial projects, across both film and TV, for the studios and major independents worldwide. More recently, the company has been making a stronger push into the television arena, investing in bigger-budget productions and aligning with top-flight talent. Hason, the CEO of New Films, tells World Screen about these efforts.

WS: How has New Films evolved since its inception?

HASON: When the company started, we were only involved in distribution. Now, we are an international producer and coproducer; we produce TV shows in Europe and the U.S. Also, we now have bigger-budget movies in the U.S. We are financing three projects [from film and TV producer] Mace Neufeld. The plan is to [invest] $50 million to $85 million for three movies.

We already have writers and directors attached and are currently casting one of the movies. We are changing our focus to be mostly on production. Whatever we produce, we are also going to distribute.

We are focusing on working with the best producers, directors, scriptwriters and showrunners. When you put this talent together, that helps to attract the best casts. If we have all of that in place, then we’re ready to finance a project. If one of those parts is missing, we won’t do it; we will step back.

Also, as the market is shifting more toward digital and cable [platforms], we are signing new output deals. We have output deals with almost every digital and cable company in the world!

HASON: We have King Marko, about a man who was known by the Protestant Orthodox Church as Saint Marko around the time of the 11th century. He was a warrior, but the church made him a saint because he put together the first big army to fight the Ottoman Empire. It’s going to have war, a little fantasy and a little reality. Undercover is a Bulgarian TV show that we have been selling for the last four years. We have sold it into 184 countries! That is an action/crime series. It has received incredible ratings everywhere [it has aired] for the last five seasons. We are doing an American version now and are trying to attach a big-name showrunner. The American version has Mace Neufeld attached as a producer and Phillip Noyce as director.

WS: Tell us about your partnership with Mace Neufeld.

HASON: I have known him for a long time. I am financing his projects in development, the first of which is Pursuit. It is based on a famous book that we bought the rights to. Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, two British writers, wrote the script already. Now we are talking to studios in order to attach big directors and are awaiting answers from them. It is about a war happening in the United States, imagining if Hitler sent someone to the U.S. to assassinate FDR. We have another movie together called The Samaritan.

Michael Maples has finished the script. It is also based on a bestselling book. The story is about the Mafia in the United States fighting with the CIA. It is based on a true story that happened 15 years ago. The director is Jon Cassar, who also worked on 24. That has a budget of around $55 million.

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WORLD’S END

IN THE STARS Almost every national constitution forbids the establishment of an official state religion. But this secular bent doesn’t stop people from looking to the heavens for answers to life’s most troublesome questions: Will I succeed? Will I find love? Will Octavia Spencer talk to me about her lack of underwear?

Every day, papers, magazines and websites worldwide print horoscopes— projections for people born in a specific month, based on the positions of the stars and planets. While many people rely on these daily, weekly or monthly messages for guidance in their lives, some readers skip over them entirely.

The editors of WS recognize that these little pearls of random foresight occasionally prove pro phetic.

But rather than poring over charts of the zodiac to pre-

Mariah Carey

Jerry Seinfeld

scopes in an attempt to legitimize the science.

As you can see here, had some of these media figures remembered to consult their horoscopes on significant dates, they could have avoided a few surprises.

Tom Hiddleston

MARIAH CAREY

OCTAVIA SPENCER

Global distinction: Musical diva.

Sign: Aries (b. March 27, 1970) Significant date: December 31, 2016 Noteworthy activity: During Dick Clark’s New Year’s

Global distinction: Curvaceous American actress.

Sign: Gemini (b. May 25, 1970) Significant date: January 10, 2017 Noteworthy activity: The Hidden Figures star is on The

Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest live show, Carey is unable to hear properly from her earpiece. Instead of making an effort to still sing, the Mariah’s World star unenthusiastically performs her choreography while looking annoyed and making comments about the technical difficulties. “We’re missing some of these vocals, but it is what it is,” she says, later ending her three-song set with a sarcastic statement: “That was…amazing.”

Horoscope: “Life is not a rehearsal—so give it your all.” (indianexpress.com)

Ellen DeGeneres Show talking about the custom tuxedo she donned at the Golden Globes and admits that there wasn’t much underneath the garment—a fact she also shared with a fellow nominee that night. “I bumped into Casey Affleck and I told him,” Spencer reveals. “He said, ‘You look radiant’...before I knew it, I was telling him, ‘You know why I’m happy? I’m not wearing all that underwear’...probably speaking too much.”

Horoscope: “The Taurus Moon will put you in a talkative mood tonight, but be careful not to reveal too much to the wrong person.” (susynblairhunt.com)

JERRY SEINFELD Global distinction: Legendary funnyman.

Sign: Taurus (b. April 29, 1954) Significant date: January 6, 2017 Noteworthy activity: The comedian is checking in for Barack Obama’s star-studded farewell party at the White House when he hits a snag getting past security.

While the name “Jerry Seinfeld” is on the list of permitted attendees, “Jerome Seinfeld”—the star’s birth name that is on his official ID—is not. Sources say he laughed it off and cracked jokes as he waited for Secret Service clearance.

Horoscope: “Preventing a misunderstanding before it happens takes very little effort on your part, if you simply ask the right questions along the way.” (horoscopes.huffingtonpost.com)

dict world events, our staff prefers to use past horo-

Neil Patrick Harris

NEIL PATRICK HARRIS Global distinction: How I Met Your Mother alum.

Sign: Gemini (b. June 15, 1973) Significant date: January 9, 2017 Noteworthy activity: The actor appears on The Late Late Show, where he challenges host James Corden to a Broadway riff-off. The two go head-to-head belting out ballads and wrap with an ultra-intense duet. “When I went down on my knees there, I had a nice wardrobe malfunction and split my pants from my ass to my knee,” Harris admits when they return from commercial.

Horoscope: “If friends or coworkers seem annoyed that you’re strutting your stuff, maybe it’s time to tone it down—just a little!” (sasstrology.com)

TOM HIDDLESTON JOSEPH FIENNES Global distinction: English actor.

Sign: Gemini (b. May 27, 1970) Significant date: January 11, 2017 Noteworthy activity: Sky scraps its plans to air controversial footage from an episode of Urban Myths in which the white actor portrays the late Michael Jackson. The trailer had sparked outrage from fans and the King of Pop’s daughter, Paris, who tweeted: “I’m so incredibly offended by it, as I’m sure plenty of people are as well, and it honestly makes me want to vomit.”

Horoscope: “This period could make you go through different emotions and make some difficult decisions....

Avoid controversy as much as possible.” (indastro.com) 18 WORLD SCREEN 2/17

Global distinction: Hunky Brit.

Sign: Aquarius (b. February 9, 1981) Significant date: January 8, 2017 Noteworthy activity: The star of The Night Manager is criticized for his Golden Globes acceptance speech, during which he discussed how humanitarian doctors and nurses working in South Sudan wanted to talk to him after binge-watching his award-winning miniseries. One tweeter refers to his remarks as “self-indulgent wankery,” leading the actor to later apologize for his “inelegantly expressed” sentiment.

Horoscope: “You have a way with words but the planets warn you could go too far today and say things that turn everyone against you.” (theglobeandmail.com)

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Truly Global

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