Cannes Film Festival & Sales Market 2024 Report from Mark Hampton - Marche Du Film, Palais

#filmpodcast #cannesfilmfestival #filmindustry 

I wasn't able to make it to the Cannes Film Festival this year but I know a man who has, friend of the Pod, actor and filmmaker Mark Hampton sent us a report from this years festival. Mark gives us a tour of the Palais and the Marche du Film he also chats to sales and distribution reps about this year's market and trends in the future. 

Mark talks to Strath Hamilton from Tri Coast Worldwide, Julian Richards from Jinga films and David Josh Lawrence from Glass House Distribution.

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Transcript

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[Music] hi Jim here and you're listening to the honest filmmaker podcast career advice from people in the business now unfortunately I didn't make it to the can Film Festival this year but I know a man who did friend of the Pod Mark Hampton went over to can and gave us some great Insight on what it's like to be a filmmaker gave us a bit of a tour of the pet and also spoke to some sales agents about Trends in the market this year enjoy hello it's Mark Hampton here and I'm at the can film festival for the honest filmmaker podcast[Music] G can probably the first thing you'll see if you're a filmmaker on a budget here at can all you need to know is cross the road head down the hill and you find yourself on the quette and you will land at the pet now this is where they always have an enormous version of whatever that Year's poster is and this is where you do your obligatory just landed in can selfie so once you're in the International Village if you're from the UK make your way to the UK Pavilion this is where they have talks they have uh events uh and they have tea and coffee but no Wi-fi one of the great things about the UK Pavilion is that it's on the beach with this view can is of course one of the big events on the film festival calendar um but at the same time as the festival you also get the market and it's kind of unusual and that they are both happen at the same time and at the same[Music] place we're now going through the basement entrance the mar fil so the market here in can is packed with production companies distribution companies sales agencies representatives from different countries all over the world all trying to sell their wees attract uh buyers sellers the whole lot uh and I managed to speak to a few so let's hear what they had to say the Market's been slow uh but there's a lot of movies here and it just means it's a lot more work to pick through and find the gems uh uh you know probably more than 5,000 movies here some people are saying it's 15,000 so there's an enormous amount of movies here and I think that's pent up Supply from after Co and after the actor yeah what we bought a movie which is this Wild movie called Putin from polish director uh Patrick Vega and it's the life of Vladimir Putin but it's all Ai and he's got a new process and you're look at at Putin and you don't realize it's not the real guy so there are advantages to AI for an audience it'll put you right into a movie so that kind of evolved out of this market and that's great new technology to help filmmaker are you seeing more of that coming in I mean that's a great example of a of a use of it are you seeing more filmmakers using AI to kind of level up their game without perhaps the budet I think that um right show filmmakers are reticent to use AI to replace actors but to replace public figures is a whole another thing and uh I think there's clear sailing there so I hope more filmmakers kind of consider that possibility cuz that opens up a range of characters for people uh uh that before wasn't there amazing and uh what's your highlight so far well buying that movie for the US would be a highlight uh I'm met with Billy Zayn and he has a fabulous movie called w sing with Brando in which Billy Zayn plays Maron Brando and that is the most fabulous movie you cannot tell which one is Maron Brando so that's that's you know that's a good movie BR can was um very similar to how it was last year actually it's a slow Market but it does take over and um uh even though you know it's we're near as busy as it used to be 10 years ago we're still doing enough business to you know sort of make returns for the producers um and um but what we're finding is that the landscape is changing um whereas in the past we'd uh always sell to Japan um always sell to Germany um now it's um it's more southeast Asia okay Latin America uh turkey the Middle East these are the new emerging territories who are you know who are paying more than a US distributor would pay um so even though there are some countries some territories that are underperforming there are new territories that are overperforming so it's it's it's balancing itself out what do you think is driving that shift that change It's a combination of things I mean um uh the the new emerging territories uh uh small independent film can go uh theatrical on you know 3 to 600 screens yeah because of digital technology because um the the Distributors don't need a 35 mil print they they can do it digitally through DCP um and also the economies of these countries um they have a much bigger middle class that have you know sort of expendable cash and they they want to go to the movies you know and are those audiences more likely to get up and actually go to the cinema than you traditional Europe us yeah yeah I think we've we''ve become sort of uh uh you know sort of catch potatoes and and and watching films uh in streaming yeah and is is streaming a big part of that what's happened to that audience's uh appetite for Cinema yeah yeah we've got out we've got out of the habit of going to the cinema um and we're watching you know we're watching films at home we're even sort of buying drinks you know out we don't go to the club anymore we we buy drinks in supermarkets and bring it home you know so it's not just film um it's uh it's um you know the cost of living um it means so you know you can't how how how expensive is it to take a family to cinema yeah it's a lot right yeah yeah so um but you know it's as I said you know yes it's a problem I mean most UK Distributors for example now don't buy for the UK right they're buying for North America yeah North America is a much bigger territory it has um uh many more digital platforms and um you know whereas UK distributor is lucky to break even um on a UK relief they're going to go well into profit in the US um so territories are breaking down yeah um I just saw a film to Italy problem the Italians have is they have to do a Italian dub that cost 15,000 cost money yeah so they mitigate the Rest by uh including Filipino and Indonesian non-exclusive avot rights in addition to the the Italian territory right okay back if if they can't recoup uh uh their mg and their um they dubbing costs from uh revenue from their home territory they they can exploit the film in Indonesia and Philippines and that should put them into Prof RMG still a thing yeah yeah but they're getting smaller in some territories like the UK is is is is Tiny now uh the US is small too you know um and um when you compare I'm I'm getting bigger MGS uh from um southeast Asia than I'm getting and Latin America than I'm getting from us right okay um you the US is traditionally worth about 33 to 50% of the market um and if if if an American distributor is offering you a five grand mg what what does that say wow whereas you know with a it's possible to get 40,000 from Southeast Asia Wow real difference yeah finally what's your highlight of can so far this year the highlight of can this year um well I just had a meeting with a Chinese uh producer who is remaking um in Chinese um a Venezuelan film that I sold 10 years ago called the house at the end of time um and um and he came in to see what other films I have uh that that's available for remake a remake yeah and uh this is um another new Revenue stream yeah uh the house at the end of time has already been remade in Korean now it's going to be remade in in Chinese um and because it's originally Spanish we we we did have a deal with new line Cinema to do Hollywood remake in studio remake in English yeah yeah so um even though the the distribution Market is struggling there's still other ways you can monetize IP and monetize you know scripts and there's a there's a big there's a there's a big kind of remake campaign can this year isn't it there's a real push to trying to get turet get titles um and make them available for remake for won but it sounds like other other territories as well which is phenomenal yeah yeah it's um it's it's a sort of a a growing thing because the value of films are getting less and less but if if you can remake then suddenly you can all all the money you lost you know in distribution you'll make back in remake um so uh like for example I I would say that there was one film that I sold distribution worldwide probably sold it for about 150,000 right and I sold the Remake rights for half a million wow so that's where it's at then remake can make more money than distribution fantastic how has the festival been for you so far this year uh it's definitely been busier than uh past years in some ways I think that we have more buyers looking for films but then I think on the filmmaker side a lot more International finished films are here um which is kind of what you expect for can um as opposed to the American Film Market where you have like more American movies um but the films all look really you know well done and and I think that the competition at can is uh is pretty Fierce so awesome what's your highlight of can so far uh highlight we we hosted a party uh at at a place called uh Dolly along with uh um mint I forget the name of company a good sign but we we sponsored a party and had a really great time with all of our friends and and filmmaker friends and and partners and you know buyers and things like that so that's been the highlight so far oh and watching uh Furioso that was pretty awesome it's amazing it's amazing yeah so there are some kind of mixed uh reviews some slower some faster some busier some not so busy but um apparently there are a lot of movies here there's some pent up demand from Co still so they reckon there's anywhere from 5 to 15,000 films in the market this year um the market is laid out in a complex way it's over several different levels and it's very easy to kind of get lost but if you go from the uh the mar entrance down to these elevators you can go down to the cafe and get a coffee and if you want one it's a steal at just €350 for a coffee but uh yeah it's not too bad it's a bit of a glass house so it gets kind of hot this is a USA Pavilion uh it's happy hour which means free drinks oh yes one of the most important things about can is just to have an open mind be open to take on opportunities when they arise so I bumped you into a mate walking down the quette and ended up in a punk rock party uh top floor overlooking the bay and that's just how things go here so a big thank you to mark for that report uh if you're interested in more behind the scenes information from people working in the industry right now please do subscribe to the honest filmmaker podcast[Music]