| Created 007.11.16; Updated 2007.11.16 |
This article originally appeared in British Weekly.
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British Sells at American Film Market SANTA MONICA, CA (British Weekly) 11/08/07 — "This is a very efficient way for us to meet clients from all over the world", says British sales agent Igor Sekulic with the UK Film Export Office at the American Film Market (AFM). "For me it's been a good year. There's Surveillance. That was in Berlin and has Sean Brosnan, the son of Pierce Brosnan. It's about the society of surveillance after 911 and what happens when a gay teacher has affair." More... |
"That's being distributed by WOLFE [a U.S. DVD distributor]", says Sekulic. "Closed this here. Coming out next year is Vampire Diary. That's a London vampirella tale. It's British Goth. That's coming out in the U.S. through a label called Monarch. That's an AFM deal. And, I did a nice package deal of ten British films to Romania. That closed here."
"I license films through my sales company Jinga Films", says director-producer Julian Richards, also in the UK Film Export Office at AFM. "Last year Jinga sold the Scottish Werewolf horror film 'Wild Country' to Lionsgate for North American distribution. For films coming out of AFM this year, I would give two thumbs up to Simon Welsford's stylish thriller Jetsam starring Alex Reid and Shauna Macdonald, Gary Love's urban thriller Sugarhouse, and of course my own coming-of-age thriller Summer Scars. There's an extraordinary trailer for the action thriller The Tournament. Films like The Tournament show we're beginning to produce films in Wales for the global market. And with Michael Sheen, Mathew Rhys, Ioan Gruffydd, Andy Howard and Rhys Ifans all working in Hollywood, it looks like the Welsh are coming!"
With British content, the films are mostly thrillers. "Comedy
is very much on TV in the UK, not so much theatrical", says
Sekulic. "Lot's of stories about east London gangsters, such
as Football Factory or The Business which is a Goodfalla type
of film. Those sell millions of DVDs in the UK. A lot of thrillers
are coming, along with a new wave of gore/horror, but not your
usual slasher. It's sophisticated, with elements of irony and
distance. That makes it British. Period costume drama with classic
authors [e.g., Shakespeare] always sells well internationally."
An annual event, AFM converts the Santa Monica Loews Hotel and
Le Merigot into film offices from October 31st to November 7th.
Every room of the hotels hosts a different film company, with
the event sold-out months in advance. "We have a full house",
says AFM managing director Jonathan Wolf. Film Export UK and the
UK Film Council co-hosted the UK Film Export Office at AFM in
the Malibu Suite. Ten British film companies were in the suite,
companies like Visual Factory, Jinga Films, Carnaby Films, High
Point Media Group, Lumina Films, and Centre Media.