Making room at the top ... Penny Nagle from Word of Mouth buys up The Gigolos
Last year, low-budget film-makers Punk Cinema wrote about their ultimately disappointing attempts to sell their first feature, The Gigolos, in the US. Since then, writes the company's Jon Morrison, things have looked up, and they have high hopes for their trip to Cannes
It seems like a long time since we premiered The Gigolos at the Los Angeles International Film Festival last November. We couldn't believe we'd gone all the way to Hollywood, spent days at the sweaty American Film Market in Santa Monica, pitched every studio exec within reach and still left without that magic, elusive deal.
Was it back to square one, after all the schmoozing, the great reviews and kind words? What more did we have to do? Tsotsi and Transamerica premiered at the same festival, on the same Sunset Boulevard screen, and went on to well-deserved critical and popular success, with an Oscar for Tsotsi.
In the months since LA we've shown the film to every distributor in London, then tramped round their continental counterparts at Berlin's European Film Market in February.
Finally, Word of Mouth Films, which just released the documentary Unknown White Male, came to a screening and loved it. Last week, Punk Cinema signed a UK distribution deal with them. On the back of a London tourist bus. You'll be able to see The Gigolos in UK cinemas this September.
But that's just the start. Although watching our debut movie in the local cinema will be an immense pleasure, the real money is made through international sales.
That's why we're going to Cannes tomorrow. Cannes isn't just about red carpets, Versace gowns and paparazzi: it's also the world's largest film market, the Marché du Film.
You can sell the Japanese rights for £100,000 to £150,000, including TV. It's more like £5,000 for Greece, Malaysia or Venezuela. And if you split the difference, you get France. But it adds up. We need the money to make more movies. We'll also need a good lawyer.
The Marché starts on Wednesday. There are 1,600 buyers from 83 countries. We're in Cannes to pitch them, show them the film, pitch them again, then crash a party with them. We've got a movie, they've got chequebooks and the means of finding it an audience. We're there to make the film an international hit.
Sounds like hard work. Fortunately, being Cannes, there's also glut of glitz, glamour and stars to look forward to. Lots of swanky parties (we hope). We might even get invited to one. We were astonished to receive an invite from Barclays Bank, to a party on their yacht. It's amazing who wants to schmooze you when you've got a deal. It'll make a change being at a party where we're actually on the guest list.
Our director Richard Bracewell, and actors Sacha Tarter and Trevor Sather will also be soaking up the international glamour as they write the script for their new comedy thriller, about the world's richest man, a Russian wheat billionaire, who goes on the run across Europe (it's Midnight Run across Europe - that's how we pitched the execs).
That's why Sacha's planning several nights in the casino - it's research, it's method acting.
In the coming days, we'll report on the highs and lows, the glamour and hard work, giving you the insiders' view from beyond the red carpet. Let's hope we can also report on international deals.
