making art

into commerce

Any of the high-profile films at this year’s Montreal World Film Festival are slated for commercial release by Quebec distributors throughout the fall. Quebec is the best North American market for foreign-language films, but distributors in the province are balking at exorbitant prices and looking for better co-operation from suppliers.

France Film vice-president Roger Khayat says it is a mistake for European and French exporters to ignore the Quebec market in their rush to gain entry into the u.s.

Khayat says the public has to be educated in its appreciation of foreign-language films, and that gains secured in the French-track Quebec market should be consolidated, not ignored.

‘The French are losing the Quebec market, which was a gold mine in the past,’ he says, adding there has been a 63% drop in the number of French theatrical films released in Quebec in the past seven years.

And it all boils down to money; distributors in Quebec are refusing to pay out top dollar, $200,000 and more, for French blockbusters.

Alliance Vivafilm vice-president Pierre Brousseau says he starts to resist when a foreign-language film costs more than $75,000.

‘Market experience shows these films start to lose money if they go over this price,’ he says.

There is general agreement in the Quebec industry on the $75,000 figure, but not everyone holds the line.

Didier Farre, president of Canal Plus, has the exclusive Canadian rights to films and programs owned by Canal Plus, France’s pay-tv movie channel. He agrees bigger-budget French films from big-name directors work best in the Quebec market if they cost $75,000 or less. But he says buying lesser known, less expensive films isn’t necessarily the answer. The French film Le nombril du monde cost Farre and partners $50,000. It was almost a total loss at the box office and only 400 video cassettes were sold.

Marie-Claude Poulin, Malofilm International vice-president responsible for the company’s expanded foreign and Canadian acquisition slate, says there’s a historic lack of co-operation among Canadian distributors. And she is not overly optimistic the situation will change quickly, despite the recent regrouping of the Canadian Association of Film Distributors and Exporters (formerly the National Association of Canadian Film and Video Distributors. See story, p. 4).

‘There’s always one person who really wants the film and will pay above $75,000. They have a habit of stabbing each other in the back,’ she says.

Poulin says a European film purchased for $250,000 needs a major marketing investment and has to gross $1 million in theaters just to break even. It is her job to purchase wisely.

In recent years, Malofilm has shied away from foreign films with $100,000 price tags and is becoming increasingly selective as it reduces its European release schedule. ‘We didn’t want middle-of-the-road films with uncertain expectations. We look for real value – a sleeper, a name director, cast,’ Poulin says.

Khayat says the theatrical distribution of European films ‘is a very risky businessÉQuebec distributors have to sell from scratch.’

The industry in Quebec, he adds, has ‘to stop paying these bloody fortunes’ for foreign films.

Khayat says French and European producers and exporters should cultivate the Quebec market because ‘it’s their best foothold in North America.’

‘Relationships have to be cemented and we have to trust one another. If there are overages, then the producer will send the money.’

Cinepix Film Properties (formerly cfp Distribution, see story p. 1) continues to distribute many of France’s most expensive productions. It currently has two big-budget films in theaters, Christian Fechner’s Le batard de Dieu and the Isabelle Adjani blockbuster, La Reine Margot, directed by Patrice Chereau.

There has been much speculation about the Adjani film and its ability to recoup its costs in Quebec.

According to cfp senior vice-president Christian Larouche, La Reine Margot is likely to become the year’s top-grossing European film in the province. He says it’s already raked in $550,000 with a total of eight prints and should make $700,000 – its break-even point – before its theatrical run is over. Larouche says he hopes to distribute about 2,000 cassettes of the film on video – 400 to 600 copies is otherwise considered a success in Quebec – and that a strong sale to a broadcaster is guaranteed.

‘There’s no secret with foreign-language films,’ says Vivafilm’s Brousseau. ‘You have to buy the right one. There is no formula. Films have to be made into events and there are very few event films. Mostly what you get is middle-brow and middle-of-the-road. At least we recover our investment. Vivafilm is in business not to lose money.’

Brousseau says about 100 foreign-language films, mostly French, are distributed annually in Quebec. As few as 10 do over $100,000 at the box office, with the distributor’s gross in the 42% range, minus campaign costs and the costs of running an operation.

Adding to the risk is the fact that broadcasters no longer guarantee buys for foreign-language movies. ‘That era is over,’ says Brousseau.

One booster of non-American product is veteran distributor and Cine 39 president Marcel Paradis. He says one of the problems with French and European films, which he estimates have about 10% of the Montreal theatrical market (even less in the regions), is ‘a decline in quality in recent years.’

‘The (Quebec) public has become more selective; there’s so much more choice with video and u.s. films,’ says Paradis.

Although three-quarters of screens are reserved for American movies, Paradis says he has never had a problem obtaining a screen, albeit, often a smaller one, from exhibitor Cineplex Odeon.

cfp’s Larouche says he prefers to sell to a broadcaster after a theatrical run because he can get a better price. The downside is the risk of a poor box office run and reduced leverage with tv.

He says the video market for foreign-language films in Quebec is small; the average is 200 to 250 copies while 400 to 600 copies constitutes a success. But there are the occasional blockbusters, like cfp’s Indochine which peaked at a record 2,200.

cfp will distribute between 20 and 25 European films in Quebec in 1995. ‘Some kinds of European films will continue to work, but more and more films go unnoticed. But it’s the same for American films. When you consider the volume, many of them also fail,’ says Larouche.

Commenting on Radio-Canada’s purchasing policy, Paradis says it ‘buys strictly on the basis of quality,’ and consequently purchased Nicolas Philibert’s Le Pays des sourds, a subtitled film with no dialogue. It had a ‘so-so’ run and earned well under $100,000 with one print over five weeks, he says.

Luc Dery, director of distribution at Aska Films Distribution, says Quebec’s French-language broadcasters attend the Cannes Film Festival and other acquisition markets and freely exchange notes with distributors, ‘but there’s no guarantee they’ll buy.’ He says prices are lower than in the past, ranging from $10,000 to $30,000 for foreign films from new directors to $50,000 for mid-range titles.

Paradis says foreign-language films perform poorly in the u.s. and English-Canadian markets because of opposition to dubbing and subtitles.

As for the Hollywood remake route (La Totale, Nikita), Paradis says they stress, or simply invent, the story’s action elements. ‘Hollywood remakes generally lack imagination,’ he says. ‘On the other hand, when the French decide to shoot in English, I find they lose some of their personality.’

‘The English Canadian market is not a profit zone for foreign-language films with limited releases, often in one theater,’ says Brousseau. He says regular Alliance sales to cbc late Night, First Choice/The Movie Network and the newly-licensed Showcase specialty channel have helped to change the business equation for some of the more obscure films.

France Film’s Khayat claims French promotional material is almost useless for domestic theaters, adding it costs a minimum of $10,000 to produce trailers and posters and market movies.

And because the video market for foreign-language films is ‘almost non-existent,’ France Film has a pay-per-transaction deal, a shared percentage of the gross, with video club owners who do not want to invest in the product at any rate, says Khayat.

1994 box office

In 1994, Farre released Polanski’s Bitter Moon in Quebec (Norstar Releasing has the English Canadian rights), grossing $300,000 in three months. Night Moves, with French star Christopher Lambert, took in less than $70,000. Farre says Lambert as a draw was not enough to ensure a decent box office.

Astral Films has not been noticeably active in the theatrical release of European films, but it is doing well with Baraka, which has grossed more than $300,000 with a two-print release, including a 70mm print, since its launch in November 1993, says Astral’s Jackie Morin.

Malofilm did good box office business following last year’s Montreal World Film Festival with the French comedy La Crise, which did over $650,000 in Quebec, and the Vietnamese-subtitled film, Scent of the Green Papaya, which grossed over $350,000 across Canada.

Another Malofilm release, Leon the Pig Farmer, earned $200,000 in Canada’s anglophone market, bicycling three or four prints to half a dozen major Canadian keys.

Another cfp title, the Emile Zola-adapted blockbuster Geminal, raked in just over $500,000 with 10 prints last fall and winter. ‘It’s the second best performance for the year, but was a disappointment anyway. We had hoped for it to do between $700,000 and $750,000,’ says Larouche.

At Vivafilm, the first film in the Krzystof Kieslowski trilogy, Trois Couleurs – Bleu, launched in the fall of 1993, did $550,000 at the box office, while the second in the series, Blanc, a Polish-language film with French subtitles did $200,000. According to Brousseau, Radio-Quebec’s Daniel Lajeunesse ‘was very supportive’ and committed ‘a top price’ for the trilogy, sight unseen.

Smaller French titles from Vivafilm, La vengeance d’un blonde and Les Marmottes, did in the $90,000 to $100,000 range. Both were sold to Radio-Canada.

At Films 39, also known as Cine 39, Paradis says Claude Lelouch’s Tous ca pour ca was in theaters for 20 weeks across Quebec, earning $300,000. He says the average run for a French film is four to five weeks, and that the Lelouch film has been sold to Radio-Canada and Super Ecran.

Aska’s Dery reports satisfactory results for Bertrand Tavernier’s L627, which closed at about $150,000 after 13 weeks with two prints, and Agnieszka Holland’s Olivier Olivier, which earned just under $100,000 in 10 weeks. Both films were sold to Radio-Quebec and Super Ecran.

Dery says the less expensive Holland film was the more profitable of the two.

France Film has been stepping up its distribution activity of late, says Khayat. Film marketing veteran Lise Dandurand recently joined the company and the number of titles has increased from 12 films in ’93/94 to 20 this year.

He says Urga from Russian filmmaker Nikita Mikhalkov grossed close to $500,000 in Quebec, more than the $340,000 gross in the u.s., despite a best foreign picture Oscar nomination.

The best surprise for France Film this year has been the musical Gypsy piece Latcho Drum, which earned $250,000 and played to great reviews for 10 weeks in the Dolby Stereo confines of the Imperial Theatre.

Khayat adds that Shadow Distribution in the u.s. used the Quebec publicity materials for the New York launch. The film has been sold to Radio-Quebec.

Perhaps the worse news for France Film in 1994 has been the Alain Resnais double bill Smoking, No Smoking. ‘A difficult film,’ says Khayat. The movie won five French Cesar Awards, including best picture, but after a short seven weeks in theaters both films had grossed less than $90,000. A sale to Radio-Quebec means the company will be ‘close to breaking even, at the end,’ he says.

Fall releases

Alliance Vivafilm will release C’etait le 12 du 12 et Chili avait les blues next month with up to 10 prints in circulation across Quebec. Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle is tentatively set for late December, following the u.s. release, while Trois Couleurs – Rouge will be released with four prints Sept. 23.

Brousseau says Vivafilm had hoped to have director Kieslowski on hand last year for the launch of Blue and Blanc, but apparently he has accepted an invitation to come to Montreal Oct. 16-17 for a special screening of Rouge.

Farre and Andre Monette of Action Film will release Michel Blanc’s Grosse fatigue in early September while Montand and the Israel/France/u.s. feature film Les Patriots, will hit theaters on Sept. 23

Astral’s Morin says Charles Wilkinson’s Max, a Canadian film, will probably receive an October theatrical release.

Canadian theatrical releases by Malofilm this fall include La Vie d’un heros, Sept. 21; Le Vent du Wyoming, Sept. 5 with five prints; The Return of Tommy Tricker, Oct. 7; and a major Quebec-wide release for Highlander III: The Magician in December.

Canadian releases this fall from c/fp include Kabloonak, Sept. 16, one print; Octobre, presumably in October with many prints; while the release date for Fun, the Special Jury Prize winner at the 1994 Sundance Festival, is tentatively set for November.

Cine 39 plans to release La Beaute des femmes in theaters on Sept. 30 or early October. Le Journal d’un Bossu, a Quebec/Poland coproduction, and Les Naufrages, coproduced with Chile, will be in theaters in next month.

France Film has a new exchange agreement with Astral Films and has acquired the rights to four Canadian films: Ride Me, set for a September release, and Draghoula, coming to theaters in November. Both titles are from maverick Montreal director Bashar Shbib. Boon Collins’ Abducted II and John Cassar’s The Final Goal will also be given fall releases.