The indie film market is back in business. At least, that was the overall sense at the European Film Market (EFM) this past February when international film and media leaders gathered at the 74th annual marketplace in Berlin.

The 2024 market drew large crowds, setting a new attendance record with more than 12,000 trade visitors from 143 countries, according to its organizers. Despite the number of registered buyers falling 3% year-over-year (1,302 to 1,263), and 14% fewer overall screenings, EFM was considered a triumphant return on the heels of the Hollywood writer and actor strikes last year.

“It felt like, for the first time in a while, there were incredible projects that could light up the market a little bit,” Noah Segal, co-president of Toronto-based distributor and prodco Elevation Pictures, tells Playback Daily.

He says there were indications of a rebound at the Sundance Film Festival in January, particularly due to the streamers’ interest in docs, following a tepid film circuit in 2023.

“[At] Cannes, there was a lot of trepidation. There was no talent at the Toronto International Film Festival. You go beyond that and Content London and the American Film Market both had lackluster packages because no talent would sign up,” he says. “We started thinking there’s not a lot of content or it’s harder to get things going.”

Segal adds that international independents also had more money to spend this winter due to the unexpected global performances of fall projects such as Godzilla Minus One, The Boy and the Heron, and Elevation-acquired films such as Anatomy of a Fall, The Zone of Interest, Ferrari and The Iron Claw.

“You had a beautiful situation of hot packages being presented with talent, and independents with money in their pockets to spend,” he says.

EFM was a “banner market” for Durga Chew-Bose’s upcoming drama Bonjour Tristesse, produced by Babe Nation Films, Elevation, and Berlin-based Barry Films, according to Segal. He says Elevation is “in the process of closing a pan-European deal with a major studio.”

On the distribution front, the company acquired three films, including Isaiah Saxon’s fantasy feature The Legend of Ochi from A24, with more deals in the works.

Content-wise, Segal says the non-streaming market is trending away from drama and moving toward elevated genre and horror themes that resonate with younger theatre-going audiences. “It’s a sub-genre that isn’t incredibly costly to make, it has an international market, and streamers don’t compete with you for that,” he says.

Winnipeg-based Memory Pill Films’ supernatural drama Daughter of the Sun is one Canadian project that benefitted from its EFM showing. The film screened as part of Telefilm’s Perspective Canada initiative and finalized a deal with L.A.-based distributor Buffalo 8 for U.S. rights while in Berlin. Red Water Entertainment already owned Canadian rights, while Indiecan International entered the market eyeing worldwide sales, some of which are currently being finalized.

“Securing the U.S. was a big victory,” says Ryan Ward, Daughter of the Sun writer, director, producer and actor. “We wanted to get it into as many territories as possible, and being at EFM is the place to be in terms of international exposure and getting into international markets.”

Producer Mackenzie Leigh says EFM allowed them to secure more festival play, revealing they got a “great festival selection” through the market that they can’t yet announce. Leigh credits Telefilm as a vital part of their success at the market.

“We were heavily featured at the Canadian Pavillion,” she says. “Our trailer was rotating on multiple screens. That really helps with exposure, and then Telefilm also helped to cover our market screening costs and did a promotional campaign for it.”

Telefilm invested just over €86,000 (roughly C$126,000) to run the 2024 Canadian Pavillion at EFM, which included the stand itself, graphics, furniture and advertising. It also spent €10,150 (C$15,000) for 18 films under its Perspective Canada banner, €9,218 (C$13,500) on the Co-Production Market visitor program, and €7,200 (C$10,500) for the EFM Doc & Fiction Toolbox, a diversity and inclusion program.

Talent-wise, the funder invested a total of €24,000 (C$35,200) and approximately C$30,000 across its Berlin Talents program and the JETS (Junior Entertainment Talent Slate) Co-Production Initiative, organized by Germany’s WEP productions and JETS Filmverleih & Vertrieb, including travel costs.

Jenna MacMillan of Charlottetown-based Club Red Productions attended this year’s EFM as part of the JETS program and Telefilm’s Producers Without Borders initiative, as well as through the Atlantic Canadian Delegation trade mission.

She was keen to find international buyers for her film Who’s Yer Father?, which is now streaming on Paramount+ in Canada. She was also in search of potential partners for her 2023 Telefilm Talent to Watch dark comedy The Snake, which goes to camera in P.E.I. this summer.

MacMillan says the JETS program in particular helped her to pitch The Snake to companies she was already planning to meet with, so it accelerated that part of the process while helping her to hone in on the pitch and materials. It also helped her to understand the film’s potential international audience and work on ways to market it in the coming months.

“That was a very rewarding program, specifically for my project, and I have follow-ups with several companies because of it,” she says. “Overall, having the funder’s support allows producers to more easily access certain individuals and producers because you have that buy-in from Telefilm. Without the provincial and national support it would have been a very different market.”

Elevation’s Segal says there are big opportunities for Canadian producers in the international marketplace moving forward, particularly as studios shrink their production schedules and look to fill their slates with one or two pickups from independents.

“We have access to work with partners around the world and create a value proposition that the Americans cannot,” he says. “Things like tax credits, shelters and other subsidies like Telefilm or Eurimages. They allow us to do things like the Americans, but at a different price range. So the door is wide open for Canadians to take advantage.”

Image courtesy of Babe Nation Films