As a cross-section of documentary sales exes winged their way towards the Palais for their first physical Cannes in two years, it wasn’t just the Covid-19 spit tests that marked out the experience as different – the marketplace has also changed, the pandemic exacerbating several trends.
For starters, in terms of investment in new feature-length documentary titles, most sales agents are arriving with co-pro and financing deals in mind, rather than the acquisition of completed films.
The distribution backlog caused by the closure of cinemas in key territories is partly to blame, and the earliest most agents are looking to secure films for distribution is for 2022 and 2023.
“This year I’ve had to say ‘no’ to films I really like and to stop acquiring completed titles and that, to me, is dramatic,” said Anaïs Clanet. partner and head of sales at Paris-based Reservoir Docs.
Deckert Distribution’s Liselott Verbrugge – in...
For starters, in terms of investment in new feature-length documentary titles, most sales agents are arriving with co-pro and financing deals in mind, rather than the acquisition of completed films.
The distribution backlog caused by the closure of cinemas in key territories is partly to blame, and the earliest most agents are looking to secure films for distribution is for 2022 and 2023.
“This year I’ve had to say ‘no’ to films I really like and to stop acquiring completed titles and that, to me, is dramatic,” said Anaïs Clanet. partner and head of sales at Paris-based Reservoir Docs.
Deckert Distribution’s Liselott Verbrugge – in...
- 7/12/2021
- by Ann-Marie Corvin
- Variety Film + TV
Elizabeth Sheldon has launched a new film distribution and sales company called Juno Films, to partner with agents, producers and filmmakers to execute bespoke investment, sponsorship and distribution strategies in North America. Sheldon brings two decades of experience in film distribution and international sales, with a specialty in distribution to the educational and non-profit market, to her partners.
Juno Films’s focus is to curate select critically-acclaimed films for all rights releases in North America, including theatrical and festivals, educational, digital and broadcast. The distribution model’s strategy brings together specific films with organizations or individuals to financially support the film’s release in addition to community outreach that will result in greater audience engagement for any film.
Juno’s initial acquisitions that it will launch with are 2 films previously covered on this blog that have been without Stateside distribution
Juno has acquired the North American rights to the Swiss...
Juno Films’s focus is to curate select critically-acclaimed films for all rights releases in North America, including theatrical and festivals, educational, digital and broadcast. The distribution model’s strategy brings together specific films with organizations or individuals to financially support the film’s release in addition to community outreach that will result in greater audience engagement for any film.
Juno’s initial acquisitions that it will launch with are 2 films previously covered on this blog that have been without Stateside distribution
Juno has acquired the North American rights to the Swiss...
- 8/7/2017
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Exclusive: Bernie Sanders documentary to screen in Locarno on Tuesday.
Philipp Hoffmann’s Rushlake Media and Elizabeth Sheldon’s Juno Films have partnered on their first co-acquisition, taking A Campaign Of Their Own ahead of a screening in Locarno this week.
Rushlake Media has come on board to handle world sales, while Juno will distribute in North America and Australia.
Lionel Rupp directed A Campaign Of Their Own, which examines the 2016 Us presidential campaign and the aftermath through the eyes of activist Jonathan Katz.
Michael David Mitchell produced and co-wrote the film, which follows Katz as he rallies behind the primary campaign of Democrat hopeful Bernie Sanders and questions the nomination process once Sanders concedes the nomination to Hillary Clinton.
A Campaign Of Their Own is a Zooscope Production with the support of Cinéforom and Loterie Romande and the support of Swiss Films.
The documentary screens on Tuesday in Locarno’s Panorama Suisse section for Swiss films that...
Philipp Hoffmann’s Rushlake Media and Elizabeth Sheldon’s Juno Films have partnered on their first co-acquisition, taking A Campaign Of Their Own ahead of a screening in Locarno this week.
Rushlake Media has come on board to handle world sales, while Juno will distribute in North America and Australia.
Lionel Rupp directed A Campaign Of Their Own, which examines the 2016 Us presidential campaign and the aftermath through the eyes of activist Jonathan Katz.
Michael David Mitchell produced and co-wrote the film, which follows Katz as he rallies behind the primary campaign of Democrat hopeful Bernie Sanders and questions the nomination process once Sanders concedes the nomination to Hillary Clinton.
A Campaign Of Their Own is a Zooscope Production with the support of Cinéforom and Loterie Romande and the support of Swiss Films.
The documentary screens on Tuesday in Locarno’s Panorama Suisse section for Swiss films that...
- 8/7/2017
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Feature marks third announced by new sales and distribution venture.
Elizabeth Sheldon’s freshly minted Juno Films has picked up all North American rights to Jedd and Todd Wider’s documentary To The Edge Of The Sky.
The film follows the battle of four American mothers whose sons are diagnosed with the fatal degenerative disease Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy – the number one genetic killer of boys.
As the parents fight the Food And Drug Administration to gain access to a potentially life-saving drug, the filmmakers chart their evolution into leading political activists.
The film becomes the third on distribution and sales company Juno Films’ slate after Sheldon announced the launch this week with Licinio Azevedo’s Train Of Salt And Sugar and Heidi Specogna’s Cahier Africain.
”To The Edge Of The Sky captures the evolution of four mothers from caregivers for their terminally ill children, with all of the ensuing stress and strain on their personal...
Elizabeth Sheldon’s freshly minted Juno Films has picked up all North American rights to Jedd and Todd Wider’s documentary To The Edge Of The Sky.
The film follows the battle of four American mothers whose sons are diagnosed with the fatal degenerative disease Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy – the number one genetic killer of boys.
As the parents fight the Food And Drug Administration to gain access to a potentially life-saving drug, the filmmakers chart their evolution into leading political activists.
The film becomes the third on distribution and sales company Juno Films’ slate after Sheldon announced the launch this week with Licinio Azevedo’s Train Of Salt And Sugar and Heidi Specogna’s Cahier Africain.
”To The Edge Of The Sky captures the evolution of four mothers from caregivers for their terminally ill children, with all of the ensuing stress and strain on their personal...
- 8/2/2017
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Outfit to specialise in distribution strategy in North America.
Former Bond/360 and Kino Lorber senior executive Elizabeth Sheldon has launched distribution and sales company Juno Films specialising in investment, sponsorship and distribution strategies in North America.
Shedon kicks off with Licinio Azevedo’s Train Of Salt And Sugar and Heidi Specogna’s Cahier Africain as she seeks to curate critically acclaimed films for all rights releases including theatrical and festivals, educational, digital and broadcast.
Train Of Salt And Sugar will receive financial support from Railroad Development Corporation (Rdc) ahead of an early 2018 national theatrical release. The film follows citizens on a dangerous train journey through Mozambique during the civil war.
Rdc chairman Henry Posner III said: “As the former operator of this railway, which served as the region’s lifeline during the civil war, we see supporting the film as a way of honouring its historic legacy. This builds on our initial support of publication of the...
Former Bond/360 and Kino Lorber senior executive Elizabeth Sheldon has launched distribution and sales company Juno Films specialising in investment, sponsorship and distribution strategies in North America.
Shedon kicks off with Licinio Azevedo’s Train Of Salt And Sugar and Heidi Specogna’s Cahier Africain as she seeks to curate critically acclaimed films for all rights releases including theatrical and festivals, educational, digital and broadcast.
Train Of Salt And Sugar will receive financial support from Railroad Development Corporation (Rdc) ahead of an early 2018 national theatrical release. The film follows citizens on a dangerous train journey through Mozambique during the civil war.
Rdc chairman Henry Posner III said: “As the former operator of this railway, which served as the region’s lifeline during the civil war, we see supporting the film as a way of honouring its historic legacy. This builds on our initial support of publication of the...
- 8/1/2017
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Maren Ade named best director as female filmmakers flourish.
Toni Erdmann continued its triumphant run at the German Film Awards on Friday night, taking home six coveted Lola statuettes in an evening dominated by strong women filmmakers.
Maren Ade’s tragicomedy received the Golden Lola for Best Feature Film as well as double honours for Ade (pictured at left) herself as director and screenwriter, plus statuettes for her lead actors Sandra Hueller (pictured at right) and Peter Simonischek, and a Lola for the film’s editor Heike Parplies.
Handled internationally by The Match Factory, Toni Erdmann began winning the hearts of critics and audiences around the globe following its premiere in Cannes’ Official Competition last year.
It picked up five European Film Awards in Poland’s Wroclaw last December – in the same categories as the Lolas except for editing – as well as Golden Globe and Oscar nominations.
Hours before Friday night’s ceremony in Berlin, the film’s...
Toni Erdmann continued its triumphant run at the German Film Awards on Friday night, taking home six coveted Lola statuettes in an evening dominated by strong women filmmakers.
Maren Ade’s tragicomedy received the Golden Lola for Best Feature Film as well as double honours for Ade (pictured at left) herself as director and screenwriter, plus statuettes for her lead actors Sandra Hueller (pictured at right) and Peter Simonischek, and a Lola for the film’s editor Heike Parplies.
Handled internationally by The Match Factory, Toni Erdmann began winning the hearts of critics and audiences around the globe following its premiere in Cannes’ Official Competition last year.
It picked up five European Film Awards in Poland’s Wroclaw last December – in the same categories as the Lolas except for editing – as well as Golden Globe and Oscar nominations.
Hours before Friday night’s ceremony in Berlin, the film’s...
- 4/28/2017
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
The Divine Order takes three awards; Cahier Africain wins two.
My My Life As A Courgette won best fiction film at the Swiss Film Awards, announced on Friday (24 March).
Claude Barras’ stop-motion animation also won best film score, for Sophie Hunter’s soundtrack, and a special Academy award for the casting and directing.
The film won the César for best animation this year, and was also nominated in the same category at the Oscars and Golden Globes.
The other big winner at the event was The Divine Order with three awards.
Petra Volpe’s film, which centres on the fight for equal rights for women in 1970s Switzerland, won best screenplay (Petra Volpe), best actress (Marie Leuenberger) and best performance in a supporting role (Rachel Braunschweig).
The film will receive its international premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 21, with Trust Nordisk handling world sales.
Heidi Specogna’s documentary Cahier Africain received two awards, for best documentary...
My My Life As A Courgette won best fiction film at the Swiss Film Awards, announced on Friday (24 March).
Claude Barras’ stop-motion animation also won best film score, for Sophie Hunter’s soundtrack, and a special Academy award for the casting and directing.
The film won the César for best animation this year, and was also nominated in the same category at the Oscars and Golden Globes.
The other big winner at the event was The Divine Order with three awards.
Petra Volpe’s film, which centres on the fight for equal rights for women in 1970s Switzerland, won best screenplay (Petra Volpe), best actress (Marie Leuenberger) and best performance in a supporting role (Rachel Braunschweig).
The film will receive its international premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 21, with Trust Nordisk handling world sales.
Heidi Specogna’s documentary Cahier Africain received two awards, for best documentary...
- 3/27/2017
- by orlando.parfitt@screendaily.com (Orlando Parfitt)
- ScreenDaily
Heartstone and Norwegian film-makers win big in Lübeck; Austerlitz takes home Golden Dove at Leipzig.
Lübeck’s 58th Nordic Film Days (Nov 2-6) has become the latest successful stop for Icelandic filmmaker Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson’s Heartstone after premiering in the Venice Days in September and picking up three awards at Warsaw Film Festival last month.
Gudmundsson’s debut was awarded the €12,500 Ndr Film Prize by a jury including Swedish actress Inger Nilsson (who played the title role of Pippi Longstocking in the classic children’s films when she was nine years old), Munich-based producer Jörg Bundschuh (The Fencer) and film director Marc Brummund (Sanctuary), for a “feature film of special artistic quality”.
The intensely moving coming of age tale, which takes place over one summer at a remote fishing village in Iceland, is being handled by Berlin-based sales agent Films Boutique.
Three nods for Norway
Elsewhere, Norwegian filmmakers took home three awards from the largest Nordic...
Lübeck’s 58th Nordic Film Days (Nov 2-6) has become the latest successful stop for Icelandic filmmaker Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson’s Heartstone after premiering in the Venice Days in September and picking up three awards at Warsaw Film Festival last month.
Gudmundsson’s debut was awarded the €12,500 Ndr Film Prize by a jury including Swedish actress Inger Nilsson (who played the title role of Pippi Longstocking in the classic children’s films when she was nine years old), Munich-based producer Jörg Bundschuh (The Fencer) and film director Marc Brummund (Sanctuary), for a “feature film of special artistic quality”.
The intensely moving coming of age tale, which takes place over one summer at a remote fishing village in Iceland, is being handled by Berlin-based sales agent Films Boutique.
Three nods for Norway
Elsewhere, Norwegian filmmakers took home three awards from the largest Nordic...
- 11/7/2016
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Heartstone and Norwegian film-makers win big in Lübeck; Austerlitz takes home Golden Dove at Leipzig.
Lübeck’s 58th Nordic Film Days (Nov 2-6) has become the latest successful stop for Icelandic filmmaker Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson’s Heartstone after premiering in the Venice Days in September and picking up three awards at Warsaw Film Festival last month.
Gudmundsson’s debut was awarded the €12,500 Ndr Film Prize by a jury including Swedish actress Inger Nilsson (who played the title role of Pippi Longstocking in the classic children’s films when she was nine years old), Munich-based producer Jörg Bundschuh (The Fencer) and film director Marc Brummund (Sanctuary), for a “feature film of special artistic quality”.
The intensely moving coming of age tale, which takes place over one summer at a remote fishing village in Iceland, is being handled by Berlin-based sales agent Films Boutique.
Three nods for Norway
Elsewhere, Norwegian filmmakers took home three awards from the largest Nordic...
Lübeck’s 58th Nordic Film Days (Nov 2-6) has become the latest successful stop for Icelandic filmmaker Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson’s Heartstone after premiering in the Venice Days in September and picking up three awards at Warsaw Film Festival last month.
Gudmundsson’s debut was awarded the €12,500 Ndr Film Prize by a jury including Swedish actress Inger Nilsson (who played the title role of Pippi Longstocking in the classic children’s films when she was nine years old), Munich-based producer Jörg Bundschuh (The Fencer) and film director Marc Brummund (Sanctuary), for a “feature film of special artistic quality”.
The intensely moving coming of age tale, which takes place over one summer at a remote fishing village in Iceland, is being handled by Berlin-based sales agent Films Boutique.
Three nods for Norway
Elsewhere, Norwegian filmmakers took home three awards from the largest Nordic...
- 11/7/2016
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Bulgarian drama won the Golden Leopard as well as Best Actress for star Irena Ivanova.
Bulgarian director Ralitza Petrova’s debut feature Godless has won the top prize, the Golden Leopard, at the 69th Locarno Film Festival.
The drama also took the Best Actress award for Irena Ivanova’s performance as a nurse looking after elderly patients with dementia in a remote Bulgarian town.
In addition, the production by Klas Film’s Rossitsa Valkanova with Denmark’s Snowglobe and France’s Alcatraz Films and Film Factory, received the Ecumenical Jury’s Prize, which comes with a cash award of $20,500 (CHF20,000).
The screenplay for Godless - which is being handled internationally by Greek-based Heretic Outreach - had been supported by Torino FilmLab’s FrameWork, Sarajevo’s CineLink and the Women in Film Finishing Fund in Los Angeles.
“This prize was unusual among juries because it was a unanimous decision between all the members of our team,” the International...
Bulgarian director Ralitza Petrova’s debut feature Godless has won the top prize, the Golden Leopard, at the 69th Locarno Film Festival.
The drama also took the Best Actress award for Irena Ivanova’s performance as a nurse looking after elderly patients with dementia in a remote Bulgarian town.
In addition, the production by Klas Film’s Rossitsa Valkanova with Denmark’s Snowglobe and France’s Alcatraz Films and Film Factory, received the Ecumenical Jury’s Prize, which comes with a cash award of $20,500 (CHF20,000).
The screenplay for Godless - which is being handled internationally by Greek-based Heretic Outreach - had been supported by Torino FilmLab’s FrameWork, Sarajevo’s CineLink and the Women in Film Finishing Fund in Los Angeles.
“This prize was unusual among juries because it was a unanimous decision between all the members of our team,” the International...
- 8/13/2016
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Bad Lit was painfully disappointed that neither The Hurt Locker nor its director, Kathryn Bigelow, won a Golden Globe the other night. We can only hope that the film fares better — way better — on Oscar night.
Other than that Golden Globe, so far the film has been racking up all kinds of awards, particularly from critics’ associations such as the Austin Film Critics Association, Boston Society of Film Critics and the Chicago Film Critics Association; plus, it won two awards from Ifp’s Gotham Independent Film Awards.
The Hurt Locker made only a modest sum at the box office, but hopefully the award season accolades its been receiving will encourage a larger audience to find it on DVD (Amazon | Netflix).
For those who have seen and enjoyed the film and would like to watch another Iraq-based film, I’ve compiled a short list of great overlooked documentaries to check out.
Other than that Golden Globe, so far the film has been racking up all kinds of awards, particularly from critics’ associations such as the Austin Film Critics Association, Boston Society of Film Critics and the Chicago Film Critics Association; plus, it won two awards from Ifp’s Gotham Independent Film Awards.
The Hurt Locker made only a modest sum at the box office, but hopefully the award season accolades its been receiving will encourage a larger audience to find it on DVD (Amazon | Netflix).
For those who have seen and enjoyed the film and would like to watch another Iraq-based film, I’ve compiled a short list of great overlooked documentaries to check out.
- 1/19/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
- Last year The Lives of Others cleaned up the "German Oscars", with eight nominations apiece, this year we find a tight race between Tom Tykwer's take on the Patrick Suskind novel a prison drama by helmer Chris Kraus. Perfume - The Story of a Murderer got a theatrical release stateside in late December. The Golden and Silver Lolas will be presented in a gala ceremony in Berlin on May 4. Here are the noms:Best Feature Film Emma's Bliss (dir: Sven Taddicken)The Counterfeiters (dir: Stefan Ruzowitzky)Perfume - The Story Of A Murderer (dir: Tom Tykwer)Four Minutes (dir: Chris Kraus)Grave Decisions (dir: Marcus H. Rosenmueller)Winter Journey (dir: Hans Steinbichler)Best Documentary The Short Life of Jose Antonio Gutierrez (dir: Heidi Specogna)Working Man's Death (dir: Michael Glawogger)Best Children's and Youth Film Hände Weg Vom Mississippi (dir: Detlev Buck)The Cloud (dir: Gregor Schnitzler)Best Direction
- 3/19/2007
- IONCINEMA.com
COLOGNE, Germany -- Fredi M. Murer's "Vitus", the story of a young music prodigy who leads a double life as a high-stakes Internet day trader, won best film at the Swiss Film Awards, Switzerland's top film honors, organizers announced Thursday.
"Vitus" was Switzerland's official entry for the foreign-language Oscar but failed to gain a nomination.
Jean-Luc Bideau won the best actor prize for "Mon frere se marie", while Heidi Specogna earned the documentary nod for "The Short Life of Jose Antonio Gutierrez," the story of the first U.S. solider to lose his life in the Iraq war.
Stina Werenfels' "Nachbeben", a drama set in the world of Swiss investment banking, won the Jury Grand Prix for its acting ensemble and Andrea Staka won the inaugural best screenplay award for the script for her directorial debut, "Das Fraeulein".
"Vitus" was Switzerland's official entry for the foreign-language Oscar but failed to gain a nomination.
Jean-Luc Bideau won the best actor prize for "Mon frere se marie", while Heidi Specogna earned the documentary nod for "The Short Life of Jose Antonio Gutierrez," the story of the first U.S. solider to lose his life in the Iraq war.
Stina Werenfels' "Nachbeben", a drama set in the world of Swiss investment banking, won the Jury Grand Prix for its acting ensemble and Andrea Staka won the inaugural best screenplay award for the script for her directorial debut, "Das Fraeulein".
- 1/25/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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