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MIKE FLELLO RIP…
INDUSTRY PAYS TRIBUTE…
WORLD CINEMA INNOVATOR REMEMBERED…
TRADE RECALLS ARTHOUSE BEGINNINGS…
…AND GATHERS TO CELEBRATE FLELLO’S LIFE…
…“THERE ARE A MILLION STORIES TO BE TOLD”
BASE/DEGI: INDUSTRY OUTLOOK GOOD FOR 2025…
…AS NOVEMBER BOX OFFICE LEAPS YEAR-ON-YEAR…
AND HOME PREMIERES OFFER GROWTH
CRITIC GETS GOOD REVIEWS…
TERRIFIER 3 LANDS AFTER THEATRICAL SUCCESS
CRITERION REVEALS FEBRUARY SLATE…
ARROW ALSO LOOKS AHEAD…
WHILE RADIANCE GOES MAD IN MARCH…
TRAILERS OF THE WEEK
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It was a good week for… November's box office gives cheer for next year…
It was a bad week for… Another industry legend passes.…
We’ve been watching… We've been recuperating from eye surgery (hence the slight delay) and catching up with viewing – documentary Wilding, out today (December 16) on physical formats, was a real feelgood affair…
The Raygun is devastated to report on another tragic passing with the news that former industry stalwart Mike Flello has died. Flello joined the industry in its really years and was appointed as Midlands rep for the combined Palace, Virgin and Gold’s operation some 40 years ago. His career spanned the next few decades, taking in Castle and Hendring, VVL, PMI, Fox World Cinema, Tartan, World Cinema Limited and more. He was instrumental in bringing world cinema and arthouse films to a more mainstream audience, notable in his spells at first Palace and then Fox World Cinema and, after the major exited this business, the World Cinema Limited operation run as a joint venture between Tartan and Artificial Eye. His love of films ran deep and he had a genuine love for the products he was selling to retailers, and his enthusiasm for film helped persuade retailers to take a chance. As one observer noted this week, he was a very, very good salesman who managed to “laugh rental dealers into buying his art films before they realised they were buying quality”. But Flello was so much more than that too, someone who truly deserves the epithet legendary. Witty, a snappy dresser, he loved music too – from his days as a Northern Soul promoter, DJ and bootlegger, to putting on punk gigs in the 70s in his native Midlands, through to attending numerous gigs when he’d moved to London to work for the fledgling PVG operation and for the rest of his life. And, of course, there was the football too – he was a devoted Wolves supporter who travelled the world not just to watch the Wanderers, but England and more too, including refereeing. And he was very, very funny, his presence, including a raft of at times woeful gags, would enliven any industry events. As many have noted this week on Facebook, LinkedIn and elsewhere, he was a genuine one-off.
Another industry stalwart, Alan McQueen, who worked with Mike Flello at Palace, then set up Fox World cinema before passing the baton on to his former colleague, only to reteam with him at World Cinema Limited where they resumed their partnership, spoke about his pal to The Raygun. He said: “What can you say about him? He loved film. He drank too much. He partied too much. He was liked by so many people in the industry (and the football community too). I met him in the industry as we both loved art house and foreign language films. I got a job at Palace Pictures and then things really kicked off. We travelled the country selling great films (most of which the video industry didn’t get but we loved). I remember trying to get the video stores to buy Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources, we did a UK tour which was hilarious. We went to Ireland quite a few times that was great. Mike loved film with a passion (the same passion he had for Wolves and England). We went to Cannes a few times together. They struggled to understand either of us. We used to do a full days work then go and see two films (Nikita and The Killer one night, amazing). We worked together at World Cinema Ltd and took Tartan and Artificial Eye to new levels. I always enjoyed working with Mike. A smile was never far from your face when you worked with him. It was interesting when he went to the World Cup for five weeks leaving me to sort out the problems but what could you do? Mike spent his life making people smile, making people feel good about them selves. He was a very proud Dad and loved to tell me about his daughter and I about mine, both called Olivia. There are a million stories to be told and I’m sure we will all smile with a pint in our hands chatting about him. He will be much missed. RIP my friend.”
Former Video Business editor and trade press supremo John Hayward said: “The very sad news of Mike’s demise comes as a major bummer, despite the knowledge that his health had been in a precarious state for some years. This did not stop him from religiously following Wolves and The Fall (while they were still around) home and away. A master salesman who delivered his fast-talking spiel with a fetching north Worcestershire (OK...Black Country) twang laced with the best jokes in the business, Mike was the trade face for Palace Video and then other arty indies from the early 1980s. Over the years he presented product that varied from classic ‘nasties’ like The Evil Dead and Basket Case, via superb international family animation including Belleville Rendezvous and the 16-hour German epic Heimat box set with about a dozen discs, all with equal enthusiasm. Even notoriously conservative rental dealers found they had bought a copy or two once they had stopped laughing. Mike’s own-label venture was called OR in a humorous nod to the Black Country, after which he set out his stall on London’s Camden Market where he charmed the tourists for a living. He was a bona fide total legend and his passing once more thins the ranks of the 1980s VHS founders of our industry.”
Mike Flello was part of a small coterie of Wolves supporters in the industry, another he formed a close relationship with was Pete Kalhan, a long-time hmv staffer who ended up a Fremantle and, latterly, runs his own operation, Old Gold Media (a reference to his and Mike’s beloved football team. Kalhan said: “The first time I ever met Mike, in 1996, we shook hands and then in his soft Black Country drawl, he said: ‘Come here and give us a hug, we’re both Wolves aye we.’ A friendship and bond was formed. Over the years, I would probably see more of him at Wolves matches than in work meetings. The constant was his perennial smile and sense of humour. First time he met my son Neel at Watford away, Neel asked him his name. Mike responded: ‘Phil/’ Neel looked at me and whispered, ‘I thought he was Mike’. Before I could respond Mike added: “And my surname is Errup.’ I laughed, my eight-year-old didn’t get it. Mike then proceeded to chat for the next 10 mins, cracking jokes until Neel said, ‘Dad can we move, I want to watch the match.’ Mike just laughed and said I’ll go back to my seat. Neel has never forgotten Mike. I’m going to miss Mike and his sense of humour, wisecracks and that grin – who can ever forget that grin; his love of music from soul to The Fall; his chat and knowledge of film; his offer of a pint at the Blue Posts on a Friday afternoon and he’d always look out for you. At 9.23pm Monday December 9, Mike Flello took his last breath. A few miles across east London, his beloved Wolves equalised a few minutes later, I’m hoping wherever Mike was, the smile got a bit bigger! Mike, I’m going to miss you, thank you for enriching my life. Love always Pete! COYW.”
Former buyers he dealt with also paid tribute to his passion and enthusiasm. Former hmv buyer Andy Anderson said: “Mike was one of the least assuming account managers I encountered, his love and knowledge of world cinema was always an education and it was a pleasure to learn from him and do business with him.” Former Golds executive Garry Elwood, now at Lasgo, said: “I’m so saddened to hear of Mike’s passing. our connection goes back many years to the PVG days and then throughout his tenure in the world cinema genre. He was a very frequent visitor to Golds during my years there and became a regular on the infamous Golds conferences and sales meetings. His passion for film was matched by his sense of humour. One of the video industry greats, the home entertainment world loses another legend. Sam Dunn worked with Mike Flello at Tartan while Flello was running World Cinema Limited. Dunn, who went from Tartan to the BFI and is now at Powerhouse, said: “"My first meeting with Mike - on my second day as a new-starter in the industry - was at his Nellie Dean office. In the years that followed, we had many more such meetings in his array of offices around Soho as we navigated the waves which Tartan and World Cinema whipped up together. Never one to do anything by halves, his boundless enthusiasm and gung-ho attitude was infectious, and truly inspiring. He truly was one of a kind. Here's to you, Mike.”
A lengthy tribute came from colleague Trevor Drane, now at Revelation, who worked with Mike at the nascent Palace Virgin and Gold joint venture and were later part of one of the industry’s leading informal gatherings on a Friday afternoon. Drane said: “My friend and former colleague of 40 years Mike Flello died this week. So right up front, but not for those who knew him well, I have to lay out that Mike was the epitome of a man who lived his life by the ‘work, hard, play hard’ maxim and in that he was a genuine joy to work with. We first met on a cold, late winter’s morning in 1984 on the first day of the new Palace,Virgin and Gold adventure and quickly bonded via a shared attitude to authority, establishment and ‘middle class film business tossers’, we also shared a love of film and music. The new team at PVG became rampantly successful, we started out releasing Michael Jackson’s Thriller Video which helped. Our regular pattern of releases would remain independent film, including some of cinema’s greatest directors, many were foreign language which proved a challenge when selling to 1980s video rental stores whose brand new owners had invested docks, pit and steel works redundancy payments into ventures in this new entertainment medium, our avowedly street culture attitude and indie company ethos helped. Very quickly Mike and our other colleague Lawrie Dalziel became the core of a hugely successful team and firm friends. The business flourished and expanded, Mike’s encyclopaedic film knowledge and work hard attitude soon saw him promoted and he moved from his home town of Kidderminster to London, this brought him into my orbit socially and we indulged in our shared love of film, music and football. Although he was famously a Wolves fan in that first year in London he came with me and my crew to West Ham most home games and many away to, he loved the working class culture prevalent at football back then, added to which ‘85/’86 turned out to be West Hams most successful league campaign ever. The success of PVG attracted better and better film releases to go with the stellar music video output, Company of Wolves, Personal Services, Wish You Were Here, Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence, She’s Gotta Have It among them; PVG and the Palace group was a genuine joy to be a part of at that time. Mike was promoted again to go and work at Palace Video and with that the company started to innovate within the new sell through video genre using brand marketing for a series if releases under the Palace Classics banner. This was possible as the foreign language movies we released down the years had effectively established a Palace brand identity which was wrapped around the re-release at sell through prices for a host of titles as a collection – we didn’t know it but we had established a sub-genre within film on home video and Mike was at the very heart of founding what today is the arthouse sector, and the broader label world cinema, which is a term I never heard him use, even though later he went on to run Fox World Cinema and World Cinema Limited.”
Drane continued with his tribute to Mike Flello, saying: “We worked together again in the early 1990’s at Castle Communication’s when he followed me in at Hendring (a Castle group company). It was enjoyable, and we had some fun replicating some of the old Palace style successes. But the 1990s didn’t offer the same ground breaking successes that 1980s did and our career paths drifted apart, Mike went to run Fox World Cinema via VVL and Tartan as World Cinema Limited, and I was at First Independent. But we were still great mates and during this time established a Friday Club along with the late Ed Ramsey based at the Blue Posts on the corner of Berwick Street market, our main focus was the football score predictions for the coming weekend and how crap the film industry had become with all the FMCG suits and bean-counters sucking the creativity out of it, so basically an old lags moan up for a couple of hours before getting the train home for the weekend. Mike was a one off, he had a unique Black Country charm, aided by his quick wit and no little sartorial excellence. He was a fierce socialist, an active member of the Labour Party, a massive Wolves fan, a loving father and a friend of 40 years (where does the time go). I write of a time more than 20 years ago when there was a thriving social scene surrounding the industry, and while it was financially a massive business, £3 billion at its height, in people terms it was a village, everyone knew everyone else as there was a vibrant social scene based around our location in Soho. I say this not to diss teams meetings, but to explain this comment, Mike was so well known and respected he was known purely by his surname, Flello. He had such an effect on those who knew him that merely to say his name always brought a smile to people’s faces, and that’s a legacy worth having.”
The Raygun’s Tim Murray said: “Mike was a genuine kindred spirit. Right from the off – one of our first proper ‘meetings’ was sat in a Soho restaurant where he was showing off a range of Eric Rohmer titles with landscape rather than portrait VHS sleeves – I was struck by his infectious enthusiasm for the business and films. A few beers in and he was my new best mate. Flitting between screenings and assorted Soho hostelries, we had the best times, including trips further afield to Cannes, as well as hosting regular screenings when I was at timecode and RRP magazines where we’d get retailers along to buy into his vision of arthouse and world cinema titles. I have very, very fond memories of the time we spent together, not least when we used to take a box at The Den for Millwall v Wolves and invite along the industry’s small but perfectly formed contingent of industry Wanderers fans and others. He had an uncanny knack of popping up in all kinds of places – in a book charting fans at the Italia 90 World Cup, in TV documentaries and, last time I saw him, at an A Certain Ratio gig in Hackney. He represented the nascent industry in its formative years – work hard, play hard – and while that may be the case any more, its growth, especially in crucial years and with the advent of DVD, was based on the efforts of people like Mike getting retailers and consumers to buy into something beyond the Hollywood norm. In a just world, we'd have a statue of him somewhere in the heart of London – maybe outside the Blue Posts – to mark his contribution.” Mike Flello’s friends and family, including daughter Ollie, are organising a celebration of his life. It will take place at the Hawley Arms in Camden from 3pm on Friday December 20. Our thoughts and we’re sure those of our readers go out to them. RIP Mike.
To Universal’s offices in the heart of London where BASE and sister organisation DEGI were hosting the Annual Wrap & Industry Outlook 2024-25, offering a look back at some of the year’s highlights, looking forward to the next 12 months and also assessing some of the key issues facing the business. There was a mood of optimism too, as the room was buoyed by the current theatrical success – November receipts at the UK box office stood at £145 million, up 95 per cent year-on-year – which bodes well for home entertainment in 2025. Opening the event, outgoing BASE chair Rob Marsh said: “As we gather together amongst friends and colleagues, it's the perfect moment to acknowledge the resilience and creativity that defines our sector. Together, we continue to navigate change, drive innovation, and create new opportunities. At BASE, much like DEGI, our mission is to champion growth, and engage across all areas of home entertainment and over the past year, we've seen really promising momentum. EST and premium offerings continue to lead growth, the digital and physical formats performing strongly. Resurgence of physical media, particularly in premium formats, has shown double digit growth driven by the latest products, which is amazing. A robust Q4 theatrical slate has kept our audiences engaged, and this is set to continue in 2025. And we've also worked closely with our platform partners, whose innovations and enhancing consumer experience is really driving sustainable growth. The past year has been transformative for BASE as well, with bold initiatives and impactful programs shaping the future, and these include our Insights agenda. So we've commissioned bespoke behavioural studies and invested in segmentation, and what this will enable to do is really understand the choices that our entertainment consumers are making across all the different channels.
Marsh continued: “The Mega Movie campaign, now running monthly, has delivered consistently strong results and provides a spotlight for transactional right on the storefronts of our retail partners and drives premium retail. New initiatives within BASE include establishing a sector-wide, next-gen board, and that board met last week. There's also a sector mentoring programme that has started, and in Q1 2025, an industry induction program, All of these things are there to foster new talent, to develop those people coming into our industry and to retain that talent. The very first Go Big And Go Home campaign, a groundbreaking test and trial promotion between exhibition and home entertainment, is quite a landmark for this industry, and something we've been looking to achieve for many, many years. And the BASE awards reached new heights, showcasing the incredible creativity and talent within our industry. Looking ahead, we're embracing bold thinking and reframing our strategy in Q1 with our digital summit in March. And really, this is a key step as we contemplate what our industry will be through to 2030.”
The event went on to hear from assorted representatives across the industry, both in the UK and beyond, offering an overview of the market, looking at trends and further opportunities (premium releases being chief among those), a look at what’s happening in retail with representatives from Amazon and hmv (both reflected the same mood of optimism of the industry, with Patrizia Leighton from hmv talking about the retailer’s work with fandom and “banging the drum for physical media”), while also hearing about how the likes of Reddit and Letterboxd are engaging with consumers and how the industry can capitalise on that. BASE also outlined its work and initiatives, from Mega Movie Weekends onwards, including revealing some details of its sentiment study and attitudes of people working in the industry, with more on the future of leadership and innovations such as BASE’s Hedy Lamar awards. There was also an update on the current state of piracy and copyright infringement. The event ended with a mass wrapping of gifts donated by assorted distributors to be donated to the London borough of Hounslow’s refugee fund. More on this next week.
One of the big releases out last week, December 9, came from Lionsgate, which brought out The Critic, a star-heavy homegrown drama cum thriller in which Sir Ian McKellen, the titular writer, who becomes embroiled in a Faustian pact with an actress, played by Gemma Arterton, with further support from the likes of Lesley Manville and Mark Strong. Comment on the release came from Lionsgate’s Imogen Dodds, who said: “December 9 saw the packaged release of THE CRITIC. This star-studded British title will be available to bring home on DVD and Blu-Ray. We’re supporting the release with a targeted media spend that will cut through the busy Seasonal gifting window.”
And landing this Monday on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K following its impressive home premiere and and even bigger theatrical is one of the surprise box office successes of 2024, Signature’s gore-filled extravaganza Terrifier 3, which has amassed more than £3.3 million. It enjoyed a return to the big screen just ahead of that, with a December 12, return to Odeon, Vue and Omniplex cinemas as well as and key independents, such as The Prince Charles Cinema. Signature has adapted the much-loved illustrated poster by Alessio Greco and it’s being given away in this month’s issue of SFX Magazine which is on shelves now and leading the festive charge for what fans are labelling as “horror’s answer to Home Alone”. Signature’s Cliff Green said “Terrifier has been one of our most lucrative and popular genre franchises to date with the fans being a key part of each campaign across social media platforms. It’s a very vocal audience that our own social media team has curated from the release of the first film, with a number of moments going viral across all of our campaigns. The company is incredibly proud of all that’s been achieved, with Terrifier 3 becoming our highest earner of all time at the UK and Irish box office. We can’t wait for fans to head into cinemas one final time to see Art the Clown on the big screen, directly before they can purchase across digital platforms and physical SKUs, including a HMV UHD Collectors Edition featuring special packaging and exclusive bonus content, including storyboards and Art cards.”
There’s been a few announcements in recent weeks – and more to come in the next newsletter too, as we didn’t have time to reveal all the forthcoming titles, but chief among those was Criterion has revealed its February line-up, revealing its next slate of titles due in 2025. It’s as varied as ever, as outlined by Spirit’s Tracy Niland, who said: “February 3 sees a classic Jimmy Stewart western – Winchester ’73 on 4k and Blu-Ray for the first time in the UK. The first time he would collaborate with director Anthony Mann, they ended up making 5 in total and ended up blazing a trail to help redefine the genre. This tale of one man’s obsession with a rifle comes complete with commentaries, archive footage and a brand new documentary about the portrayal of Native Americans in the genre. Next up is a Paul Thomas Anderson’s foray into the world of rom-coms and taking Adam Sandler along for the ride, with Punch Drunk Love out on 4k on February 10. From a beautiful 4k restoration overseen by Anderson himself – a real modern day classic looking better than ever. Last but by no means least, is Crossing Delancey releasing on 4k and Blu-Ray on February 24. The perfectly coiffured Amy Irving is looking for love in New York City with the help of her Jewish grandmother’s matchmaker. Only ever received a VHS and DVD release over here previously so a first time on both formats. A wonderful love-letter to 80s Manhattan, the film has received a 4k restoration making NYC look as wonderfully romantic as ever and there is also a new ‘making of’ documentary, an audio interview and the trailer to enjoy. As ever, three very different titles coming to the market courtesy of Criterion.”
Arrow Video unveiled its February 2025 slate last Friday, which in addition to recent critically acclaimed indie crime hit The Last Stop in Yuma County, saw the distributor announce some 4K upgrades of beloved hits from their vast catalogue. The label’s James Flower wrote: “In addition to Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, we announced a world-premiere 4K restoration of the director’s cut of Hooper’s bonkers Cannon epic Lifeforce, which for those who haven’t had the privilege to see it, has a beautiful naked space vampire destroy London in the most spectacular Hammer-homaging fashion imaginable. Having worked with fellow horror master William Friedkin to bring his controversial leather-bar-serial-killer-thriller Cruising to Blu-ray five years ago, Arrow now pays the ultimate tribute to the late director with a loaded package – ahem – spread across two discs, including material pulled from the deepest recesses of the studio vaults (not the apocryphal hour of hardcore footage, needless to say). Special shout out to Arrow producers James Pearcey and Leila Hall for bringing this one to fruition, a true labour of love.”
And finally – although we will have more in the next, pre-Christmas Raygun, there’s March releases from Radiance, offering a trio of French noirs and more. Here’s the company’s Fran Simeoni on its forthcoming titles. He said: “We're delighted with the response to our latest announcements. The Hardboiled collection brings together three thrilling noirs from Alain Cavalier and represents our latest partnership with Studio Canal. The Eel is a world first to Blu-ray for the second Palme d'Or winner from director Shohei Imamura starring Koji Yakusho, timely after the success of Perfect Days. Alain Resnais' Je t'aime, je t'aime is UK Blu-ray premiere with a newly graded transfer and a host of extras. A misunderstood masterpiece, it has been reclaimed by critics in recent years and fans of Eternal Sunshine which was heavily influenced by the film will no doubt be discovering it since that reappraisal. Finally our partnership with Raro Video continues with another slice of poliziottesco goodness with the Jack Palance starring Rulers of the City aka Mister Scarface.”
TRAILERS OF THE WEEK
Richard Dreyfuss messing about with sharks again…
Brutal indeed…
Due from Altitude…
Wonder if it will have that time we interviewed him…
Nominative determinism of the week…
Hard to believe how long ago the first one was…
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