GRIMSBY ELEPHANT’S IN LOTS OF ROOMS
MIDWEEK UPDATE
LEGAL STREAMING UP, PIRACY DOWN…
…ONLINE PIRATES FACE 10 YEARS IN JAIL
FACT REWARDS EAGLE-EYED CINEMA STAFF
FIRST EVER BRITISH IP DAY
STOP MARKS FIVE YEARS SINCE RIOTS…
…AS SUPREME COURT RULES AGAINST MORE CASH
STUDIOCANAL CELEBRATES 10 YEARS
FALLING TO EARTH… IN HIGH DEFINITION
CHAMBER’S MADE FOR FRIGHTFEST…
…STUDIOCANAL BOASTS STRONG HORROR SLATE
NEON’S UP IN LIGHTS
MILES HITS THE RIGHT NOTES
CURZON PULLS THE STRINGS
AMAZON OPENS UP CHRISTMAS BASKET…
…AND UNVEILS 2016 TRENDS
TWEET OF THE WEEK
TRAILERS OF THE WEEK
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It Was A Good Week For... Studiocanal, 10 years in the UK…
It Was A Bad Week For… Act now to get government funds to replace lost EU support distribs told, as the pound still falls…
The last few weeks on here we’ve kicked off with some Brexit-based news, a fortnight ago we were among the first to talk about its impact on acquisitions and had comment from executives on the day the result was announced about its immediate impact; this week we’ll just point you to some more on the issue from Stephen Follows, an analyst who has spoken to more than 150 executives in the UK, Europe and beyond about its impact. You can see the full thing here – and it’s well worth your time – but in the meantime, there’s one or two salient points. Follows said it was essential to replace lost MEDIA funds, which had helped fund different aspects of the industry to the tune of more than €100 million in the six years between 2007 and 2013 alone. As he said: “There will be a huge number of industries pressuring the government for additional funds, and so the UK film industry needs to start planning now how it will make its case.” The ever-plunging pound, meanwhile, added to further acquisition woes too...
Let’s go on to a round-up of what’s going on out and about in stores and it’s been another strong week for Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. For as the studio readies itself for one of the biggest theatrical releases of the year, the new take on Ghostbusters, it is leading the way in the Official Charts Company midweeks too. Grimsby, the Sacha Baron Cohen comedy about football hooligans, spies and a whole lot more, is in the number one slot at the halfway mark and is taking on Deadpool toe to toe (to use the football vernacular). It’s been aided by a campaign from SPHE which plays up its more outré credentials – the viral of TOWIE stars watching the notorious elephant scene has helped no end. Commenting on its week one performance, the company’s Amy Sawyer said: “Our campaign centred around positioning Grimsby as the most outrageous film ever made, focusing particularly on THAT elephant scene. The Euros provided the perfect opportunity to reach our core audience of males 18-35 in reactive, disruptive and very funny ways. In particular, a partnership with The Sun Dream Team drove huge social engagement around key fixtures. This week we launched a Gogglebox-style video with TOWIE stars Lydia Bright and her mum Debbie, which sets out to prove that Grimsby is the worst possible film to watch with mother! Their reactions were absolutely hilarious and the piece has been widely picked up, getting a great response from their fans. With more fun PR activity planned and fantastic support from our retail partners, Sacha’s most shocking creation is set to deliver a really strong result.”
More from the midweeks, and more success for SPHE – its latest House Of Cards release, the fourth, is a new entry in at number six, impressive given that it’s already available through Netflix. Having said that, House Of Cards had repeated mentions in the press following on from Michael Gove’s machinations behind the scenes earning comparisons with Frank Underwood. Sandwiched between these two new entries was a third entrant Zoolander No 2, at number five– familiar faces such as Deadpool (at two and some 5,000 units behind Cohen and co), The Revenant at three and Dad’s Army at four. Other new entries include Son Of Saul at number 16, Secret In Their Eyes at number 18, Underworld – Legend Of The Jinn at 19, Asian Connection, starring Steven Seagal and released through Soda, at number 21, The Choice from Lionsgate at 25 and Lego Justice League: Gotham City Breakout at number 34.
Tuesday July 5 saw the very first British IP Day, with a raft of activity centring on the fight against copyright infringement in all its forms. And the government took it up itself to show it can act despite all the assorted shenanigans in and around parliament these days. Firstly the Intellectual Property Office released its Online Copyright Infringement Tracker, the figures studying online piracy prepared by Kantar Media. And there was a mixture of good and bad news. The good? Well, Netflix and music streaming equivalent Spotify are having a “chilling effect” on online piracy – those consuming exclusively from legal sites has risen to 44 per cent, up three points since the end of last year. On the downside, TV and film content was illegally accessed more than 50 million times in the three month period to the end of May 2016, some 7 million consumers are still illegally downloading or streaming and one in 20 are exclusively consuming illegal content online. Baroness Neville-Rolfe, Minister for Intellectual Property, said: “Online copyright infringement has been a running sore for the UK’s creative industries for far too long. I am extremely pleased to see that there has been a decline in infringement and that consumers appear to be turning towards legitimate streaming en masse. There is, however, more to do. This government is committed to fighting against IP theft in all its forms and supporting the hard work of our creative industries. I am pleased that we are joining forces internationally to improve our knowledge of online infringement.”
Also, in case you didn’t realise, there is parliamentary work beyond the backbiting on both sides of the house and the Chilcot brouhaha. The new Digital Economy Bill had its first reading in Parliament this week, and now goes to the next stage, where it will be debated. Among the key proposals in the bill is the increase of the sentence for online pirates from two to 10 years, putting it in line with physical piracy. The official government line noted: “The Government believes that a maximum sentence of 10 years allows the courts to apply an appropriate sentence to reflect the scale of the offending.”
One of the chief events of British IP Day saw the Federation Against Copyright Theft, FACT, rewarding cinema staff for their work in helping prevent piracy. The 17 staffers from different Cineworld, Empire, Showcase and Vue cinemas around the country had spotted dubious characters illegally filming in screens, their vigilance helping tackle camcorder piracy, still the source of nine out of 10 illegal copies of films. It earned them cash rewards and certificates under the Film Fight Theft programme, run by FACT with the support of the Film Distributors’ Association, as well as helping prevent pirate versions of films such as Deadpool, The Jungle Book and Angry Birds find their way into the market and online. FDA chief executive Mark Batey said: “With a bumper summer line-up full of exciting new releases to experience at the cinema, raising awareness of digital film theft, and empowering cinema staff, is a key priority to ensure the UK remains the most safe and secure environment in which to release movies. On behalf of UK distributors we would like to thank all of the awardees for their continued vigilance and commitment which has helped to safeguard so many great films.” Kieron Sharp, FACT director general, added: “Illegal recording is still the source of more than 90 per cent of all pirated films and so our Fight Film Theft programme with the FDA, is essential to protecting new releases and preventing criminal activity. Our creative industries now account for more than 1.8 million jobs and by supporting cinema staff to identify and take action on those stealing creative content, we not only are protecting the picture on the big screen, but the hundreds of people working behind it to put it there.”
Meanwhile over at the Houses of Parliament, a reception was held to mark British IP Day, with Pete Wishart MP, chair of the All Party Parliamentary Intellectual Property Group hosting the event. Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport John Whittingdale said: “"The success of our creative industries is built upon strong intellectual property rights. I strongly support the efforts of the Alliance for IP on raising awareness of this. I also look forward to working with them in identifying the opportunities as well as the challenges resulting from Britain leaving the European Union. I am delighted that the Digital Economy Bill, published yesterday, includes measures which will bring criminal penalties for online copyright infringement into line with physical infringement – ensuring we have the right legal framework in place to support creators and the content they produce.” Baroness Neville-Rolfe, Minister for Intellectual Property, said: "The UK has one of the best and most respected IP regimes in the world. We have developed an environment in which innovators, designers and the creative sector can thrive - for that we should be proud. It is high time we had a day to celebrate the huge role that intellectual property plays in the UK economy. From the pharmaceutical industry to fashion design IP is the lifeblood of UK innovation. In the light of recent events I want to assure rights holders that they can continue to expect an outstanding professional service. We will engage with stakeholders and seek to ensure that we remain one of the most envied IP environments in the world.”
Staying with something political, albeit only a few miles, but a world away, from Westminster is forthcoming Metrodome release Hard Stop. The film looks at the life of Mark Duggan, whose death at the hands of the police in Tottenham effectively sparked of the devastating riots around the country and some of his friends and associates in the aftermath of his killing. Metrodome is releasing the film at cinemas on July 15, followed by vod on August 1 and DVD a week after that. It has already earned acres of publicity, a huge Observer feature, with more to come in Time Out and Shortlist, as well as a raft of four and five star reviews. Further PR includes London radio and TV and national too, with Metrodome also targeting youth outlets and an urban audience through Vice, i-D, SBTV and GRM Daily, among others. Digital advertising, a number of Q&A screenings and a partnership with Link UP TV have furthered its reach to millions. This week Metrodome unveiled a further tie-in with charity Inquest, giving 20 per cent of its revenue to the organisation, which supports families of this who die in custody. Commenting on the film’s release, Metrodome’s Chris Lawrance said: “We’re proud to be releasing The Hard Stop in cinemas July 15 and on VOD August 1 and DVD August 8 – the film has played to packed out audiences since London Film Festival with emotional and lively debates, complete with standing ovations. Our extensive Q&A tour across the country will help to spread word of mouth and engage audiences in an important, timely subject matter’
Of course, mere mention of the riots that swept the country five years ago still rankle with many in the industry. It was only a matter of weeks ago that, in a little reported Supreme Court ruling, five of the country’s top judges ruled that then mayor Boris Johnson and the Met Police didn’t have to foot the full compensation bill for businesses, including a clutch of DVD distributors, after Sony DADC’s warehouse was razed to the ground during the unrest. It went all the way to the top after the authorities appealed against previous rulings stating that the mayor’s office must fork out for lost profits and rent lost after the blaze. The Supreme Court ruled that the compensation didn’t have to “extend to cover consequential losses”. Law firm TLT represented the Met, its Chris Owen said: “With many claims for consequential loss dependent on the outcome of this case, today's Supreme Court decision will likely save the UK taxpayer upwards of £80m. The Supreme Court ruling today has clarified that the compensation payable by the Metropolitan Police is limited to the costs of repairing the damage done to property during the 2011 London riots.” It may have saved taxpayers money, but companies such as ClearVision fell in its wake, many in our business suffered and after promising to help businesses, claiming that the Riot Damages Act didn’t cover elements didn’t help our business…
Right, let’s have some good news now, and Studiocanal this week marked the 10th anniversary of its fully-fledged entry into the UK after buying indie Optimum Releasing with birthday celebrations. It’s scored some remarkable achievements in the past decade and has, as its successes over the past year or two at the box office, on home entertainment sales and at awards ceremonies (such as this year\s BASE ceremony) will testify, it’s going from strength to strength. As well as showing itself adept at blockbuster releases such as, at opposite ends of the spectrum Paddington and Legend, the Krays film, it is still showing its worth both in terms of mining the vast Studiocanal library – Highlander and Poor Cow are both due up next in lavishly restored editions – and moving into other genres and areas, children’s brand Bing being one of its success stories. And, stretching right back to its launch as Optimum Releasing, home entertainment has been the bedrock of its business.
Heck, even as it was marking the occasion, Studiocanal unleashed another major announcement about another lavish restoration – The Man Who Fell To Earth, acclaimed by many as David Bowie’s finest feature film outing, will arrive in cinemas on September 9, with a collector’s edition Blu-ray, DVD or download available on October 10. Planned before the star’s tragic death, it will provide a fitting look at his otherworldly performance in Nic Roeg’s classic. Commenting on the warmly received news, the company’s Alison Arber said: “The exclusive announcement went live yesterday morning on davidbowie.com to rapturous response with subsequent pick up across major outlets and social channels. The Man Who Fell to Earth restoration is a key project for us this year. Watch this space for more exciting news in coming weeks.”
Staying with Studiocanal and more reaction to the Horror Channel FrightFest line-up announced last week (tickets have been selling like the proverbial hotcakes ) and there’s more films being lined up for forthcoming DVD release and more. This week Studiocanal announced that it had picked up one of the big premieres due to air at the event, acquiring The Chamber, an underwater thriller about a special ops team that commandeers a vessel searching for a mysterious item at the bottom of the sea. When the submersible takes on water, they must battle for survival. The film's director may be familiar to some in the industry – Ben Parker is creative head at OTMentertain and has worked on numerous campaigns for clients, and has even had the, ahem, pleasure of working with The Raygun’s Tim Murray. He’s already had a short air at the event and this year his feature makes its debut there. We’ve met numerous wannabe directors and scriptwriters in the industry over the years, few have managed to make the leap to actually making full length feature films, so we’re sure you’ll join us in congratulating Parker on his achievement. Studiocanal is currently planning it release strategy for the film beyond its world premiere at FrightFest. Parker said: “'As a long time Frightfester myself, I'm ecstatic to be premiering there this year. It's my home, my genre and my peoples.”
The Chamber adds to a list of Studiocanal titles due to air during FrightFest – four in all. Commenting on its presence at the event and outlining more of its films there, the company’s Kristin Ryan said: “We’re incredibly excited about our line up at this years’ Frightfest, from atmospheric surrogate pregnancy shocker Shelley to the gory virus fuelled Evil In Us. Our line up also includes the worldwide premiere of Ben Parker’s tense claustrophobic survival thriller The Chamber and the closing night film Train To Busan, the Korean action packed zombie thrill-ride which was the stand out Midnight Movie sensation at this years’ Cannes Film Festival.”
Icon’s marketing team deservedly picked up a gong at the Screen Awards and, given its success with The Nice Guys recently (almost £4 million and counting at UK cinemas, no mean feat given it’s a proper grown-up film and NOT a sequel) and, judging by its efforts for Nicolas Winding Refn’s The Neon Demon, another award could be on the way. It’s another exemplary campaign for the theatrical release (it’s out on Friday July 8 at cinemas). This week has been a case in point – loads of PR featuring the director, which should help for drafting for the likes of previous Icon and Refn releases Drive and Only God Forgives, sumptuous looking advertising and some very relevant screenings, as well as one for the national press, there was one for the fashion industry and another for FrightFest, organised in conjunction with the horror film enthusiasts. The reaction to that packed screening highlights the potential for the film too. As the company’s Chris Warrington said: “The publicity has been fantastic, the nature of the film and the filmmaker means he automatically attracts attention from the press. He really believes in the UK market, it was the first to really embrace his films and he enjoys the process of talking about films, his own films and others. We have a long-standing relationship with him, it’s brilliant and long may it continue.” Warrington added that Refn’s distinctive visual style, and accompanying music, made it a “joy to work on” when it came to marketing too. The film debuts to a score of four and five star reviews…
Before The Neon Demon arrives on DVD and Blu-ray later this year, there’s a lot of other home entertainment activity from the label, not least is Miles Ahead, the Don Cheadle and Ewan McGregor starring biopic of the jazz great, due on August 22. Its home entertainment bow will see it riding on the success of a similarly high profile marketing campaign. As Icon’s Chris Warrington said: “It had a fantastic theatrical publicity campaign, with Don Cheadle giving it his full support. We’ll really feel the benefit of that on its home entertainment release, a lot of people are aware of it and we’ll reap the benefits.” The film will target jazz fans as well as a wider audience, with an event at the 606 Club in south west London.
Releases for Monday July 11 now and it’s a big day for Curzon Artificial Eye with a trio of big titles due. Here’s the company’s head of sales and marketing Paul Diment to talk us through all three: “Monday sees the release of two Oscar nominated titles, plus a foreign language classic making its UK Blu-ray debut. First up is Charlie Kauffman's stop motion marvel Anomalisa. Riding off the back of its hugely successful theatrical run, we bring the home ent release to market with a healthy press and online marketing spend and solid retailer support. Next up is beautiful foreign language Oscar nominee Mustang, which lost out to our very own Son of Saul, but equally as worthy. Marketing support includes pre-release press ads and a targeted online campaign that begins this weekend and runs throughout the week of release. Our final release of the week is the UK re-release of Andrei Tarkovsky's Andrei Rublev. This is the second of seven restored Tarkovsky special editions that we'll releasing over the next couple of months. Both formats include an exclusive booklet, but the Blu-ray will feature exclusive extras and a limited edition slipcase.”
Sitting nicely next to the likes of Anomalisa on Monday will be another bigger from the prolific Coen brothers, with Hail, Caesar! proving to be one of their biggest theatrical outings earning around £5 million at UK cinemas after boasting one of their three biggest opening weekends on these shores. A print and digital campaign is targeting Coen brothers fans and cinephiles and then a broader ABC1 audience aged between 30 and 50 years old. Ads will appear in the Standard and Guardian Guide with AV on YouTube, Facebook and RadiumOne. Product manager Emma Havens said: ““As a big fan of the Coen Brothers and the Golden Age of Hollywood, Hail, Caesar! has been a dream title to work on.”
To a huge building in Bloomsbury where Amazon had taken over the basement as part of its Christmas Wish List presentation, showing off the huge range of goods and products available in the coming months, with homeware, toys and a lot more. Home entertainment was out in force, with DVDs and Blu-rays of the likes of Harry Potter and Star Wars sitting neatly alongside licensed product from the two franchises. Warner was chief among the studios showing off its wares, taking in its games (particularly the Lego video games) and its repackaged Harry Potter series tying in with the theatrical release of Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them. The presentation came as Amazon unveiled plans to create a whopping 3,500 jobs in the UK at head office and sites around the country – it had already announced 2,500, with the further 1,000 revealed this week. The company’s Doug Gurr said: “We are creating thousands of new jobs to continue to deliver the experience our customers know and love during the festive season and beyond. We are hiring for all types of roles from software engineers, computer programmers and corporate managers in our R&D centres and head office, to operations managers, engineers, service technicians, HR roles and order fulfilment roles in our fulfilment centres.”
Amazon also used the opportunity to publish its latest Trends report, covering the year thus far. As ever it’s full of fascinating facts, not least that Star Wars: The Force Awakens in its top 10 favourite products of the year thus far. It noted that Batman action figures had outsold Superman ones by 66 per cent. Regional variations showed that The Force Awakens was popular in Edinburgh, Game Of Thrones in Northern Ireland, Stella in Wales, Spectre in Southampton, Happy Valley in Leeds and I Believe In Miracles in Nottingham.
“Our analysis shows that young users under 30 are the strongest drivers of VOD growth, and they clearly prefer subscription-based models.”
Goldmedia analyst Andre Wiegand on the booming vod market in Germany, driven by subscriptions. Amazon Video is leading the way with 32 per cent, compared to 17 per cent for rival Netflix. It will e worth more than $1 billion by 2021.
AT THE MOVIES
A strong opening for Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie – its £4 million plus haul made it the most successful homegrown film’s first weekend receipts since Spectre – was still not enough to topple The Sceret Life Of Pets, which has now amassed £16.6 million at the UK box office. Ab Fab was sandwiched between Pets and another Universal title, new entry Central Intelligence which took more than £3 million.
It had to come, especially in a world when a real-life event can seemingly make it to the big screen in a filmed adaptation within months of it happening – get ready for Panama Papers: The Movie. The story of how big businesses and wealthy individuals were avoiding taxes and laundering money through Panama and law firm Mossack Fonseca. Long-term collaborator Scott Z Burns is working on the script, while Steven Soerbergh may direct as well as producing… He has to complete Logan Lucky with Channing Tatum first…
Anyone who remembers the 90s, especially anyone living in the capital, will recall Victor Headley’s novel Yardie, about a Jamaican drug mule who does a bunk to Hackney once he arrives in Lindon with his package and is soon being chased by some nefarious gangsters. Well, this fiery film friendly book is finally making its way to the big screen, with Idris Elba set to helm…
SITE OF THE WEEK
Want to see our junior correspondent opening a lavish WWE boxset? Or some other stuff? Catch up with Albie’s youtube channel…
TWEET OF THE WEEK
TRAILERS OF THE WEEK
Daniel Radcliffe continues his commendable post-Potter career…
This week’s James Franco trailer…
"This is a great table…"
Mel’s back…
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