On Wednesday, “Good Stories: Originals, Adaptations and Remakes” was presented at the 68th BFI London Film Festival with hollywood reporter.
Panelists include WME Independent co-head Alex Walton, Free Range Film producer and co-founder Kevin Loader, Tolu Stedford, Executive Producer and CEO of Story Compound, and Meg Thomson, executive vice president of global content at Globalgate Entertainment, and Rowan Woods, creative director of the Edinburgh Television Festival, serve as branch chairs.
“We’re in a really, really tough time for business,” Walton commented early in the discussion. “So I think intellectual property rights give you more protection than anything else.”
His team produces 16-18 independent films a year, “We don’t have the luxury of owning IP, and many of them are usually independent stories, so they’re usually original,” he shared. “If you own intellectual property, it gives you some protection” and “helps us enter a cautious market.”
Loaders echo this. “Having something behind you that has gained popularity, whether it’s a novel or a play or a podcast or whatever the hell is out there now, or a remake, it really calms the nerves of anxious financiers and studio executives because they can watch To build on something that has been successful,” he explained. “Obviously, they’ve been afraid of failure. So it does help a little bit in that regard.
This is especially true for the early and late stages of the process. “I think it helps you on the front end and sometimes it helps you on the back end,” Lord said. “There’s an in-between phase when you’re trying to raise money for your film, and I think in most cases we’re seeing, IP is probably less important because it’s mostly about talent.”
Stedford emphasized that intellectual property rights or any other type of assistance is especially important for programs focused on diversity and inclusion. “Oh my gosh, if you’re talking about a different story, my lord, you need help. We’d love to say we can get commissions and be well-funded, but that’s not the case,” she shared. “The honest truth is that when we talk about diverse stories, they are already risky and already difficult to finance, so now, in the current environment, the intellectual property is actually even more valuable.”
It’s also important to demonstrate that you “really understand your audience and demonstrate your audience,” Stedford said.
So a remake of a proven intellectual property can attract funding and interest, but there’s more to it than that, Thomson said. “I do a lot of remakes at Globalgate, and especially when we’re dealing with smaller territories or countries, they’re going to take the actual marketing plan of the original film, and they’re going to be able to build on that and use it,” she explains road. “So at least it’s available in some areas where they don’t have it [established] Things like screenwriting, story, story structure and [you can] Build on this. So it’s a way to get new stories and new filmmakers into the rhythm.
Globalgate isn’t just looking at big Hollywood remake opportunities. “We’ll shoot a Spanish story and then remake it in Korea, or we’ll shoot a Korean story and then remake it in Argentina,” Thomson explains. “So it crosses all boundaries and is a way of keeping it real. You can still take The structure of the story and incorporating its own cultural identity into it… so we can use that intellectual property in our own territory.
Because anchors have deep pockets and competition for content is fierce, name recognition and even star power can help producers attract intellectual property rights. Walton explains: “My experience, especially on the higher end where the books have been sold, is that…producers working with talent and being able to present themselves to the rights holders is a lure for any presentation. “When you know you actually have an actor who’s going to be involved, a filmmaker who’s going to be involved in bringing it to the screen. [that is a] Huge benefits.
Even directors and other creatives can become like their own IP. Walton was asked if a talented director like Pablo Larraín came to him with a great original idea, would he immediately say yes? “[It’s] He didn’t agree immediately, but he also became a bit of an IP,” said the industry veteran. “Now he’s a valuable person, if you will. He has some currency. So he makes things easier. He often does something about [famous] People, whether it’s Jackie Kennedy, whether it’s Princess Diana. He connects stories together, finding moments and stories that interest him. His style with people who have a myth behind them makes communication easier.
