[ad_1]
Asian buyers are cautious as the theater market is still recovering from the pandemic, but highlights include re-releases of animation and classic titles, said a group of leading European sales agents at a Cannes Marche Focus Asia panel today.
Sellers including Charades, Kinology, Films Boutique and StudioCanal say Asian buyers are finally returning to the market in person after three years of pandemic travel restrictions, but pre-order activity is sparse as buyers in most Asian markets will now not Buy to decide before seeing the finished movie.
More from Deadline
Stronger regions include Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong, but South Korea will take longer to return. “Korea has traditionally been a strong market for arthouse films, but it’s very difficult for us now,” says Valeska Neu of Films Boutique. “Sometimes you break through, but the Korean art market is very concentrated right now with big-name actors and famous people.”
Lucie Desquiens, acquisition and sales manager for Charades, which has a large collection of anime, says Japanese anime is almost ubiquitous in the region: “We’ve been selling Mamoru Hosoda for a while, but future Really took it to another level. Dealers really want these titles, and the competition is fierce. But we’re still struggling with 3D and adult animation. “
Kinology’s Nathalie Jeung Says Animated Family Adventure Argo nuts Sales have been strong across the region, and the film’s producer, TAT Productions in France, is expected to announce the new title in the US film market later this year.
According to Maxime Vauthier of StudioCanal, which handles international library sales, Japan was already a vibrant market for library films before the pandemic, spanning theatres, home entertainment and streaming platforms, and these titles had started to gain traction over the past few years. new audience.
“What we’ve noticed is that while MG is lower, library films are seen as less risky and buyers are experimenting with more edgy titles,” Vauthier said. “We’ve also noticed that buyers are starting to target younger audiences through Instagram and other social media.”
Katarzyna Siniarska of New Europe Film Sales, which chaired the session, said she saw something similar in Scandinavian cinema. muttonKlockworx was successfully released in Japan.
“Klockworx is also targeting new audiences using tools and formats popular with younger audiences,” Siniarska said. “It’s interesting because we’re keen to appeal to a younger audience, but we’re still using default tactics and media outlets, and those old habits die hard.”
When it came to streaming, the speakers agreed that it is difficult to sell directly to Asian VOD platforms as they are only interested in bulk and large packaged deals. “They just don’t have people on hand to be curators and pick films individually,” says Film Boutique’s Neu.
The speaker also touched on China — a tough market due to slow box office and changing censorship restrictions, although Chinese buyers are finally returning to Cannes in person, too.
Several speakers said they found Chinese buyers interested in renewing deals for works already licensed, rather than buying new works. “You can look up the status of movies that have sold, licenses that are about to expire, because you have the opportunity to renew at a reasonable amount. This has worked well for us in the past few markets,” Neu said.
best deadline
sign up Deadline Newsletter. Follow us for the latest news Facebook, Twitterand instagram.
[ad_2]
Source link