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Signature Entertainment has been around for a decade (and a little).Launched UK DVD distribution in 2011 (First release: Live action/animated adaptation of classic UK children’s book Velveteen rabbit), the company founded by former DVD salesman Marc Goldberg has grown with the changing times. As digital and streaming took over, it became a major player in home entertainment, expanding its distribution to Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the US, and starting production.
Signature’s feature debut is the 2018 action-thriller starring Dave Bautista final scoreGoldberg described a film as “die hard stubborn At the Football Stadium” (and a film that also sees him blowing up – at least on camera – the former stadium of his beloved West Ham, whose chairman David Sullivan happens to be Signature’s main investment author). While taking this “crash course” in the production process, Goldberg decided to move to Los Angeles with his family to help lead the business, and told his team in London that he would “try it out for a year.”
Six years on, he’s still there, and Signature has made some 20 films, and production has become a big focus for the company, especially since COVID.The move also sparked the addition of Signature International The sales department, now on track for its biggest year yet (it’s only in cannes 2022) may have five films, including rom-com cupid and meStarring Brittany Snow and Coby Smulders, Hayley Bennett in discussion.Despite all the goings-on, the company has made a concerted effort to push for a UK theatrical release, which was a box office hit last year that was psychologically frightening Orphans: kill first Now it’s ramping up its acquisitions, most recently with Benedict Cumberbatch’s high-profile environmental survival drama starring Jodie Comer where we started and Cannes entries black fly.
As Goldberg explained hollywood reporter, none of which was part of his master plan, but everything seems to be going well, and Signature now has a growing team in the UK and US, and recently hired a head of production and theater in the UK. With a $50 million action movie in the pipeline, again starring Bautista (whose stock has soared since its debut), things are only going to get bigger. “We have to be bullish,” he said. “Otherwise we wouldn’t be doing it at all.”
Is Signature today completely different than when you started in 2011?
It’s completely different in terms of how we operate, the size and the types of people we deal with. But I think the biggest difference from four or five years ago is the quality of the movies that we distribute and produce. At the same time, I’m incredibly proud of what we did at the time. You have to start somewhere. Thankfully, we’ve made some really good decisions about the types of movies the market can afford. I never really had ambitions beyond trying to build a DVD distribution business, let alone the production, international sales and financing that we do now.
When you go into dramaland, it looks a little bit shaky outside the pillars. What is behind this move?
As we’ve grown the business over the last five or six years, it’s never really been part of our roadmap. But COVID had a huge impact and one of the results was a change in exhibitor sentiment as they became more engaged with distributors like us who didn’t end up feeling in the minority as delivery costs fell and windows squeezed Putting a movie on screen and waiting 16 weeks to do something else with it is a good business model. I think exhibitors recognize this. Ultimately, fewer and fewer films are showing in theaters. We think it’s a smart way to get more movies in theaters. We’ve done this before, with moderate success at best, and then during COVID we got hit the hardest, honest thief, with Liam Neeson.And then post COVID, when we really say, well, we’re going to attack this, we [did great] last year with orphan 2 and autumn. autumn was a home premiere, we were able to release it 31 days later, and from a modest theatrical success, it has been a phenomenal success in home entertainment. I think it’s been #1 on Netflix for three weeks.
So is there room for a small-budget movie to hit the box office?
I think we can use “thrive” sparingly. We’ve released a number of titles this year, and they all met our expectations. We are very realistic about what we want to achieve. It’s hard to use the word “thriving” because it’s really hard for an independent film to have a breakout success. So we wouldn’t expect it to explode.But it does happen, apparently like orphan, which took in £2.5 million ($3.1 million) at the box office was a surprise. We have six films coming out over the next few months, and of those six films, five are animated features and three of them are sequels to films that were released in theaters. That’s the attack there.
You recently announced that you acquired the survival movie starring Jodie Comer and producing Benedict Cumberbatch
where we started. Is this a sign that Signature is going further in acquiring theatrical releases?
Yep, this is the first of some bigger shifts we’re taking theatrically.
You’ve also launched a large production drive since COVID. This started a few years ago but has been accelerating. How does that side of the business look for signatures?
From about June 2020 until January of this year, we started working on another movie every few months. We’re just taking a breather as we prepare for some bigger projects coming up at the end of the year. Emerging from that was international sales, which also wasn’t on the roadmap at first, and felt like a natural progression. The distribution business is at the core of Signature and it gives us an edge because we can see what’s working every day and when we put our financial plan together we can give ourselves the ammunition to know where certain geographies are, Because we’re doing it ourselves, especially in the UK and Australia.
What are some of the biggest Signature projects to date?
By far the biggest possible manor, Working with Toni Collette and Anna Faris, it was a big production for us last year. It was released in the US with Universal Pictures and was the most viewed movie on Hulu in April.It’s something we’re really proud of, and we’re working with [director] Dean Craig is working on another movie. We also have “Jam,” a romantic thriller with Joe Keery, which we shot in Minnesota last year and will be out later this year. With (Scott Adkins actor) One Shot, we’ve got a mini-franchise, and that’s something we’re really proud of.We got the first movie in 2021 and just finished the sequel, the first one was such a hit that Sony was fighting for a place in the world [rights], excluding the UK, was second. We’re one third of the way through.
Is there a framework for the budget size of your self-produced films?
There’s no specific frame, but the upcoming film is in the $4 million to $5 million range. But there’s one movie we’ve been developing for six years, and since I moved here, it’s been a big bud-
acquired – in the $50 million range – a film called trap house, starring Dave Bautista. It was announced years ago, but it took so long to get the script where we wanted it to be. But we also have a horror film this summer, a romantic comedy this fall, and a psychological horror thriller that we hope to do by the end of the year, in the $3 million-$10 million budget range.
How does Netflix and other streaming exit acquisitions affect Signature?
One streaming platform might say they’re doing less, but another decides they want to do more. Some regions are more aggressive than others when it comes to buying. That’s not always what the media reports.If they go from $6 billion to
$5 billion, it’s still $5 billion. As a company, we obviously want to get as much payout as possible, but we don’t need a lot of money to make it work. I think the biggest challenge is not the fluctuation of streaming budgets, but the challenge of making movies. Just making a movie is a miracle, making a good movie is even harder. Once you get your cast, you’re constantly fighting for attention. We’re all producers, we’re all working on the same roster, so we’re fighting for the same cast. So I do foresee fewer and fewer films being made over the next few years.
Do you have any traditions in Cannes?
I have a pair. I always have dinner at Le Maschou, I always make a reservation. Although I haven’t played football in a few years, I am a regular at industry football games. Sadly, injuries and age have caught up with me. But I’m back in shape, so I want to show up this year.
which location?
I’ve always been a midfielder and that’s probably why I always get injured. I never had any speed, but I was good with the ball.
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