Cannes Conversations with a Sales Agent
Jun 13, 2022
At Cannes, I had a chance to meet with Sales Agent Lise Romanoff of Vision Films, who represents our first film Lake Effects, and who I am in touch with often, since she still makes sales every quarter! Take a look at the view from her Cannes office...talk about front row red carpet!
After sitting down in the middle of the market, I want to share my takeaways and advice from Lise.
1-Stay true to your genre- Don't try to mix genres. Pick one and stick with it or it is very hard to market and sell. As an example, VOD platforms force you to pick one main genre to be listed under. Straight up Action, Family, Christmas (with snow), and Rom Coms (with a female point of view) are selling best because without a DVD market, the films must be TV and Advertiser friendly. Male driven Thrillers, Dramas, Horror and Sci-Fi are harder without a good budget and more theatrical-minded cast.
2- If you are making a Family film you claim is for "all ages" it is key to make sure all ages are represented in the film or it is hard to capture "all ages". As a member of Lise's team clarified, making a family film without multi-generations is like making a dog film without a dog. If you are making a Kids film that will skew younger make sure the leads are kids.
3-There are more serious faith films and then faith-light....pick one and go all in! You can make both versions to open up more places to sell to. Faith light means that one of the characters can trust in God but the dialogue isn’t preachy and doesn’t quote scriptures or state that God is the only one that can solve the issue the protagonist must overcome.
4- Keep your budgets modest. The market is tough so the lower you can keep you budgets while keeping the quality high, the better. Do not use B movie actors in a TV Movie, stick with actors that are currently on TV series and are well known. Just like anything in life, it is much easier to go into the filmmaking process with a lower budget in mind and you can tweak it from there.
~Keep Living Life Out Loud~ With Love, Sara Elizabeth
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