Some of the industry’s most prolific investors were onstage this morning at San Sebastian’s Creative Investors’ Conference, where cash and how it’s being spent was the central topic of discussion.
In the session chaired by CAA Media Finance exec Sarah Schweitzman, financiers Andrea Scarso (IPR.VC), Frederic Fiore (Logical Pictures), Alexandra Tynion (Tricky Knot), and Karl Spoerri (Zurich Avenue) discussed the projects they are investing in and the work they are planning to stay clear of in the future.
“We aren’t financing small things,” Tynion explained during the session. “Urchin is the smallest film that we did this year, and the reason that we backed that is our relationship with Harris [Dickinson] and the belief we had in the strategy for how we were going to market it with theatrical distribution, leveraging Harris, his connections, and his audience.”
Tynion continued to say that Tricky Knot, an entertainment financing and development company that supports talent-led production companies, is “shying away” from “very small films that don’t really have a clear audience.”
On the flip side, Tynionn said the company is “excited to step into new genres that have historically had success,” but may have gone out of fashion in recent years. She used the example of Celine Song’s sleeper box office banger The Materialists to illustrate the point.
“I do think that there’s still a growth opportunity for theatrical stories that resonate like Materialists, for instance. On paper, it’s a romance drama, and romances have done well. But I think what that showed us is that even more so right today, there is an appetite for that type of genre,” she said.
Scarso said IPR.VC sees growth in what he described as “the new content economy”, meaning “anything beyond just film and TV that can be created, distributed, and monetized in a new way.”
Fiore said Logical Pictures is particularly interested in the African continent, which he sees as an acute area for growth.
“Africa is a place where we are interested,” he said. “Next year, we are launching a new fund for African creative bodies, so I believe strongly in African creativity. One of the films we are financing for next year is actually a horror movie set in Africa.”
Fiore’s assessment of the African continent was shared by Spoerri, who said Zurich Avenue was specifically interested in the growing wealth of talent coming from the continent.
However, Fiore added that Logical is staying clear of projects “that are too dependent on one market.” He cited the “typical Sundance movie” that may land distribution in the U.S. but “will not travel around the world.”
Tynionn added that Tricky Knot is also heavily “leaning into brand sponsorships” to raise cash.
“There is a lot of capital to unlock, and each of our partners, because we have relationships with big brands through them, it’s a huge entry point,” she said.
“One of our partners, Danny Ramirez, we’re doing a film this fall in the soccer world with David Beckham. So we have Adidas and a number of other soft money opportunities through branded sponsorships with that.”
Tynionn also cited a brand sponsorship discount the company has locked with Cash App for a new production company being launched by actress Tommy Dorfman.
“There are a lot of folks who are entering this space in a really meaningful way,” she said.
San Sebastian runs until September 27.
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