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Have we entered “the post movie-star era”? An era that produces more films with less stars. Over the years the level of success of a movie was determined by the star’s name above the title. That is no longer the case. Looking at the recent box-office figures, storylines seem to draw audiences more than the movie star’s names.
If one had to judge movie stardom by the actors who headline the biggest hits, then one is forced to admit that they are much younger and not exactly huge stars yet. In 2007 it was:
Shia Leboeuf (Transformers) Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Tobey Maguire (Spiderman)
Each film took more than $200 million dollars at the box office, including low budget “Juno” with Oscar-nominated Ellen Page, which grossed $138 million dollars domestically.
However, despite the huge success of the movie, Page is unlikely to get an eight-figure contract for her next projects the way her older colleagues such as Julia Roberts, would have gotten a few years ago.
It seems that what appealed to audiences was the originality of the storyline, and the sharp-written screenplay, indispensable ingredients for today’s Hollywood blockbusters franchise.
Today star vehicle keep tanking, one reason is that, to many stars “being in a string of hits is no longer that appealing. Many of them have now an obvious taste for off-Hollywood projects, which can be made thanks to them.
Today Hollywood is getting most of its revenue from no-name epics and animated features. So Hollywood big studio heads will soon realize that big names no longer mean huge profits.
Last year, Edith Piaf biopic La Vie en rose” by Director Olivier Dahan opened City of Lights, City of Angels film festival and went on to win the best actress Oscar for Marion Cotillard. That picture also eventually grossed more than $10 million for Picturehouse in the U.S.
Many French movies however will only get a chance to be seen or to sell or indeed to find distribution thanks to the Hollywood-based showcase of French cinema, which should gather up to 12,000 attendees this year.
Launched by the French-American Cultural Fund, the event is also presented by the DGA, the Writers Guild and France’s composers union Sacem. This year ‘s edition will includes 28 features, among which movies like cedric kaplish’s “Paris” starring juiette Binoche and Romain Duris are very much in demand and have already sod out.
With a mix of commercial films and arthouse fare, Colcoa has a less cerebral feel than New York’s similar event, the Unifrance-sponsored Rendez-Vous With French Cinema. “It’s become mainstream, while keeping auteur films in the mix,” says Kathy Garmezy of the Directors Guild of America, one of the event’s sponsors.
Colcoa organizers want to stir up interest not just in distributing French films but also to showcase directing and acting talent as well as remake rights.
Usually smaller distributors who acquire French films are based in New York, but it is important to be in Hollywood in order to reach and develop contacts with producers and agents.
”The heart of the industry being in Hollywood it is essential to bring these films and the people who created them to studios and specialty divisions” according to Garmezy who works as the DGA’s assistant executive director for government and international affairs
Three-quarters of the tickets are reserved for industry members, with the rest available to the public, including a loyal core of L.A.’s fairly important French expat community.
“I think Colcoa is a great festival that showcases films from France. It really is for both the L.A. community and the industry,” says who acquired Bertrand Blier’s “How Much Do You Love Me?” Starring Monica Belluci and Gerard Depardieu after seeing how the film performed at the festival. ”The success of the event shows there are really audiences for foreign films” says François Truffart director and programmer of the festival.
However he also points out that the foreign-film business has become more competitive, mainly because there are films from countries like Mexico and Spain attracting bigger audiences abroad.
Today independent distributors are focusing on star vehicles and genre films which means the market for foreign films has become tighter. Producers working on foreign films are looking at how they can attract bigger audiences through targeted outlets such as Netflix for example or even through downloads. “The potentials for foreign films is in the US is not completely utilized by distributors, says Truffard.
City of Lights, City of Angels
Location: Directors Guild Theater, Hollywood, USA
Date: April 14-20
Website:colcoa.org
