Cool deals at Cannes?

Film premieres, the red carpet, and film critics ��� that was the scene at the Cannes Film Festival this year, as has been in years before.
But it seems the economic downturn had an impact on the key film market. Some reports suggest there was a 20-25 per cent dip in buyer attendance and a corresponding drop in the number of exhibiting sellers.
For instance, Indian production house Percept Picture Company didn���t participate this year.���We were expecting that the market would be down this year due to the recession,��� explains Navin Shah, CEO, Percept Picture Company. ���We expect marginal incremental revenues from Cannes. You can use it as a platform to showcase films but not really sell them. Moreover, Bollywood has no place in the global market,��� adds Navin.
But there were a few others like Eros, UTV Motion Pictures and Big Pictures, which headed out to the festival with their catalogues and managed to generate interest among buyers. ���This year���s festival opened doors for new buyers like Taiwan and Italy. This was the main purpose of our visit. So, we had talks with distributors in Pakistan and we sold Fashion to Taiwan,��� says Amrita Pandey, VP, international distribution and syndication, UTV Motion Pictures. ���Taare Zameen Par, Rang De Basanti, Swades and Jodhaa Akbar always generate interest. They���re also movies that get picked at good prices as their subjects appeal to all, irrespective of language or country,��� says Amrita.
UTV���s regular buyers ��� France, Korea, Germany, the Middle East, Malaysia and Australia ��� showed interest in their new slates. ���What���s Your Rashee, two Karan Johar movies, Wake Up Sid, and the animated movies Arjun and Alibaba got their attention,��� adds Amrita.
Big Pictures��� catalogue included Ghajini, Rock On!!, 13B and Luck By Chance. They also presented the teasers of Kites, which they say was well received. ���We showed it to buyers and they had a discussion with Anurag Basu and Rakesh Roshan; we���re waiting for them to revert. We also showcased our old movies to our buyers in Spain, Poland and Russia, among others. They also liked the line-up but have to decide what will suit their audience,��� says Preeti Puri Sharma, vice-president, PR, Big Pictures. ���For instance, Germany doesn���t like titling, so they���ll pick up movies in which they can avoid that. Also, what may be a blockbuster here may just fall flat there. Our audience is particular about first day, first shows and the number of weeks a movie runs. But there, it may run only for five weeks,��� says Preeti.