TF1 Studio Unveils New Acquisition Strategy
PARIS — TF1 Studio, the newly branded, vertically integrated film banner launched by France’s top commercial network, has been significantly ramping up its French and international acquisitions with a distribution slate headlined by Angelin Preljocaj and Valerie Muller’s “Polina,” Helen Mirren starrer “Eye in the Sky,” John Carney’s “Sing Street,” John Moore’s “IT,” and “Loving Vincent,” an animated feature about iconic Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh.
Under the leadership of Tristan du Laz, who previously ran TF1 Video and MyTF1VOD, and Nathalie Toulza-Madar, the former head of TF1 Films Production, TF1 Studio will release about 20 films per year (compared with nine in 2015), two-thirds of which will be released theatrically. Other films will be released digitally on the company’s thriving online service, MyTF1VOD.
The arrival of Harvard-educated Gilles Pelisson at the helm of TF1 network in February marks a new era for the company, which has the ambition of rivaling other French film heavyweights such as Pathe, Studiocanal and Gaumont.
“The launch of TF1 Studio allows us to build synergies and rationalize our activities in the film sector, bringing together TF1 Droits Audiovisuels, TF1 Vidéo, and TF1 International,” said Toulza-Madar.
“We’re now involved in movies from the ground up, handling acquisition, development, co-production and multi-platform distribution – theatrical, e-cinema, video, VOD, TV, SVOD — as well as international sales,” Toulza-Madar said.
The creation of TF1 Studio also enables the group to play a bigger role in the local film industry and leverage the ties it has developed via TF1 Films Production, the film division through which TF1 network fulfills its investment quotas. TF1 Films Production will remain separate from TF1 Studio. In recent years, TF1 Films Production has invested in a raft of comedy hits, from “Serial Bad Weddings” to “Les Tuches” and “Camping.”
The group has been ahead of the digital curve with MyTF1VOD, which has become France’s second most popular pay-per-view VOD platform after Orange, according to a study released by the national film & TV board, CNC. The fact that TF1 Studio is able to promote its VOD releases on its TV network gives it a major competitive edge, especially since TF1 pulls France’s highest TV ratings.
Banking on mainstream fare rather than auteur movies like Wild Bunch’s rival service, TF1’s VOD venture has been thriving since launching in May 2015 with Blake Lively starrer “The Age of Adaline.”
“TF1 Studio’s premium streaming service will remain core to TF1 Studio’s strategy, allowing the company to boost the value of its movies in secondary markets,” Du Laz said.
Recent pickups for TF1 Studio’s all-rights distribution include Baran bo Odar’s “Sleepless” with Jamie Foxx, a makeover of Nicolas Saada’s “Nuit Blanche,” Antoine Fuqua’s “The Man Who Made It Snow” with Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Landesman’s “Felt” with Liam Neeson, and Walter Hill’s “Assignment, A Revenger’s Tale” with Sigourney Weaver.
TF1’s deal with UGC — which covered French distribution of TF1 movies — ended in October 2015, so the company is currently working with third-party distributors on an ad hoc basis. For instance, Fred Cavaye’s “Radin,” a comedy starring Dany Boon, will be released in France by Mars Distribution, while TF1 Studio handles sales.
Toulza-Madar said TF1 Studio’s slate would be built around films with strong local and/or international appeal with a predominance of popular French comedies and feelgood movies, in line with the DNA of the company, which skews toward mainstream audiences. However, as per French regulations, TF1 Studio can’t pre-sell more than 20% of its films to TF1 network.
TF1 Studio will also be sourcing projects, up the ante on prestige films and will continue to be involved in select English-language films, as it has done in the past with “Suite Francaise,” for instance.
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