Della Churchill of Chilling Pictures attended Toronto Film Festival, Halifax Strategic Partners Conference, in Toronto 11-21 September

TIFF’s growing market is based around the three levels of foyer in the Hyatt hotel, various offices above and an array of café’s nearby.  Meetings tended to be less rushed than Cannes often going for an hour at a time and it was very easy (given a certain level of market awareness) to catch up with people and make extra meetings by simply hanging around the main stair area while waiting for your next meeting to appear. Attendance at a number of industry parties was another excellent way to forge those important personal relationships beyond the initial pitch and I had a few chance meetings at these that may prove to be game changers for my projects. 

From the first bear hug by conference organiser Jan Miller, I knew that Halifax would be a different experience to Toronto.  The organisers go out of their way to ensure that all you need think about is pondering the last session, meeting new people or pitching your projects to a well-targeted guest list.  With only 100 attendees, mostly staying in one hotel and having three meals a day together, it was quite conducive to making meaningful connections with like-minded people.  An interesting cross-section of international sales agents, broadcasters and producers ensured that each 30 minute 1-2-1 meeting had its own character.  The schedule and attendee book (with full contact details) is only given to you when you arrive, so you need to study up quickly on those meetings you don’t know.  You also need to target those who have not appeared as an organised meeting but may be interested in your projects.  Each individual schedule has plenty of spaces to fill up with side meetings but the bigger players get a full dance card very quickly.  I managed to have “meal meetings” most days to cover everyone I wanted to speak with but it can be odd to be pitching at a round table with a whole lot of others listening in – so I’d advise taking an empty table where possible.

Market Trends

Given that there were a few Queensland producers at Halifax Strategic Partners, I thought I’d give notes about a hot topic conference subject: Branded Entertainment.

Financing from a brand new perspective.  It's the dawn of a new day in creative collaboration – and creative currency. The evolution from brand sponsorship in the 50’s, to product placement and now branded content speaks to the change in attitude from both the advertiser and the consumer. The advertiser is no longer reaching mass audiences because the consumer has become weary. Advertisers have repositioned themselves outside of the logo covered branding box, and are now working together with producers to create branded content that is seamless and transparent. What are the key ingredients that make the integration effective, and secure a place for branding in a financial structure regardless of the platform? 

Moderator:  Brett Heard, Fresh Baked Entertainment

Panelists included: Derrick Borte (Storyland Pictures); Paul Day (Cineflix); Joe Narciso (MicroNORMOUS); Allison Robin; Mike Wiese (J. Walter Thompson)

Summary: Brands wants entertainment and recognition that works ...not a sponsorship. The content has to deliver increased sales or whatever the performance indicator.  Success kpi needs to be measurable from the brands or ad agency point of view.  Your use of the brand therefore needs to be shareable. Brands want to be aligned to established brand goals. Be aware of the brands mktg needs. What’s the audience? Who will consume the content?

Web series : The Joneses. Product placement money was put together for 7 figures but fell away when the actor got bad press in pre.  The producers managed to get the goods they needed with a month to shoot by using a product placement consultant (but not enough time to get cash for that brand use).

Discussion ensued about how restrictive the use of a product placement in a film is. It resulted in a general feeling that once an agreement is made it is usually fine as discussion is had way ahead of shooting regarding scripted usage, contracted parameters etc.

A network may not want to accept a branding if it has conflict of interest with other advertisers. Studios may also have a view - especially on TV. Actors may also have their own deals and not want to create a conflict.

Branding can be a way to get an actor aligned with a product who may not "do" commercials.

Partnering with a brand in another way:  tIt may also work for the brand to not pay for the use of the product but wrap a marketing campaign around the use of the product when the film comes out which raises awareness of the film without having to doing an expensive ad buy or campaign.  Some companies have in-house marketing departments with discretionary funds for subtle brand placement via film.  Ad agency is more likely to put up road blocks about kpi's and measurement. Often more red tape via ad agency but you may get bumped back to them anyway.

Key to successful use of product placement is an authentic voice so the audience don't feel like they are being marketed to.  Some brands have a lot of money and most producers would be surprised at how much they can spend. 

Study the brand you are targeting, go to the CFO or head of marketing direct first and convince them to work with you.  Then even if they bump you to the agency, the agency knows the brand is interested in the proposal.  Go to brands that need recognition.  Even the 3rd to 6th largest brand in a category will have a budget for marketing

Benefits

The importance of renewing face-to-face contact with sales agents and distributers who have shown significant interest in your work by regularly attending markets proved to be a significant lesson of this trip.  They just take you more seriously and engage more vigorously in post-meeting responses when they’re sure you “mean business”.  This trip also allowed me to turn previous “passes” around and have the project met with fresh eyes within the same company.   Learning a lot about the co-production possibilities, rebate schemes etc with Canada was also very beneficial and I have three companies considering co-pro possibilities with Chilling Pictures.  I also met with people who offered after-theatrical market opportunities to monetize film IP and have established two important relationships with those markets in mind