Cineuropa caught up with Sophie Cabon and Nadine Rothschild , sales agents working for the Paris- and Berlin-based outfit Coproduction Office . During the interview, Cabon plus Rothschild discussed how the company’s production background affects their sales work, their editorial policy, their own marketing strategies and how their particular work has changed over the last few years.

Cineuropa: Could you talk to us about your editorial policy?
Sophie Cabon: The movies that Coproduction Office is selling are auteur-driven. Philippe Bober [the outfit’s founder] has developed a long-standing relationship with the likes of Ruben Östlund , Jessica Hausner , Ulrich Seidl , Roy Andersson and Michelangelo Frammartino , whom we also produce through our sister companies in France, Germany, Denmark and the UK. Our catalogue will be made up of films by auteurs who are usually pushing the particular envelope of cinematic language, while also engaging audiences. Over the last couple of many years, we have furthermore started acquiring classic movies – the first movies from our own directors, but also 11 films by Roberto Rossellini , which were restored in collaboration with the Cineteca di Bologna and Luce Cinecittà .

How is the company staffed?
SC: We have two offices within Paris plus Berlin, and approximately 20 people working full-time for our companies. In the sales department, there are six people, and we usually have one or two interns.

How many titles do you represent each year? How many do you have in your catalogue?
Nadine Rothschild: As we mainly sell the particular films all of us produce, we all handle two or three films per year, on average. This allows all of us to dedicate ourselves fully to each film, to make a sales strategy perfectly adapted to every one associated with them plus to find the right distributor in each territory. For the last few years, we have also focused our function on restoration. In 2022, for instance, we had Lou Ye ’s Suzhou River within Berlinale Classics. In our catalogue, we host approximately 100 films.

Do you invest in films from the particular production stage, or help to fund movies?
SC: We are involved in most projects from the script stage – sometimes even from your idea stage – as producers, co-producers and phone sales agents. If we acquire a film from a new director, we generally come on board during the post-production phase, and if needed, we can raise additional funds in order to finalise it.

How has your work changed over the past two yrs?
NR: Luckily, we did not possess any movies ready to premiere before Venice 2021 plus have had an exceptional 12 months in 2022 with the success of Triangle of Sadness   [ + lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Ruben Östlund
interview : Ruben Östlund
fiche film ] simply by Ruben Östlund, in terms of both sales and the box office, so our daily work has not changed drastically owing to the pandemic. As we have very few films, we have got always limited our travelling to markets, but this is even more the case now – this year, the particular sales team only went to the two major marketplaces, Berlin plus Cannes.

SC: We’re doing a lot of online meetings in between markets, discussing our slate, the marketing and the release strategies with our distributors. For our marketing technique, we are taking into account the fact that the more traditional arthouse audience has not returned in order to cinemas, and we’re operating on this particular with distributors. But of course , we’re really aware associated with the impact of the outbreak on exhibitors and marketers.

How is the particular role from the sales agent developing within the European context ?
NR: Our own model might differ from most sales agents, as we are, first and foremost, suppliers. Our product sales activity is usually there to support and nourish the work we perform in production. We believe it’s still essential that our films are usually released in theatres. Triangle of Unhappiness was sold to 40 different vendors and will be released theatrically within over 60 countries. We are not opting for worldwide deals with platforms, so this drastically limits the possible income through the digital rights for direct sales. For us, it’s important to develop long-term relationships with the auteurs, yet also using the distributors, and aim to strengthen those with each film.

SC: In parallel, we’re also focusing our attention and resources on the catalogue so that the particular previous movies by our directors are watched, plus in the best possible conditions. For instance, we have now started the repair of Hotel   [ + lire aussi :
bande-annonce
fiche film ] and Lovely Rita   [ + lire aussi :
bande-annonce
fiche film ] by Jessica Hausner, with the support of the FFA , and we’ve just completed the particular restoration associated with Il dono   [ + lire aussi :
bande-annonce
fiche film ] , Michelangelo Frammartino’s first film, in collaboration with the Cineteca pada Bologna.

How do you function on guaranteeing a variety of voices and content within your standing and within your firm?
SC: We’re a very European plus international organization. During the particular recruitment process, we have been extremely careful in order to bring on board people through various backgrounds, holding different points of view. Within the sales group, we now have colleagues coming from Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Argentina, Italy, Thailand and Jordan. Within the whole company, we have 11 various nationalities represented. This diversity of experience and sounds can be found in our slate as well.