Rising Interest Rates, a Fading Theatrical Movie Business and a Post-Strike Hangover: Breaking Down the Threats Facing the Cannes Market

Last summer, Paul Schrader was about to start shooting “Oh, Canada,” his adaptation of Russell Banks’ novel about a troubled artist taking stock of his life, when the major actors union went on strike. For a second, it looked like all that hard work, passion and planning might be for nothing — with performers on the picket lines and major studios holding out on their contract demands, it was hard to see how cameras would ever roll on the low-budget indie.

“Everything shut down,” said Brian Beckmann, the CFO and COO of Arclight Films, which is selling international rights to the film. “We were in this position where we had spent all this money and secured all this talent and we weren’t sure we could move forward until the strikes were over.”

Because it was made outside the studio system, “Oh, Canada” was able to get a union waiver and that’s a big part of the reason that it is one of the only U.S. films shot during the strike to premiere at this year’s Cannes. Others weren’t as lucky, with one project after another abandoned or delayed indefinitely, a victim of an industry in turmoil.

And even though Hollywood’s labor issues have been resolved, it’s never been harder for the independent producers and financiers who flock to Cannes each year looking to make and then sell their movies. They’re grappling with soaring interest rates a fading theatrical marketplace and a new spirit of downsizing that’s gripped the industry. That’s to say nothing of a hangover from the COVID era, which made it costly and logistically challenging to make movies for more than a year.

“Post-strike and post-pandemic, the business is still sorting itself out,” said John Sloss, a veteran sales agent and the founder of Cinetic Media. “It’s been an enormously disruptive time and the industry is still trying to find its footing.”

But others feel that the European Film Market in Berlin was an unexpectedly robust marketplace, where movies like Celine Song’s “Big Bold Beautiful Journey” and the Will Smith action film “Sugar Bandits” scored impressive sales.

“We’re on an upswing,” said AGC Studios’ Stuart Ford. “I see the independent sector as a beacon. There’s a resilience and a continued willingness to back creativity and originality while the rest of the film and TV sector is still creaking and groaning under the strain of the strikes, changing business models and pressure from Wall Street.”

Will that optimism carry over to Cannes? On paper, there’s plenty of compelling projects for buyers, even if the crop of movies are lower-budgeted than some of the would-be blockbusters that inspired bidding wars at past festivals.

“Buyers have recovered a great energy and have appetite for quality,” said Marie Laure Montironi at Pathé, which is introducing Antonin Baudry’s “De Gaulle” as well as “In the Hell of Kabul,” directed by Martin Bourboulon (“The Three Musketeers”).  

Among the projects looking to find a home are action-thriller “Bear Country,” which finds Russell Crowe re-teaming with “Unhinged” director Derrick Borte, and “Flesh of the Gods,” which brings together the high wattage of stars Kristen Stewart and Oscar Isaac. Elsewhere, Ben Stiller and Colin Farrell headline “Belly of the Beast,” a true crime drama from Andrew Haigh (“All of Us Strangers”).

Since horror films have delivered at the box office, companies are leaning into the spooks and scares. It helps that these movies don’t need pricey stars or extensive CGI. “Genre films are often modestly budgeted and are more reliant on concept and execution than major talent involvement,” explained Ford.

Some titles carry production pedigree, others are made by genre auteurs. Ford’s AGC Studios is bringing “The Menace,” from “Last Night With the Devil” producers Image Nation/Spooky Pictures; Neon is selling “It Follows” sequel “They Follow” and “Keeper,” from “Longlegs” director Osgood Perkins. Starring Hassie Harrison and Jai Courtney, “Dangerous Animals” helmer Sean Byrne is one of Rotten Tomatoes’ highest-rated horror directors of all time.

For the executives who hit the Croisette each year, the week and change spent in the South of France is a blur of pitching and glad-handing.  

“Your days start early and you’re in nonstop meetings in 30-minute increments until the evening,” said Janina Vilsmaier, senior VP of sales and distribution at Protagonist Pictures. “Then you get a little bit of sleep and do it again. We’re all running on adrenaline. By the time you get home, you just collapse.”