Door crashers
Opportunity, commercialism collide at CineCoup
Fan mail and focus groups are a thing of the past, while film content is no longer about big studios and fat cheques. Anyone can be content creators and build their own opportunities. Helping to facilitate that talent is CineCoup, a filmmaking model devised by founder and CEO J Joly based on fan-sourcing, in which teams of filmmakers are able to pitch their ideas directly to fans before they go to production.
For each of the past three years, CineCoup has narrowed down over 100 film pitches to five by encouraging filmmakers to get the word out and then tallying votes, views, ratings and shares of each project. At the end of it all, the “Big Deal” is selected by the studio from the remaining teams and receives a greenlight with up to $1 million in financing to create a feature film to be released in Cineplex Theaters. This year that happens June 8 in Banff at the World Media Festival.
In 2013, the studio launched its first accelerator, picking out the film WolfCop, which sold in 16 foreign markets and has been greenlit for a sequel. In 2014, CBC ComedyCoup was launched to find the next sitcom. CBC awarded the winner, sketch show HumanTown, a development deal. The studio envisions future plans for a MusicCoup and DocCoup.
“We’re in a world without gatekeepers,” says Joly, lamenting the “closed doors” of the Hollywood elite. “This is a democratic process; we’re part of a work-around, hacker generation.”
The value is in the community, building support without spending a dollar on traditional advertising. “It’s about making them feel as though they have a stake in the success of the project,” says Ramona Pringle, assistant professor at Ryerson’s RTA School of Media
We’re part of a work-around generation
in Toronto. “The strength of the community and the desire of the crowd is balanced by a curated approach.”
Joly admits that the ethos behind the model is about making money. “It isn’t even about the film, it’s about people knowing how to market themselves. Creators are becoming entrepreneurs. Filmmaking is not about vanity; it’s a six-figure investment,” says Joly.
And that’s where naysayers come in, questioning a model that potentially invalidates an artist’s vision in order to cater to an audience. “Where does creative freedom become self-indulgence?” asks Charles Faizon, chair of the RTA School. “I think the success of this activity will be primarily on properties that attract a substantial yet narrow interest group or for content that attracts lowest common denominator tastes, that is entertaining, perhaps just plain silly and easy for people to ‘get.’ ”
Joly understands these concerns, but thinks that by focusing on genre films, CineCoup is able to build niche audiences and launch a filmmaker with a brand identity. “If we’re not making movies for an audience,” he asks, “then who are we making them for?”