With blockbusters on hiatus, could small indie films save cinema?
Getting a small, independent movie into cinemas is a huge challenge at the best of times. Ironically, it might be easier in the worst of times. Which, thanks to Covid, is now. That is what Guy Davies found with his new film Philophobia, a coming-of-age romance set in his home town of Stroud. With the big studio movies now in hibernation, cinemas are hungry for new content, which means opportunities for smaller fare. So Davies decided to take the initiative. “I’d been banging on doors all year with the film,” says the 29year-old film-maker, “so I just thought: why not go directly to cinemas?”
Philophobia is as indie as they come. Davies found investors by putting an ad in his local paper. He also did all the marketing and online materials himself, even getting the posters printed. He didn’t have sales agents or professional help, or any idea of what he was supposed to do; he literally just looked up some cinema people and began cold-calling and emailing them. “I started with a few local cinemas, just hoping to release it in Gloucestershire and the surrounding area, but once got some booked in, I guess word spread.” Now Philophobia is set to release in more than 50 UK cinemas, including the Showcase and Vue chains, and central London locations including Leicester Square. “I felt like there was a gap in the market and we could probably take advantage of that,” he says, “but I wasn’t expecting to get anywhere near the response I did.”
Philophobia will not be everyone’s cup of tea (think a broodier, dreamier Sex Education). Some plot elements are very familiar and the gaze is somewhat boy-centric, but it is heartfelt and handsome, with a promising young cast. Furthermore, the themes and modern-day setting should appeal to young adults, probably the least catered-to demographic in cinema right now, and also the least afraid to actually go to them.
Davies was partly inspired by the success of After We Collided, another YA romance, which was independently released in September, again with zero marketing. It came in second to Tenet at the box office, and has taken £3.5m in the UK so far. (Davies cannily got cinemas to play the trailer for Philophobia in front of it.)
A new ecosystem could be emerging here. This time last year, Joker was hogging more than 650 UK screens, and the forgettable Addams Family remake another 550. With the big studio movies felled by Covid, some light is reaching the forest floor. The result could be space for new talent, catering to new audiences. With some enlightened cinema programming, this could sustain the industry through these lean times – and beyond. Davies’s advice? “You have to be a bit relentless. You’ve just got to keep knocking on the door and hope for the best.”