Film Execs Debate Strategies For An Award Worthy Movie

Is it possible to produce a serious awards contender on a budget of less than $5 million?

That was one of the questions on the table in a panel at the Zurich Film Festival’s industry-focused Zurich Summit this weekend.

“There’s probably several different opinions on this matter but I think it’s very hard to do a movie under tier one… it’s hard to make the movie look good enough to win an Academy award,” said Rowan Riley, Head of Development and Production at Alma Margo Pictures.

She was joined on stage by Focus Features Executive Vice President & Global Head of Business Affairs Howard Meyers, producer Michel Merkt, who has participated in awards season with nominated pictures such as Elle and Capernaum, and David Flynn, creative lead at wiip.

“There are notable exceptions… but typically that’s the threshold now. It changes every year but presently, I can’t imagine making something for under five. I would just assume that no way was it going to win major awards, Riley added.

Meyers said awards were important for his company but were not the end goal when making a film.

“We’ve been around for over 20 years. We’ve had 156 Academy Award nominations and won 27… it’s definitely part of part of our DNA,” he said.

“It’s worth thinking about but our decisions are more about what would make the best film and not so much about awards.”

The conversation also veered into what makes a successful awards campaign.

Flynn said connecting the film with voters was paramount but not always easy because of the rules around soliciting the Academy members.

He recounted how he slipped Glen Hansard, co-star of the 2008 breakout musical film Once, into a party in Malibu so the actor and singer could give an impromptu performance, after a friend tipped him off it was being attended by some key Academy voters.

“We came up to this giant house… she was the caterer so we snuck in the back door and Glen took out his guitar,” he said.

Hansard and his co-star Markéta Irglová went on to win the Oscar for Best Original Song.

Meyers emphasized the importance of having cast and actors on board the campaign.

‘It really makes a difference if the actors and directors are available as ambassadors for the film, he said.

“There’s a lot of coordinated components but screening the film is the most important because first and foremost people have to see the film and Q&As are invaluable, or a performance, like you [Flynn] talked about or interviews.

“Often times you have films where an actor is already booked in on a job during that period and not very available… then you have directors, and I wish this happened more often, where they don’t take a film, or a push a film, so they can be fully available for an awards campaign.”

The one-day Zurich Summit ran September 30 and is a joint initiative between the Zurich Film Festival and CAA Media Finance.