Hollywood, Department of Missed Opportunities

Carl Diorio in Variety says that Newmarket "could be termed the department of missed opportunities" for failing to put more money into (and thus gaining more control over the revenues of) "The Passion of the Christ" and "Monster", criticizing them for not "raking in the bucks" the way they could have.

"But here's the rub: Newmarket could have really raked in the bucks had it actually risked a few cents on these films instead of making rent-a-system deals. The producers of "Monster" begged Newmarket for financial help, but the company declined. On "The Passion," Newmarket's distribution fee is under 12%. It never offered a penny toward prints and advertising."

Considering that "The Passion" is closing in on dethroning "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" as the highest grossing speciality film of all time, the fact isn't that Newmarket is getting "under 12%" ... it's that traditional Hollywood isn't getting that 12%. If you add in "Monster", 93% of the total specialty film box office last weekend was Newmarket distributed films, so they are more than making up for their missed opportunity with volume.

Diorio admits that Newmarket passed on investing in "Monster" early "like those at other distribs coast to coast". In many ways, this is the definition of independence in the film industry: filmmakers get told "no," filmmakers push forward anyway and if the next phase of their creative risk is sucessful the industry re-evaluates. For Hollywood to think that their earlier "no" was just a "missed opportunity" to "rake in the bucks" is nothing more than defensive hubris for having passed on earlier opportunities themselves.

posted to Independence on March 09, 2004