PARIS -- With 607 films released locally -- an increase of 70% in five years French indie distributors felt the heat in 2000.
The sheer volume of releases made it harder than ever to keep movies on screens, and distributors had to spend ever-bigger sums on promotion to give their products a chance.
A handful of indie-distributed films, though, did distinguish themselves. At the top of the list was "Taxi 2," France's biggest box office hit, which earned nearly $54 million, making indie distributor ARP Selection's year.
Dominik Moll's small-budget comic thriller "With a Friend Like Harry" also performed well, earning $10 million, much to the delight of distributor Diaphana, for whom that film sold more tickets than all its other 2000 releases together.
A clutch of foreign films also improved indie distributors' fortunes. Lars von Trier's "Dancer in the Dark," the 2000 Palme d'Or winner at Cannes, also proved to be a winner for Les Films du Losange, earning nearly $6 million at the Gallic box office. Ocean Films also did pretty well with Wong Kar-Wai's "In the Mood for Love," which chalked up nearly $3.5 million in ticket sales.
Overall, though, distribs complain that it is increasingly hard to make a living, not only because of the large number of releases, but also because of consolidation in the sector. France's top three distribs, Gaumont Buena Vista Intl., UIP and Bac Distribution (which handles StudioCanal's films) accounted for 40% of all ticket sales last year.
The situation so worried five of France's leading indie distributors -- ARP Selection, Diaphana, Les Films du Losange, Pyramide and Rezo Films -- they were prompted to set up the Club of 5, a sort of think tank dedicated to self-preservation.
Les films du Losange's Regine Vial says: "Our existence is in danger and we need to make time to talk to each other and find solutions."
But former Polygram Audiovisuel France chief Jose Covo, who set up distributor Cinedia last year, points out that while they are feeling the pinch, French indie distributors are relatively lucky.
The French government ponies up about 30 million francs a year in aid to help small- and medium-size distributors stay afloat. There are 40 Gallic distribbers, of which maybe half are fully operational.
"It is true there are too many films which makes the gamble for indie distributors that much greater," says Covo. "But I am optimistic that companies that bring out one or two films a month, like mine, can make a go of it. We can give our full attention to a film in the way a bigger company cannot."
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