Dutch film market feels French influence
Handful of newcomers aim to take bite of market
Indie RCV, which at one time distribbed both art house and mainstream releases, decided to switch to mostly mainstream pics last year, with the aim of giving the majors a run for their money.
Films "Scary Movie," "Scream III," "Final Destination" and "The Cell," helped accomplish that mission and put RCV in fifth place in terms of distrib share and very close to knocking Fox out of fourth place (RCV was 10%, Fox 10.2%).
UIP, Buena Vista, Columbia Tri Star and Fox (in that order) led RCV, which is now fully owned by Dutch media giant VNU. Warner Bros. and Independent trailed in sixth and seventh place, respectively.
Distribs to watch
Although it's the newest kid on the block, Independent is clearly one to watch closely: It was started by folks formerly from PolyGram and then Universal, and it shows. "American Pie," its first pic out, placed 16 in the Top 50 for the year 2000, higher than any of RCV's lineup.
A-Film, also one of last year's upstarts, is part of veteran player San Fu Maltha's new group of film production and distrib outfits. The venture specializes in quality films, and though it took less receipts its first year out, it released some 30 films.
"We can't afford the big budget publicity of the majors, so we practice a little creativity in marketing, such as deals with broadcast organizations and joint promotional pacts with various partners in the community," says A-Film's managing director Pim Heriteling.
Meanwhile, Maltha's Fu Works inked a film, TV and home video distrib deal with StudioCanal last September that gave A-Film a fat lineup of pics to offer, including "Chicken Run." The deal also stipulates that StudioCanal has the eventual option of acquiring 100% of Fu Works and 50% of A-Film.
With the A-Film/StudioCanal alliance and Pathe dominating the exhib landscape, Gallic influence on the Dutch film market extends from exhib to distrib. However, local Dutch exhibbers Jogchem, Minerva and Wolff, gamely continue to build in Pathe's French wake.
Exhib challenge
RCV exec veep Dirk de Lille points out that the increase in screens over the last few years favors the majors, adding, "The megaplexes consume American blockbusters and while the art house circuit in Holland is very well developed, the smaller indies catering to that circuit are going to have a tough time (living off the box office receipts)."
Another factor working against the interests of quality film players is the near 22% increase in the number of prints but shorter delivery time at theaters as these films need more time onscreen than blockbusters to bring in the crowds.
