Credited with making Wong Kar-Wai a household name in worldwide arthouse circuits, Fortissimo Films has earned the distinction as the nonpareil supporter and distributor of Asian films. Danny Chan caught up with Wouter Barendrecht, partner of the company, who was in town recently to hold talks on media financing.Asian directors and producers need to cast their film distribution net wider and further. That is, in a nutshell, the underlying advice given by Wouter Barendrecht, a doyen of Asian films' marketing and distribution. Throughout the hour-long interview, the founding member of Fortissimo Films, stressed on the importance of being market-specific when sourcing funds and distributors for feature film projects, which often means, having to look beyond traditional means and opportunities.

Barendrecht obviously knew what he was talking about. His company, founded in 1991, has been largely responsible for pushing the frontiers of Asian cinema beyond its domestic shores. Besides propelling Wong Kar-Wai's career as an arthouse auteur – the company scored a major coup with Wong's Chung King Express in European and Japanese markets – Fortissimo has been a driving force in the promotion of Asian cinema through International film festivals in Cannes, Berlin and Venice.

It helps that Barendrecht came from an events organization background, having worked the ground for shows like the Berlin Film festival and the CineMart of the Rotterdam Film Festival. He fervently advocates marketing and distributing films through film festivals: "We have to acknowledge that there are a lot of festivals that have become an alternative way of distribution. When you showcase a film at the Jerusalem or Munich Film Festival, chances are, that is going to be the only time that your film will ever be shown in the countries."

Besides promotion and distribution, Fortissimo has in recent years, been involved with the development, financing and co-production of films. The company has earned production credits on a number of titles including The Goddess of 1967, Thomas in Love, Tsui Hark's The Era of Vampires, Mysterious Skin, Seven Swords and Invisible Waves. The latter film, currently screening in Singapore theatres, is wholly produced and financed by Fortissimo Films.

Second life of films

Barendrecht's broad base of industry contacts and wealth of experience, have made him a popular choice as an invited speaker for subjects on film distribution in the region. On April, he was invited to Singapore to lead a producer's workshop titled ‘Packaging Film – financing, Spreading The Word on Asian Cinema selling and distribution'. The Asian film specialist will be holding small group sessions with industry professionals on ‘real' projects – documentary and fiction. The objective of the workshop is to assist experienced local producers on topics ranging from concept development; matching a project to the market and audience; to addressing the needs of buyers and distributors. These subject matters are not only close to Barendrecht's heart, but he also remains actively engaged in these fields.

Although he revealed that more financing and co-financing projects are in the pipeline, Fortissimo's core business remains in selling the rights of films. Barendrecht would have you know that the work of a film distributor isn't as simple and straightforward as it seems, and certainly does not end at the point of sales.

"From the moment that we sell a film, we are responsible to collect monies over the period of the agreement that has been set. On behalf of the producers, we are also responsible for the image of the film, being released in each territory."

On the flip side, the work can be rewarding. With a little bit of luck, a lot of patience and due diligence in milking it for what it's worth, the profitable lifespan of a film need not be a short one. Barendrecht has been in the business long enough to know that a film's poor performance at the box-office need not seal its fate.

"Sometimes a film flops at the theatre but five years later, the sale can be made to a TV station and all of a sudden the film is not in the red anymore."

He cited as an example a British movie, Beautiful People that was made in 1998. The movie lost heavily on its theatrical and video releases but the distributors managed to clinch a TV sale that recovered all the losses.

"The reality these days is that most of the time, the money spent on a theatrical release is seen as a promotional necessity that can later be recouped from the sale of DVDs and video. So the effort spent plugging the cinema format is more for advertising so that people know about this film and later the distributors will pay a higher price for distribution in DVDs."

As a profitable commodity, a film is also inherently different from other products, because its traded value is further pegged to the stature and appeal of the people who made – or starred in – it. "Chung King Express is another example of a film for which revenue, after more than 12 years, is still significant. That's because Wong Kar-Wai is a totally different commercial entity now than he was 12 years ago. Now you could resell the video or TV rights to Korea or Singapore or any country where he has a strong following".

"In the past, a deal is a deal, and that was it. In those days, nobody believed that someone would send you a cheque for a movie that was made more than 5 years ago. Producers have learnt over the last couple of years that it is possible. In the same fashion, Asian filmmakers are finding it increasingly helpful to cooperate with companies that have a global distribution network, so that their films may find appreciative audiences outside their traditional markets."

Barendrecht could very well be referring to his own company, which has offices in Amsterdam, London, Sydney and Hong Kong; and agents in New York, Tokyo, Beijing and the Middle East. Then again, if you consider that Fortissimo's talent roster reads like the who's who of the Asian filmmaking community, who could blame him?

The next lap

Come 17 May 2006, as Wong Kar Wai assumes his position as President of Jury for the 59th Cannes film festival, he will be the first Chinese ever to do so. Wong's timely success on the International stage bears resounding testimony to the commitment and tireless work that Barendrecht and his team at Fortissima have put in, not to mention their vision and faith in promoting Asian cinema. For someone who played a key role in establishing Wong's films there in the first place, Barendrecht must also be congratulated for the director's defining moment at Cannes. After all, he still counts every Wong Kar-Wai film since Chung King Express a company milestone.

It is just as fitting that The Bangkok International Film Festival recently paid homage to Fortissimo Films for "the incredible cultural contributions to Asian cinema that Wouter and Michael (Werner) have made. Their commitment and dedication to the continued growth of the Asian cinema market is unparalleled."

Despite being on the receiving end of such glowing commendations, Barendrecht himself seemed incapable of making hyperbole statements. Asked for his advice on ‘Internationalizing' Asian cinema, he states emphatically: "That sounds like we have a recipe going but we don't, in fact it's quite the opposite, for nothing in this business is a recipe! We are constantly evolving with the times!"

It is heartening to know that a stalwart of Asian films like Barendrecht – whose company has represented nearly 250 films, and counting – still believes in discovering new ways of doing business. More important, we can find assurance in such mindsets that Asian cinema is not at risk of regressing into a stalemate in which its major players are contented with threading beaten paths.

Far from it, Fortissimo is currently peddling films from the likes Pen-ek Ratanaruang (Invisible Waves), Tian Zhuang Zhuang (The Blue Kite) and Jacob Cheung (A Battle of Wits). From the looks of these pan-Asian projects – that straddle the obscure and the mainstream – we are convinced that the company has not lost its verve for the region's cinematic works. As film distribution goes, we can safely assume from Fortissimo's track record so far, and its uncanny knack for unearthing talented directors and producers from within our midst, that Asian cinema is still in good hands.

Wouter Barendrecht…In his own words.

On the success of Bill Kong

"Films like Crouching Tiger (Hidden Dragon), Hero and (House of) Flying Daggers could not have been made in the traditional Asian way. The producer of these films, Bill Kong, was willing to take a different approach by selling to the US and Mainland markets, and was able to access alternative sources of financing. He was able to secure financing from banks, which is something that was unheard of in the Asian film industry, but has been practiced for a long time in the West. Having said that, unlike some private investors, banks are not interested in promoting cultures through films, nor are they in the business of getting another Zhang Yimou off the ground."

On Sourcing Non-Traditional Markets

"Tsai Ming Liang and Edward Yang don't have distribution in Taiwan, which is their own country. That is how sad the state of distribution is in Taiwan. But in recognition of their overseas markets in Japan or France, these directors can continue to make films. This way, film financing assumes a more global perspective."

Germany Vs US markets

"Ten years ago, Germany would import about 250 foreign language films a year, compared to 40-50 films for the US market. I always say that for a lot of films, your sales to Germany is much more important in terms of recouping your investment, than your sales to the US. While selling to the US could be the most profitable market, it is also the most overrated market. In reality, a lot of films do not get sold to the US. The 10 million for Shall We Dance and 125 million for Crouching Tiger (Hidden Dragon) are really exceptions and not the norm. Your $500,000 sales to Japan or $300,000 to Germany might be at the end of the day worth putting more effort in than trying to get Miramax's distribution."

On first-time filmmakers

"The truth is, no distributor or sales agent will jump on board with a first-time director or producer. If you are a first-time director, I think it is important to find a producer who has some credits already. If you can't find any, then at least get yourself an executive producer.

"We did two films in Australia these last two years with first-time directors and producers simply because they approached Jan Chapman, who produced The Piano. Chapman put her name on the film, and became very involved throughout the filmmaking process. When she came to us, she gave us a much higher level of confidence as potential investors in that film, because the woman has never made a bad film."

"A first-time director or producer must be realistic about getting their first budgets. Someone who has never done a feature film should not be expecting five million dollars for his first movie."

On short films

"A short film is your calling card. It's very important for first-time filmmakers. Unfortunately the distribution market for short films does not exist anymore, with the exception of some festivals and those sold for in-flight entertainment. But it's definitely advisable to invest in a short film if you have decided on a career as a filmmaker."

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