This month we speak with Marcin Wąs, the co-founder and head of of M2 Films, a new member of Europa Distribution. 2 Films is a Warsaw-based outfit behind distribution and promotion of Matteo Garrone’s Tale of Tales, Dennis Villeneuve’s Enemy, Ana Lily Amirpour’s A Girl That Walks Home Alone at Night, Josh Lawson’s Little Death, John Maclean’s Slow West, Mia Hansen-Løve’s Eden, Ben Wheatley’s High-Rise and more.
FNE: What impact would the Digital Single Market have on your work?
Marcin Wąs: The developments in the Digital Single Market strategy are still to shape up, although it has been a relief to see that the principle of territoriality in the audiovisual sector stays and that the new package of measures recently unveiled is more cautious than it might have been expected given some of the rhetoric a year ago.
Otherwise, it would have a devastating effect on our business and in the bigger picture it could very well do the exact opposite of what the Commissions’ goals are, causing great harm to Europe’s film industry. Having said that, the Commission’s original intention – to make it easier for EU consumers to access content across borders and to strengthen the promotion of European works is still worth considering.
FNE: How important is VOD for your business? Does it bring in an important part of your income?
Marcin Wąs: The chunk of on demand revenues is still a small fraction in our income. However, we see increasing importance of VOD in the ecosystem, and regardless of what part of income it constitutes now, we pay close attention to the opportunities that the on demand segment brings.
FNE: Where do you see VOD five years from now?
Marcin Wąs: The on-demand segment plays already an important part in the media ecosystem. With increasing weight of mobile devices in content consumption, explosive growth of SVOD and audience shift in consumption habits, VOD will evolve to a defining role.
There will be further convergence between telcos and media companies and, although there will be many services and players, only a few will dominate. There is a tendency towards oligopolies, hence the question of access and exposition on main VOD platforms is still to be resolved.
FNE: How can VOD distribution for independent European films be improved?
Marcin Wąs: There has been a lot said about piracy and its destructive role in this column. Boring as it may sound, uncontained piracy remains one of the biggest obstacles, if not the main one. Changing the concept of on-line equals for free would have automatically a positive impact.
It is going to be hardly possible to compete with global players with much bigger resources and when economics of scale becomes essential. Therefore, much of the condition of VOD distribution for independent European films depends on the chances to create a marketplace with fair access and exposition. Having said that, interfering unduly with existing market structures and practices may have the opposite effect.
FNE: What was your biggest hit in the last 12 months? Did you use any particular strategy?
Marcin Wąs: Defined by number of admissions, that would be Ben Wheatley’s High-Rise. However, we are lucky to say that we are proud of all our releases in 2015. Our work is predicated on treating each movie like an event and given the gamut of genre and styles, each one required a unique and specific approach. We are happy that we have been able to find a working one for each.
Contacts
M2 Films
Glogowa 25/2, 02-639 Warsaw, Poland
www.m2films.pl
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