Opportunities for foreign language titles to cross borders has never been better, said a host of top industry execs this weekend at Deadline’s Zurich Summit Studio.
“It’s possible to be a foreign language film in the mainstream even more so now because of streaming and because of series,” said Neon’s Tom Quinn. “There’s a whole host of a younger demo that is completely agnostic about country of origin, language and certainly genre.”
Quinn, a long-time collaborator with South Korean helmer Bong Joon-ho, looked back to Parasite’s multiple Oscar wins and said it was a prime example of a foreign-language title that could be recognized beyond the foreign language category.
“When I saw it I absolutely felt immediately that this was something that could transcend the foreign language category and be a multi-tier award possible winner,” said Quinn of the title.
“I felt it was such a win for cinema and it only validated everything I believed in and was the reason for starting Neon,” he said of the film’s Oscar wins.
David Taghioff, whose company Library Pictures has a co-financing deal with Seoul-based NEW for Korean projects, pointed to the success of Squid Game and the impact it’s had across the world.
“No one really forsaw the kind of performance that Squid Game was going to have,” he said. “We all believed in the stories and we all believed in the filmmakers and it’s nice to see that that kind of content is having the global impact that it’s having and will continue to have.”
CAA’s Sarah Schweitzman noted that the barriers for content have been broken in the last few years thanks to the success of these foreign titles and the rise of the streamers.
“The world has opened up in a really beautiful way,” said Schweitzman. “There isn’t any kind of barrier so to speak. Of course there’s emerging markets I guess but for the most part it’s about what is the most interesting story, what are the stories that we haven’t heard before. What kinds of people are telling those stories and how does that fit into the global marketplace and society at large that we’re all connected to.”
Meanwhile, Anonymous Content’s Robert Walak stressed that while there are a host of opportunities in other markets one interesting trend is the changes he’s seen in how companies balance their film and television slates. changing way companies balance their film and television slates.
“On the TV side it’s interesting where we seem to be doing these juggernaut pieces at the moment,” he said, pointing to the company’s upcoming series Time Bandits, which it is making for Apple TV+.
He continued, “On the feature side, this has given more flexibility to do indie features. The discrepancy between the two is quite interesting just in terms of how budgets stack up, the availability of talent and just how pressured the market is and how you have to really rally and find support with the right partners.”
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