The Hollywood Reporter is well known for its Oscar season roundtables with actors, directors, and screenwriters, but it also schedules an executives roundtable each year, featuring the business moguls who get films made or ultimately give them a home, so to speak. This year’s executives roundtable features Disney Studios’ Alan Horn, Fox’s Jim Gianopulos, Paramount’s Brad Grey, Universal Pictures’ Donna Langley, and Warner Bros.’ Kevin Tsujihara. Joining them is IFC Films’ Jonathan Sehring, who brings an interesting perspective to the conversation as the man who funded one film (Boyhood) over the course of 12 years.
Early in the discussion, Langley points out one big concern for her right now, which is the idea someone might instead choose to settle in at home on a Friday night and watch a VOD release on their television instead of heading to the theater, prompting one of the discussion’s co-hosts follows, “Since windows have come up, are all of you insanely jealous of this man [Sehring], that he can do [day-and-date]?” However, as Sehring is quick to point out, while his company does utilize that model, he instead opted for a traditional theatrical release for Boyhood.
“It’s still the most effective economic model in terms of generating a financial return. … We had tested it a number of times, and it tested through the roof with theatrical audiences.” IFC showed the movie to everybody, Sehring says, “and we would have been happy had a studio taken that film on.” Given Boyhood raked in over $43 million worldwide and is being released on home video by Paramount, my guess is he isn’t too upset with the way things transpired.
Other topics of conversation included Alan Horn’s “franchise factory,” including the proliferation of all things superhero; the growing number of interesting narratives currently handled by television; and what China’s booming box office might mean for studios moving forward. Oh, and Sehring also admits to being a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and a few other franchises. Below are a few select nuggets from the discussion, followed by the video itself, which I encourage you to listen to despite its 59-minute length.
Brad Grey on Paramount’s decision to make fewer movies:
“On average, we’re releasing about 15 movies a year. Sometimes it will be 17, and sometimes it will be 13. It really depends on what pictures are ready at the time. … I think the advantage is that we have time. So when we run into trouble on pictures that don’t live up to the expectation that we had from the very beginning — which we do — we have time to work on those movies.
”
Jim Gianopoulos on Netflix’s deal with Adam Sandler and what it means for movies:
“This is another story that to me is not a story. HBO has been making movies for 30 years, and nobody cares.”
Kevin Tsujihara on Warner Bros.’ decision to unveil its superhero slate at an investor meeting, instead of at a special event:
“It was just about an opportunity to use that platform to lay out our plan for DC movies. I think, first and foremost, if I was wearing a hat, I’d take my hat off to Alan [Horn] and Disney. They’ve done an amazing job on the movie side with Marvel, and I think it’s nothing short of incredible.”
