10_StudioCanal

Tinker, Tailor and the European Cinema Market Tinker Tailor was distributed in the UK by Optimum Releasing, owned by StudioCanal. The film will unspool with the new moving logo for StudioCanal as the company rebrands the French parent’s outposts in the UK (Optimum Releasing, acquired in 2006) and in Germany (Kinowelt, acquired in 2008) all as simply StudioCanal.

It is the latest step in StudioCanal’s move to create that elusive film industry dream: a successful pan-European studio. Kicking off with Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is no accident.

“This movie is exactly what we’re looking for,” says StudioCanal CEO and chairman Olivier Courson. “This is a movie with strong appeal for European audiences and with European talent. That includes producers Working Title, the filmmaker Tomas Alfredson and this fantastic British cast [Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy]. The domestic market for this is Europe, not the US. The US is an upside.”

Indeed, StudioCanal fully financed the budget (less than $30m) without US backing. Universal later came on board for US rights, with Focus Features planning a November release.

“Tinker Tailor shows exactly what a pan-European studio is capable of doing,” says Danny Perkins, CEO of Optimum Releasing, which will be known as StudioCanal from September 1.

“Optimum and Kinowelt are fully integrated with StudioCanal; we are one group.

It does not make sense to have these different names,” Courson says. “I was speaking to film-makers and producers and some of them did not even realise it was all the same company.”

Group ethos Perkins reassures that the name change does not signal any less of a presence in the UK. “There is still the same ethos in working with film-makers and putting an emphasis on storytelling. All those ideas Optimum were built on are what StudioCanal does.”

Even under one brand, the model is based on each arm of the company working on its own local acquisitions and productions. Courson explains that while StudioCanal is behind 10 French co-productions per year, the UK and German distribution companies are under no obligation to release those. Courson says: “We’re pragmatic about that.”

Perkins says that nothing is changing in London: “It’s not centralised operations.

It’s important to have local businesses and to be involved in the business on the ground in each territory. So we have autonomy in the UK, we’re building our production base here, but we also work closely with StudioCanal, the international group, in relation to the bigger titles.”

Versatile slate Diversification is key, as the company handles more mass-market films such as Unknown and The Tourist, while also moving into genre fare such as Attack The Block and The Last Exorcism.

The slate or productions and co-productions will range from Tinker Tailor-sized films to the very small budgets for what Courson calls “elevated genre movies”.

‘We have a good blend, it works internationally and locally at the same time.

Each market is different but we can benefit from economies of scale’ Danny Perkins, Optimum Releasing All three territories acquire films separately for distribution but can also join forces to take all three markets when it makes sense. Braun notes: “You have the three biggest territories in Europe but they also retain their marketing and distribution locally.