On March 28, 2003, we had the pleasure of welcoming Mr. David Linde, co-president of Focus Features, to our chat room.

Jacinthe/TwoAdverbs>  Hello David, welcome to Two Adverbs.

[David Linde]  Thanks.  Hi everyone.

Jacinthe/TwoAdverbs>  perfumegirl, go ahead.

[perfumegirl]  David, at which stage did Focus get involved with Ozon’s 8 Femmes?  Were you contacted by Missonier & Delbosc before/during its production or did you work with Celluloid after it was done? Was it the same in the case of Swimming Pool or did you have some creative input?  And why did Focus only pick up the US distribution rights instead of North America or more English-language markets?

[David Linde]  We inherited 8 Women from USA Films, who acquired the film during its production (Focus was formed by the merger of USA Films with Good Machine).  Focus acquired Swimming Pool itself a few months ago based on a script and seeing about 10 minutes of footage, which rocked.  We only got US because the producers had already sold the rest of the world.

[perfumegirl]  Does Pool have the same graphic quality as 8 femmes?

[David Linde]  Swimming Pool is a very smart, sensual thriller. It's a different kind of movie.  Ozon fans will be very happy along with a whole lot of people who have never had the chance to see one of his earlier films.

[perfumegirl]  Best luck with it.

[David Linde]  Merci.

[HConn]  How do you choose films to distribute?  Do you go to festivals?  Do you take recommendations?  Do people send you tapes?  (Hope that's not embarrassingly basic.)

[David Linde]  We have a pretty aggressive acquisitions department that covers all the major festivals as well as constantly monitoring every film that is in production around the world - literally.  If it strikes their fancy -- based on their knowledge of our taste -- they screen it.

[Spud]  How much more mileage does a film garner after winning an Oscar?  And an Oscar vs. Golden Globe, Spirit, etc?

[David Linde]  Basically, the bump you get from an Oscar is based on
a) the importance of the award and
b) how far into the country you have already gone.
In the case of The Pianist, the film was performing very well in the major cities around the country -- the 3 big ones we were lucky to receive will definitely help us go much farther.

[y2kfool]  Mr. Linde - Would a production company like yours determine acquisitions based on subject matter that would have a wider appeal than the American market?  For example, would a screenplay with elements of an American sport such as baseball be a hard sell?

[David Linde]  We try to define the "core business" of every film we make.  In the case of a baseball movie -- we would have to be confident that the film would play well enough in the U.S. and, say, Japan, to justify the cost of making it -- we would presume that outside of those countries there would be very little market.  With that said -- any money outside of those countries would be gravy…

[y2kfool]  Thanks.

[gaterooze]  How has the advent of the "Internet Age" changed the way you conduct daily business in the film world?  

[David Linde]  You're really talking about the speed that you can now reach the audience in presenting a film, which is due to the proliferation of new communication channels.  One great thing about these new "channels" is that it allows you to really target your audience, which can be very helpful with "smaller" movies.  Initially, at least, you don't have to necessarily throw out such a wide financial net.

[phatgirl]  Since I'm in NY, I'm curious about the primary responsibilities of your NY office.  Does story acquisition/development take place there?  Also, what types of NYC films events do you attend?

[David Linde]  Most development is done out of our Los Angeles office.  On occasion, the acquisitions people here get involved in developing projects with specific producers/directors based here or in Europe.  We also have a very close relationship with a production company based in NYC - This is That -- run by Ted Hope, Anthony Bregman and Anne Carey.  They do a great deal of development and have a "first-look" deal with Focus.

[Luther11]  I have a story that involves four Black, gay protagonists.  It's a romantic drama.   How can I sell the product?

[David Linde]  This film will be all about budget.  We made a great film a few years ago called Trick -- low budget, great romantic film that crossed over.

[cleeder]  Hi David, I enjoyed Trick.  Do you feel there is a continuing market for gay romantic comedies?  And was Trick developed from a spec?

[David Linde]  Absolutely, yes.  Trick was developed by the filmmaker on spec.  He brought it to one of the producers at Good Machine who worked with him developing it further.

[Luther11]  In your opinion, why was Trick such a crossover hit?  Why did audiences respond so well to it?

[David Linde]  It literally felt honest to everyone who saw it and Jim Fall did a terrific job creating real characters that folks felt for.

[BW1]  Does Hollywood have an age bias for screenwriters?

[David Linde]  That's a very broad question but I guess Hollywood is always looking closely for the next hot thing -- so when they find it (comic books, etc.) they tend to focus on writers who know that material best.  Still -- I think most of the Oscar nominations this year went to folks over 40.

[BW1] Thanks! From an old guy...

[gaterooze]  Not old, wise or wizened!  Give it some spin...

[David Linde]  Experienced.

[perfumegirl]  Let’s say a Franco-American project is being tracked by two studios’ acquisition folks, in this case, does it become a “don’t call us, we’ll call you” situation? Can one then presume the assistants will stay up-to-date on its development or nothing’s sure unless the news shows on the trades?

[David Linde]  In production?

[perfumegirl]  Close.

[David Linde]  If it’s being made, yes, absolutely - they will track it closely.

[perfumegirl]  They will be on top of it?

[David Linde] Yes.

[Pickel] David Herzog moved to USA Films after leaving MTV -- based on a query I sent, he requested my thriller, but I didn't have representation.  What would you suggest for writers to do when they run up against these types of problems?  It's not like agents run around with their hands up yelling let me send it over to David for ya.

[David Linde] Understood, it’s very difficult.  If someone requests your material, they should respond no matter what they think of it.  If they don't, a friendly call to the assistant can often work -- make them your ally -- they have a lot of influence.

[gaterooze]  Can you use an entertainment attorney to get it to him?

[David Linde]  There are a few that have these kinds of relationships, but are most effective when they have made some sort of commitment to making the film -- e.g. bringing in a producer, which can be a big help.

[Jyro]  David, what percentage of your films (Focus) are developed and produced in house as opposed to those you acquire?

[David Linde]  Because we are a young company, right now about 75% of our slate is acquisitions.  Next year it will be 50/50, and then probably become 75% developed/produced.

[gaterooze]  How do you determine if a film might have "crossover" potential?  Is there a definition, or gut instinct that comes into play?  Upcoming prospects of crossover films you're keeping an eye on?

[David Linde]  I think every film we do can crossover!  Basically, in evaluating a project, I have to make an educated decision that it will have a certain potential -- and be willing to spend the money to get it to that potential.  With that said, it wouldn't be fair to anyone (including my company) if I wasn't always thinking about expanding that basic audience.  Someone brought up 8 Women, which did pretty traditional foreign language business -- but I was always hoping it would cross out of that art house to play a really fun, entertaining movie -- granted for more upscale audiences.

[metanoia]  David, what's your company's opinion on biopics?  Obviously it depends on the subject and how well told the story is, but I notice some companies shy away from them, period.

[David Linde]  Well, The Pianist is a biopic but of a different nature – it’s a highly original and basically, previously unknown story.

[Ohio]  Handling any documentaries now or in the near future?

[David Linde]  We just did The Kid Stays in the Picture.  I love documentaries and have a long history with them.  We're definitely looking at them.

[HConn]  Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions.  What movie has been most difficult for you to market?  What was your biggest challenge?  And in what way was it tough?

[HConn] That's the same question twice, but...

[gaterooze] You really, really wanna know.

[MatrixAvenger2] lol

[David Linde]  I can't be that specific because to really analyze a film's performance like that, and in a public forum like this, would be unfair to the filmmaker.  So I’ll dance around that one!  The simple reality is that every film is a challenge because so many films are being released and it is very expensive to do so.  It’s very important to identify not only what an audience will respond to but also what they might reject and why -- that's perhaps one of the biggest challenge of marketing, getting the audience past things they may not feel totally comfortable with.

[HConn] Thanks.

[gaterooze]  What "attachments" most interest you to become involved with a project during early development?  Producer, lead(s) talent, or director -- or all of the above... clearly it will be different in each specific situation, but is there a "better" attachment, or one you'd shy away from initially?

[David Linde]  Producer.

Jacinthe/TwoAdverbs> Thank you very much, David, for taking the time to chat with us.

[David Linde]  Thanks very much - I enjoyed it.