Shebnem Askin, Head of Sony Pictures International Productions (SPIP) and Executive Vice President, Creative Production, shared insights into the studio’s international commissioning and acquisition process during a keynote at TIFFCOM.
She also revealed two items currently on her shopping list – action comedies and live-action remakes of Japanese anime properties.
While the studio’s local-language output currently includes a wide range of comedies, romcoms and a few horror titles, she said she’s planning to expand the range of genres.
“I got this job in the middle of Covid, and had a sense that audiences wanted to smile a little, so I may have heavily leaned down on comedies,” said Askin, adding that the studio has also made a few horrors and melodramas, with the latter category recently including Argentinian director Marcos Carnevale’s The Heart Knows.
“We’re now in development on Marcos’ next movie, also a melodrama. But I’m also looking right now for action comedies, which are really tough to find.”
She also explained that the studio’s local-language output includes both original stories, such as Mamoru Hosoda’s Scarlet, and titles based on existing IP, including the Japanese historical action franchise Kingdom, which is based on a popular manga. One of her tasks in TIFFCOM is to find further Japanese IPs to adapt.
“Since I came here, I’m taking so many great meetings with a lot of companies that are producing incredible stories with anime,” Askin shared. “We are starting to look at different anime movies which we can hopefully adapt as live-action movies around the world. So this is one of our missions while attending TIFFCOM.”
SPIP’s local-language slate includes a slew of remakes around the world including Padre No Hay Más Que Uno, a Spanish remake of Argentinian film Ten Days Without Mom; I Hate Summer, a Spanish remake of an Italian film; and three remakes of French title Price Of Parenting, which has been adapted in Italy, Mexico and Spain.
Sony U.S. title 50 First Dates, which starred Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, has been remade in Japan, Mexico and Thailand, with the latter remake currently in production.
SPIP also produced a Mexican remake of Japanese IP Shall We Dance?, partnering with other Sony divisions, and a Brazilian version of Sony U.S. romcom Friends With Benefits, partnering with HBO Latin America.
Askin also shared details of Sony’s international greenlighting process: “We start with creative approval, but at the end of the day this is the movie business, so every film has to have a P&L [profit & loss statement]. So if we love a project creatively, let’s say it’s a German movie, the way we form a P&L is we get theatrical estimates from our local managing director in Germany.
“For television values, we are very lucky, because Sony has an international sales team in almost every major country in the world. So their estimates come together, and our passion and fight for the movie are combined and we move on to the greenlighting process. If we have at least have five signatures, we can greenlight the movie.”
Sony also acquires local-language titles for distribution in various territories, recently including Chinese film YOLO (itself a remake of Japanese studio Toei’s title 100 Yen Love); Taiwanese title Dead Talents Society; Japanese culinary drama Grand Maison Paris; Hong Kong director Tsui Hark’s Legends Of The Condor Heroes: The Gallants; and Brazilian Oscar winner I’m Still Here.
When asked if Sony only buys films that have already been a hit in their home country, Askin said: “There are some instances where we bought the IPs before they were released in their home territory. For instance, Price Of Parenting wasn’t released yet, but we thought the concept was very strong, so we took that chance. But also, there’s a saying don’t kick a winner, so if something is proven and has worked, I always feel that there must be something about it that really reached audiences.”
Askin also shared figures on the market share of local-language productions in several territories, which explains the studio’s focus on making local films, especially in Asia. While in Europe, local productions have a market share of 14% in Spain, 18% in Germany and 41% in France, in Asia that share is above 60% in many cases.
India has the highest market share of local productions at 89%, followed by China at 80%, Japan at 76% and South Korea at 61%, Askin’s figures revealed.
The post Sony’s Shebnem Askin Shares Int’l Production Insights; Says Seeking Action Comedies & Live-Action Remakes Of Japanese Anime appeared first on Deadline.
