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ThinkFilm: Bergstein’s Long Tail Defense

Karina Longworth
By Karina Longworth posted 1 year ago
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The headline to this Hollywood Reporter story is pure provocation: “Has ThinkFilm Lost Its Mind?” The three pages that follow offer little in the way of analysis of the sanity of the studio’s recent moves; instead, Alex Ben Block contrasts angry accusations from filmmakers who claim to have been wronged by the distributor, with defensive statements from Think/Capitol Films head David Bergstein.

The big takeaway (beyond Betstain’s annoying insistence that “he has image problems because nobody in Hollywood really knows him”) is his repeated claim that he’s not really concerned with the short term  profits and losses associated with theatrical releases (which probably won’t sound like news to certain filmmakers he’s worked with over the past year). Instead, he’s got his eyes on building a digital rights library that can be leveraged when the current modes of distribution and consumption become extinct. “Our business plan is not so much about the movie business,” he told Block. “It’s really to build a global digital distribution business. It’s based on the expectation that in the not too distant future most content will be delivered digitally and on-demand.”

And apparently, he’s perfectly content enraging filmmakers and creditors today in order to come out ahead of the flop on a longer timeline. More details––including details on Bergstein’s future acquisitions plans, the status of David O. Russell’s beleaguered Think production, and testimony from apparently the only Think-associated filmmaker willing to come out and defend the company’s leader––after the jump.

…Read more

THINKFilm Nailed Again. Trade Roughage 06/25/08

Karina Longworth
By Karina Longworth posted 1 year ago
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  • Nailed, that David O. Russell film that keeps having to halt production because of THINKFilm’s financial troubles, has shut down for the fourth time. Meanwhile, yesterday THINK closed its Toronto office, which housed 25 employees as recently as the end of 2007. Randy Manis, VP of acquisitions and a co-founder of the company, is one Toronto-based exec cutting ties with the company;”It has not been the easiest time in the company with so many people we worked with wanting things,” he told Variety.
  • The apparent unwatchability of Hancock is a big topic of conversation here in Los Angeles this week. Todd McCarthy at Variety is the first to go public with his distaste; he warns, “Although it will inevitably open very large, this odd and perplexing aspiring tentpole will provide a real test of Smith’s box office invincibility.”
  • 96 countries have been sent entry forms for the Best Foreign Language Oscar nomination.
  • X Files creator Chris Carter is apparently directing a secret movie starring David Cassidy’s daughter and rapper Xzibit. It may be secret for a reason.

Think Short On Cash: Trade Roughage 05/13/08

Karina Longworth
By Karina Longworth posted 1 year ago
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  • The Variety headline: “Production Resumes on [David O'Russell's] Nailed,” which had been shut down due to the production company’s failure to pay union fees last week. The real story: ThinkFilm, and its financial backers, Capitol Films, are having trouble paying the bills. Not only did Alex Gibney threaten a bankruptcy lawsuit after a promised bonus for his Oscar win for Taxi to the Dark Side never materialized, but the mini studio is apparently in a such a cash crunch that they’re having trouble paying for newspaper ads for their current releases, and are expected to stay out of the buying fray at Cannes.
  • Another day, another sign that I should stop eating bagels whilst reading the trades, lest I choke to death: The Weinstein Company is making a live-action feature version of Fraggle Rock.
  • Steve Martin has sold a pitch to Paramount for a comedy called From Zero to Sixty, which would star he and Diane Keaton. Also, Pink Panther 3 is coming! You can exhale!