Mapping Out a Deal

Mapping Out A Deal

by Eugene Hernandez

Word of the Fox Searchlight deal acquiring all worldwide rights to the Miguel Arteta film "Star Maps" spread quickly throughout Park City yesterday morning. The announcement capped an all night negotiation session that began immediately after the film's wildly successful screening at the Park City Library Center. Shortly after the deal was announced, indieWIRE sat down with Arteta, producer Matthew Greenfield, Attorney Jed Alpert and Searchlight President Lindsay Law to discuss the acquisition and the film.

According to Arteta, the seeds of the deal were sown while he was working as a runner for Addis-Wechsler and his student film caught the eye of the company's Claudia Lewis. Now at Searchlight, Lewis was among the first to contact him upon learning that "Star Maps" had been accepted into Sundance. While many distributors contacted him prior to the festival, Arteta claims that a Searchlight rep was among the only ones to attend Friday evening's screening at the Yarrow.

Greenfield confirms that they were well aware of Searchlight's interest in the film, but really had no idea how to judge their interest and "how that interest related to interest from other people."

Attorney Jed Alpert, who negotiated on behalf of the filmmakers, explained, "In my experience the distributor's enthusiasm for a film is obvious, and the distributor who understands you (the filmmaker) and understands the film is probably the right distributor, and often they're the distributor offering the most money anyway, so its a simple decision."

As the credits rolled on Tuesday night's screening, the filmmakers, their representatives, and Searchlight executives began a night of talking that Arteta characterizes as "intense." While those involved fail to offer the gory details, they admitted that it is impossible get take-out food in Park City after 11 p.m., which Arteta interpreted as a positive sign of commitment to the project since all parties continued working into the early morning hours towards a deal despite their weariness and hunger.

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In the end, Arteta admits it was the "honest passion" he detected from Fox Searchlight, that led to his decision to sign with them. Alpert adds, "Honest passion means the person knows how to market it, and that means the film will be successful...and its not just about being flattered, all indie films are challenges to market." A key figure in Arteta's decision was Fox Searchlight's Lindsay Law, who, with his experience in producing and marketing such films as Gregory Nava's "El Norte" and Ramon Menendez's "Stand And Deliver", brings an important aspect to the deal. "They're open to (attracting) a large Latino audience for this film, given his (Law's) track record I feel really comfortable that they will cooperate with us...and we'll get the most mileage (from) this film. As for the company's plans, Law explains that Searchlight will seek to attract both a mainstream and Latino audience in an integrated marketing and promotion campaign that will enlist the services of firms that specialize in attracting Latino audiences. Law adds that they are discussing ways to build word-of-mouth and expectations for the film through screenings and appearances at key film festivals. He underscores that they "don't want to tag ("Star Maps") as only of interest to Latinos. The emotions are so strong, any nationality will respond to this man's condition." Listening to Law discuss the plans for sharing his film with the country, Arteta is beaming, unable to hide his excitement -- his composure throughout the entire interview subverted by the happiness on his face. It is with this same enthusiasm that he and the other "Star Maps" folks hopped in a sport ute early yesterday morning, with the deal signed, and drove up the mountain for hours of eating, drinking and sledding followed by a hop over a fence for a rest in a hot tub. Phone calls home to family and friends concluded the memorable day. Smiling, Arteta adds, (there are a) "lot of people all over Latin America that are very happy this morning." posted on January 23, 1997 |Share