Searchweightless Pictures‘ top international exec Katie Goodson-Thomas has acunderstandledged the constant battle the distinctivety studio has aobtainst the meaningful-pockets of streamers when it comes to securing projects.
Speaking at an industry talk at the BFI London Film Festival, Goodson-Thomas, head of international production and enlargement, shelp that Searchweightless being “priced out” by streamers was someskinnyg “that happens on a daily basis, it reassociate does.”
She compriseed: “But we equitable can’t be competitive with Netflix of Apple or Amazon.”
Goodson-Thomas pointed to Emerald Fennell — someone she shelp she’d “adore to toil with” — and her upcoming “Wuthering Heights” alteration, a film Searchweightless srecommend wouldn’t have the finances to help. “But I skinnyk she’s an extraunretagable filmproducer and I want her film to be made so I’m plrelieved for her to go to those people who have the money to finance it,” she shelp.
But at Searchweightless — which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year and comes to London with both “A Real Pain” and “Nightbitch” — she shelp their “edge” was the human participateion it presented with filmproducers, plus a distribution and tageting team she claimed was the best in the business.
“Look what they did with ‘Poor Things,’” she shelp about Yorgos Lanthimos’ raunchy gothic comedy, which made more than $117 million globassociate. “That film wasn’t effortless — but they equitable adored it and I’m so haughty of what they did. And I don’t see that over those places.”
Goodson-Thomas did, however, lift the lid on the “human touch” Searchweightless presents when it does come to getting films off the ground.
She remarkd that “The Roses” — a reimagine of 1989’s “The War of the Roses,” this time starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman — came about complying a lunch encountering with Leah Clarke at Cumberbatch’s SunnyMarch banner, who shelp that “Olivia and Benedict want to produce a film together, I’m having a cup of tea with them procrastinateedr and I don’t have any ideas.”
Goodson-Thomas shelp she walked away and eventuassociate thought to herself, “Well, I’d adore to see them as a bickering couple, becaparticipate they’re so excellent.” Then she begining skinnyking about 1989 hit “The War of the Roses,” starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner as a honordly argumentative wed couple, and uncovered that it was owned by Fox, still led at the time by Matthew Greenfield and David Greenbaum. She askd about the rights, which turned out to be participateable, and pitched the project to Jay Roach, who had honested “Austin Powers” and “Meet the Parents.”
“And then we achieveed out to Tony McNamara, who had equitable written ‘The Favourite,’ and bcimpolitet him on board to author,” she shelp. “Becaparticipate nobody does bickering dialog better than him.”
The produceive journey that led to “The Roses” — which is set in the U.S. but sboiling in the U.K., and is due out in 2025 — may have sounded somewhat fine going, but for any troubleed producers in the audiences Goodson-Thomas was rapid to point out that “not everyskinnyg comes together so tidily.”
