At the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, Universal Cinema Film & TV Journal’s Amir Ganjavie interviewed Juan Castro, the founder and CEO of Latin Quarter which began doing distribution and putting together sales in 2022 but has recently grown into the production side, co-producing a documentary last year.
Amir Ganjavie, UniversalCinema Magazine (UM): So, you co-produced a documentary, is your company interested only in documentaries?
Juan Castro (JC): Documentaries and fiction. Actually, for the theatrical distribution side, it is more profitable/easier to promote fiction. But for sales, we do documentaries and fiction half-and-half.
(UM): And do you do projects from all around the world or from a specific region?
(JC): The name of the company is Latin Quarter.
I started as a journalist in Spain in the 2000’s. I used to work with the national public TV, Televisión Española. I worked also with International Cooperation Programs for Latin America from Spain. I started there when I was working in communications as a journalist with the International TV Cooperation Program. I moved to sales when I moved to London in 2010.
Since the pandemic, I’ve been trying to make a fit for the products and for the sales that we were trying to promote, which were mostly titles from Latin America and Spain. Spanish-language films, which also includes US Hispanic productions. I sold sales to the audience. We focus on that because of the ability of the company. Let’s say for theatrical distribution in our circuit, we are screening and premiering films in Berlin, Amsterdam, London, and just recently in Barcelona. The focus is Latino films and Latino filmmakers in the diaspora living around the world. But for sales, we work with all kinds of titles.
(UM): What is your definition of a good movie, one when you are watching you say, “I should acquire that movie.”
(JC): What I always say to the filmmakers that try to work with us, is it has to be with our core audience and with our core buyers. I need to be sure I can market that film. I need to be sure I have an audience to present the film. They’re fantastic things that just don’t fit, basically, for our audience. I cannot find buyers. That would be my sense of measuring.
(UM): In your line of work, you become friends with a lot of festival programmers and heads, with the instability that exists in the market with many programmers shuffling from festivals, is that a problem for you dealing with these relationships?
(JC): No. Luckily, programmers usually don’t retire. They move from one festival to another. That is true. So, the relationships continue. It’s very helpful always to have that. At the end of the day, the film defends itself. The film stands by itself. You can recommend it. You can talk with your very good programmer friend, it is true. You will have their ears. You will have their attention, but they do not classify or select the film just because we are friends.
(UM): How do filmmakers approach you? Do you usually work with the same filmmakers you already know? How do you acquire your films?
(JC): With the proposals, we usually scout all the main festivals and markets. I’m always on the road. I escaped from working on our documentary. Now, I am here. We are quite famous in Locarno and here. Right now, we are presenting a film that we saw part of in Locarno. We’re going to premiere on December 2nd in Berlin. Also, in August, there was an old film that was luckily in Locarno but premiered here in Italy. We check with films around that are upcoming. Also, in the rough cut stage, we go to those forums, presentations, and pitches to see which ones are being uplifted. It is very good for filmmakers to try to get as many as possible labs and workshops because that gives validation to their films. We’re paying attention to what is coming. There is a certain type of film that is selected there. Also, they approach us. They write to us; we have email details on the website. But the easier way, and what validates it, is the festival.
(UM): At what stage do you think the filmmaker should approach you? Is it at the rough cut or do you prefer a final cut?
(JC): They approach even from development, sometimes. I will take it when I see it as it is in rough cut, especially if it is attending those workshops or labs, or if it is being classified to pitch those works in progress because that means it is going to premiere in some big festival.
(UM): I noticed changes in the market since COVID. In terms of your sales strategies, how have you experienced these changes?
(JC): It has changed a lot. The theatrical market went down. We started after COVID, but it was a kind of strategy. I have been a sales agent since 2010. I decided to start in the Latin Quarter with distribution directly, attending to the needs of the filmmaker who wants to see their films on the big screen, although there are films that are not for big screens. What we are doing is a mix of distribution with sales. Let me explain. We premiere a film. We do impact premieres. We will not leave the film for weeks in the cinemas. We create a reputation, we make sound effects, and we ask for sales rights on that territory.
For example, I am presently premiering a film in Berlin. I will have the rights for Germany. If we premiere a film in Amsterdam, I will ask for the sales rights in Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg). We make sales with the distribution to the public. That’s the formula that we are using right now. Also, to position the company, it was strategic to launch with big premieres in big cities because that quickly gave us a reputation. We are the only company dedicated to Latino or Spanish-speaking films in the North of Europe. That exclusivity is a specialty that gives us attention.
(UM): Some directors have told me they see their films go to the festivals but they only gain recognition for their films but cannot gain anything in terms of finances. I’m curious, do you think this is happening because of the number of films on the market?
(JC): You’ll get usually a screening of the film if you’re at a festival. Apart from that, you’ll get a chance to have an exposition and to be acquired by sales agents or distributors. I believe that is a very important way to do it. The point is they don’t need to market their films or not only see them when they appear at a festival, the producer needs to imply certain marketing techniques as well to make the film well known. There are many different paths. If you don’t have a big budget, the producer can start knocking on doors. If you are at a festival, you should hire a publicist to make the film known. They should do this at the same time they announce that their film is selected at a festival.
(UM): How important is it for a film to dedicate money to marketing? I see certain arthouse films or productions that don’t have any money dedicated to marketing.
(JC): That is a big mistake, you need to dedicate a part of your budget to marketing. If you don’t have a big budget, then your producer should know or apply those marketing techniques. There are simple ways to start doing that nowadays with social media, for example. Having an account, being promoted on Instagram, it’s creating awareness. Even if you don’t have the money to create a website, you can do social media – that’s free.
(UM): And how much money do you think the company or producer should dedicate to marketing?
(JC): It always depends on the budget of the film. Big blockbusters give half of the budget to marketing. I always say, to budget as much as possible. It is not about the number of movies. It’s about how much publicity you have. For example, for a campaign, you can hire a publicist starting from 5 to 10K. You can have 5,000 to make an impact during a festival, for example. It is dangerous to mention exact numbers and exact figures.
(UM): So, it’s not a certain percent of the budget that should be dedicated to marketing? It’s not like that?
(JC): It is about what your film is for, if it is a film for a platform, if it is a film for the audience, or if it is a film that ends up on TV. It has different paths and different budgets for each.
(UM): And when deciding things like this, will you advise the producers, or should the producers themselves, have some ideas and come to you?
(JC): When we start working, we design the strategy and again later with the budget to know what we can invest. Sometimes, we do invest and then we recover the marketing investment with the earnings of the sales from the distribution. Marketing is essential. I come from the communication and the marketing world, and then I started with cinema. Marketing is essential because there are still people who don’t know how. It was never that easy to produce a film, because of the digital era and all the cameras, everybody’s making films. It is a reality that there are so many productions nowadays. You want to stand out. That means you need good promotion that makes noise. When we promote a film, it means accompanying it with a good social media campaign. I’m trying to promote and push the film. Talk to people and try creating as much noise as possible about your film. Then if people say, “Oh, that film. Oh, that one.” It would be best if you also had a work strategy, especially when this is a film that you want to show everywhere. Most filmmakers want to have wide releases, but sometimes, some films are dedicated to certain audiences or certain territories.
(UM): In considering the region that you are focusing on, is it important to have, for example, a star attached to your project? What is important for you? Is it the story?
(JC): When it’s fiction, it helps a lot to have some big names, and it is always related to the buyer. Many films say, “I work with no actors but it’s because sometimes there is no buyer.” Sometimes, it’s a creative idea. In general, big names help. In the documentaries, the voices narrating help. Nowadays, there are many productions also using influencers. You’ve seen TikTok. There are a lot of people. When it’s our house, I will say we focus more on the script, the story, and the photography.
(UM): For the sales of your film to English-speaking countries, is the star also important? Are Spanish stars for example, relevant to the sales of a movie to Netflix?
(JC): Absolutely. They always say, “I want to go to Netflix.” I will also say, not every film is for Netflix. You have movies for arthouse. We also collect money to do the impact premieres around the world. You can organize and make deals with different agents. This maybe goes against my own business but I would recommend checking territories. If you can compartment the agents specializing in certain territories, you take a Hispanic for a Spanish-speaking or you take an Asian for Asian-speaking countries then it may work better. Then, you can compare how to sell in every territory better between the agents.
(UM): What is the US influence on Spanish productions?
(JC): All Spanish-speaking territories in England and Spain are influenced by the US. They are the ones who sell the most and it always will be their productions with actors who are recognized from the States. Then, again, it is about celebrities or famous actors from every continent. In Latin America, the actors from Mexico are very well known in the whole region, which is also the biggest production upcoming. It is also a big production in Colombia, for example, because of the tax-free way.
(UM): Anything else you’d like to add?
(JC): Yes. I would like to highlight that we are trying to create a unique network of cinemas, a unique space for filmmakers to be able to see their films. This is what we are working hard on, giving space to the Latino diaspora filmmakers starting with Europe. We also have a delegation right now in the Dominican Republic. We’re trying to get everywhere to give space for the exposition of very good arthouse films, cinemas, and spaces. There is a lack of that and I believe, still, if it is not a festival that it comes from, the film is not going to be seen anymore. That’s what we are trying to do.
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