CAA, WME, Black Bear, John Lesher & Rocket Science Talk Streamers & Health Of Indie Film: “Streamers Are Participating More And More In Theatrical” — Zurich Summit

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“Are streamers scaling back?” and “Is this a renaissance period for indie financed films?” were two of the questions at the heart of a Zurich Summit panel this morning, featuring CAA‘s Roeg Sutherland, WME‘s Katie Irwin and Oscar-winning producer John Lesher (Birdman).

While the eye-watering streamer acquisitions of a few years ago may be fewer and further between out of markets, streamers are still essential buyers, as witnessed by splashy deals for Hit Man and Woman Of The Hour at Toronto and May December in Cannes. “I don’t think they are retreating, I think they are being agile”, said Irwin of sales and finance operation WME Independent. “I think there’s a constant changing tack and I think they’re pointing their money in different ways.” “Look at the deal for Hit Man“, noted moderator Sutherland who serves as co-head of CAA Media Finance.

The film was acquired at Toronto for US and a handful of international markets and is due to have a theatrical component. “We’re seeing a more malleable market in which streamers are acquiring in a different way.

It doesn’t only need to be worldwide.” The panel was asked whether that appetite for streamer acquisitions could dry up if more movies are made from scratch in-house at streamers. “I think there will always be good movies that they’ll acquire,” said Lesher, known for producing movies such as Birdman, Fury and Ferrari. “They’re developing more, which is good, but do those movies end up good?