Sony Classics Chiefs On The Key To Longevity & The Power Of Theatrical: “Movie Stars Are Made On The Screen, Not The Stream” — Zurich Summit
deadline.comSony Pictures Classics co-chiefs Michael Barker and Tom Bernard, who are being feted by the Zurich Film Festival with the event’s GameChanger Award, took part today in a Zurich Summit panel about their careers and the state of the specialty business.The duo have spent their lives dedicated to the theatrical sector and the promotion of arthouse movies, work that has resulted in more than 150 Academy Award nominations for SPC titles, including Best Picture candidates The Father, Call Me By Your Name, Amour, Whiplash, Capote, Midnight In Paris, An Education, Howards End and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.During a diverting and welcome trip down memory lane, Barker told the audience how he had first met Bernard during a Secret Santa in the late 1970s.
The duo previously worked together at UA Classics and Orion Classics . “It’s impressive you haven’t killed each other by now,” moderator Roeg Sutherland of CAA Media Finance quipped. “What has been the key to your longevity together?” he asked.“Do you want to be the king?
No. The movies are the king,” Bernard replied. “We both know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and we’ve stayed involved in everything.
The trailers, the posters, the minutiae.”Barker commented: “As Tom says, ‘when something goes wrong, there’s always a plan B.'”The duo credited their small but loyal team as key to their sustained run, including acquisitions and marketing execs Dylan Leinert and Carmelo Pirrone. “We’ve still got the same 25 people who have worked with us for decades.
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