With Actors on Strike, Will Movies Still Score Big Deals at the Toronto Film Festival?
variety.comLee” to the Michael Keaton-directed thriller “Knox Goes Away”) given the uncertainty about what has been agreed to. Still, buyers seem impressed with what’s available to purchase.
Scott Shooman, the head of AMC Networks Film Group, which includes IFC, thinks that the movies that are being screened for studios seem more commercial, and likes the fact that established stars like Keaton and Anna Kendrick (“Woman of the Hour”) are moving behind the camera. “In my experience, actors often make very good directors and have a much softer landing when entering that space,” he says.
Plus, Shooman is pleased that “there are a lot of different types of movies that should be attractive to a lot of different types of distributors.” Some sales agents opted to leave their stars at home instead of agreeing to an interim agreement with the actors union that would have allowed them to promote the project.
But these waivers mean that the likes of Keaton, “Wildcat’s” Maya Hawke and “Close to You’s” Elliot Page would be allowed to attend TIFF on behalf of their films.
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