28 March 2024 The Irish Film & Television Network
     
Born to be Wildcard
04 Dec 2014 : Paul Byrne
Scene from Wildcard Distribution film 'Gold'
With ‘Gold’, ‘Standby’, ‘Run & Jump’, and ‘The Guarantee’ released to cinemas in 2014, it has undoubtedly been a good year for Wildcard Distribution.

As they approach their 2nd birthday, co-founder Patrick O’Neill talks to IFTN’s Paul Byrne about the foolish decision to concentrate on quality films.

PAUL BYRNE: You’re going to be two years old early next year - can you remember Wildcard’s beginnings in 2013, and what your manifesto was...?

PATRICK O’NEILL: ‘Wildcard was set up by myself and Fastnet Films. We always believed there was a gap in the market for quality film. Also, there was a lot of films being made in Ireland, and some of these were finding it increasingly difficult to reach audiences. Not only theatrically, but also on other formats. There were opportunities internationally, and embracing technological changes in the industry, we felt there was space for an agile start-up distributor willing to embrace innovation and disruption.’

You had plenty of experience in the Irish film industry before starting up Wildcard Distribution - and therefore know how tough it can be. What possessed you?

‘Personally, I felt like a career change after seven great years at the Irish Film Board. While the relationship between the UK and Irish distribution market is challenging, we felt there was something there we could take advantage of in terms of Irish film. I was also keen to explore the worldwide marketplace and experiment with alternative distribution models to the traditional sales agent route to market.’

Part of Wildcard’s goal is to ‘break down the barriers of traditional film distribution using disruptive and innovative technology’ - such as...?

‘Two recent examples would be the worldwide releases of ‘Barbaric Genius’ and ‘Hill Street’. As opposed to traditional territory-based sales, we set up multiple territory VOD deals including iTunes, and set up individual websites where you could directly download the film as a digital file from anywhere in the world, and also buy a region free DVD. We also applied a "Pay What You Want" model for bonus film material.’

‘In October, we had Ireland's first Live Cinema Event, with ‘The Guarantee’. We had a simultaneous film premiere in 18 Irish cinemas, and a panel discussion after the film chaired by Matt Cooper, which was transmitted via satellite to the individual cinemas. The panel was integrated with Twitter so audiences in the other cinemas could engage and ask questions using #TheGuarantee - which resulted in the film trending on Twitter that evening.’

You’ve had ‘Gold’, ‘Standby’, ‘Run & Jump’, and ‘The Guarantee’ out this year, with Terry McMahon’s festival favourite ‘Patrick’s Day’ due out soon - is there a certain criteria when it comes to selecting which films to distribute? I get the impression box-office isn’t necessarily the bottom line...

‘Box-office is an element in decision making, but just one of many considerations. I wouldn't say there is a criteria, but we would look at a lot of factors including quality of the film, talent of the film-makers, identifiable audiences for the film, potential to generate long tail revenues, what rights are available to acquire in Ireland, UK, and International. But at the end of the day, it comes down to gut instinct. A lot of work goes in to a film release, so we have to connect with the film itself and the filmmakers. It's going to be a long journey together, so we like to make sure we're in good company!

Box-office is, of course, the bottom line when it comes to keeping a business afloat - are you secretly gunning for the mainstream, or just happy when a good film finds an appreciative if small audience?

‘Film is becoming an increasingly complex business with revenue streams available from a multitude of sources - not just Box-office. Of course we're happy with our current slate and have new activities coming on stream next year that will generate income, but yes, I would love a break-out film!! But it needs to be the right film. To make hits, you need to spend a lot of money on P&A, and that brings with it a lot of risk.’

The way people consume film has changed rapidly over the last few years, thanks largely, of course, to the internet - exciting times, or are we still in the wild west stage of web-is-latin-for-free...?

‘The DVD market is declining at a greater rate than the VOD market is increasing - so that's a problem for the industry. However, I would definitely lean towards exciting times. We feel we are native to this environment, and as we're an agile team with a varied skill set, we can adapt and make decisions quickly to take advantage of new opportunities.’

With the window between theatrical and online getting smaller and smaller - something witnessed with the recent Irish doc ‘One Million Dubliners’ and your own offering, ‘The Guarantee’ - does that reduce or enhance a small film’s commercial potential? The publicity campaign for ‘The Guarantee’ would still be warm as it hits video shelves now...

‘That's a complicated question! For studio and larger budget films, the windows are still incredibly important. For independent titles, it becomes a bit more complicated. With ‘The Guarantee’, it was part of the production arrangements that restricted us from being able to hold a full 16-week window. If you break the window, you're losing a lot of Irish exhibitors, so it's not a decision to be taken lightly. I may be in a better position to answer this question in a few weeks’ time!’

I mentioned the two-year anniversary coming up at the start of 2015 - are you where you’d hoped to be? Or is it simply a case of life rarely following the traditional Hollywood arc?

‘It will have been an eventful two years, and we've certainly learned a lot from it, but yes, there have been many twists and turns along the way, none of us would have expected.’

Finally, what have you got coming up that has you all excited and delighted?

‘We'll have ‘Patrick's Day’ out early next year, so it's great to be working with Terry McMahon on that project. We are also developing exciting plans around the release of ‘Get Up & Go’, and the team has been working closely on Rebecca Daly's new film ‘Mammal’. We've also got the International release of ‘The Guarantee’ to look forward to.’





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