International markets, then and now

As thousands of screen professionals do business at this week’s MIPTV in France, Antony I. Ginnane (SPAA president), Charlotte Mickie (EVP of international sales at eOne Films International), Andrew Mackie (Transmission Films), Nicole O’Donohue (producer, Griff the Invisible) and Lizz Watts (producer, Animal Kingdom, Laid) reminisce about their first experience at an international film market, and describe how those events have changed since.

Antony I. Ginnane

What was your first market?

The 1973 Cannes Film Festival Marche, when I attended with Richard Franklin to advise on foreign sales for The True Story of Eskimo Nell. A lot has changed since then. There was no video or DVDs for screeners so you either got buyers to your market screenings or you shipped them a 35mm print to view. And buying decisions were made on the basis of primary theatrical value with some TV underpinning in some territories.