StarringDave FrancoandAlison Brie, it gives Neon a chance to follow up the rousing genre success ofLonglegslast year.
Together,which also haslanded a berth at SXSW, is written/directed byMichael Shanks.
It was a real crowd pleaser to the Midnight Madness audience.
‘Together,’ ‘Cha Cha Real Smooth,’ ‘Theater Camp’ (inset) Erik FeigEverett/Dewey Nicks
Id planned to do wider release movies with studios, that we were going to co-finance.
That was the intention, he swears.
Picturestart is currently developingThe Masque Of The Red Deathto star Sydney Sweeney for A24.
Feig tells Deadline how Picturestart has gotten this far, so quickly.
The Q&A was edited for clarity.
DEADLINE:You say you didnt intend to lean into the prestige film area when you formed.
How did you get to this point?
ERIK FEIG:I had not really planned on financing independent movies.
That was a very small part of my business plan.
Ive been a producer, a financier, an acquisitions executive.
Ive overseen a slate.
I can wear multiple hats.
The intention was to be doing wider release movies, with studios, that we were going to co-finance.
But right after we launched, Covid happened.
Everyone was kind of paralyzed.
The movie that was later calledAm I OK?came to us, looking for co-financing.
When the lead financier dropped out, we decided to take over.
That was our first movie.
Both of them turned us on to the short that wasTheater Camp.
We thought, okay, great, why dont we kind of put additional bets on those two.
All of them felt like relatively modest financial bets with very, very clear, identifiable audiences.
Togetheris my fifth movie with Dave Franco and I love him.
He and his team at WME brought this movie to us.
I did not know Michael Shanks but I read the script, watched his shorts.
Hes really inspirational, such a clear vision.
Michael Shanks based it on his own relationship.
A great marketing pitch.
DEADLINE:Whats your priority in deciding which ones to make?
In some cases its really broad.
In others its niche.
But can it become the favorite movie for some group of people?
Is the audience reachable?
You create the production plan thats appropriate for that budget.
And I never want to make a movie just for a directors personal vision quest.
You really do have to think, does it have a shot in this competitive landscape?
Is there a group of people who are dying and desperate to see this thing?
DEADLINE:How would you describe the competitive landscape right now?
Now the competitive landscape is literally everything.
Whats really interesting about the media landscape right now is its so varied, fromWickedtoSonictoNosferatuandThe Brutalist.
You have to ask that question, and do the math: how big is that audience?
When do I need to get them?
Do I need to get them the first weekend?
Do I need to get them in theaters?
Can I rely on getting them at home?
Can I stay around for many weeks to get them?
Am I going to get critics that are going to do the job for me?
Do I need TikTok to do the job for me?
How am I going to get people to know about this?
And the answer is different for all different movies and shows.
DEADLINE: How would you assess the current market?
FEIG:I would call it brutally efficient.
No one is buying things because they want them.
Theyre buying things because they need them.
There is zero room for sentimentality.
That said, theres a breakout every single year, a wildly unexpected hit.
TV is a different story.
TheresBaby Reindeer,Squid Game,Ted Lasso,Hacks.
Those streamer platforms are more innovative in TV than in movies.
The thing about TV is that you have eight hours, 10 hours, to build up an audience.
With a movie, you have 90 to 115 minutes.
Thats why series penetrate the zeitgeist on streamers, and movies rarely do.
They just dont have enough runway in the consumer mind.
They need a theatrical runway to do that.
DEADLINE: It feels like your four Sundance sales found seams in a shifting marketplace.
FEIG:Am I OK?is a queer romance thats well done with a good cast.
This is a genre that audiences consume on streaming platforms.
We are going to make this for a streamer.
Thats exactly how we thought about it.
And forCha Cha Real Smooth, I thought, okay, high-end dramedy.
In all likelihood, it will be a streamer.
I was happily surprised that Searchlight really fell in love with it.
How big are they?
Whos watching what for how long?
And being niche on a streamer was actually not great.
And then over the next two, three years, theyre like, oh, we get it.
And if they dont need it, they dont want it.
There are emotional buyers who say, I love this; I need to have that.
The streamers are not emotional buyers.
Theyre very, very mercenary buyers.
They know their audience.
They know what works, And if it doesnt fit, they really dont care.
Because they have mature businesses now with a lot of data.
Togetherhas a shot of being special and buzzy and noisy.
We were really lucky that we had a bidding situation but it was all theatrical, no streamers.
Everyone wanted to release it theatrically, which is an evolution of the market.
It shows there is a theatrical market.
Audiences are coming out to movies.
No streamer came for that.
This movie is a little bit too weird for them.
And Im very, very happy that this one fits into a theatrical business model.
DEADLINE: The films are mostly by first-time directors.
Hasnt always worked out, but its been really exciting when it does.
I can bring a level of experience or perspective.
Okay, this is something special.
(Lionsgate acquired Summit in 2012.
Feig exited in 2018 to launch Picturestart.)
DEADLINE:Youve worked on the studio side and the indie side.
How do they compare?
FEIG:I dont view studios or the system as the bad guys.
I dont believe in an us versus them system.
I think that its a very symbiotic relationship.
Were all in this together.
Weve all signed on to this business.
Everyone has their own perspectives and their own priorities.
Ive tried to think about what are the objectives of all the stakeholders.
The stakeholders are the creatives and the storytellers and the actors.
The stakeholders are the audience.
How do you reach them, and will they accept the film?
You dont have to ask permission.
you’re free to just go for it, and I really, really love that.
