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February 03, 2005
Marketing Asian pictures classics
A lengthy overview of the feckless distribution of Asian films in the U.S., in the SF Chronicle: "Where should Asian film distribution go from here? Ask Sony Picture Classics' [Tom] Barker... "Too many companies are looking for the home run," said Barker in a thinly veiled dig at Miramax. "We're very happy with a base hit or a double." ... Like distributors in the 1950s and '60s that filled major city art houses with films from Japanese directors Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi and Nagisa Oshima, Barker's company feels it needs to be director-driven. SPC has released 8 Yimou films and has signed on for a ninth. It is following South Korean director Kim Ki-Duk's Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall and Spring, an art-house hit last year, with 3-Iron in March. And, it will wait only 2 months—not 2 years—to release Shaolin Soccer director Chow's Kung Fu Hustle, which is the highest-grossing film of 2004 in Hong Kong... "You have to think long term; you want to still be making money on video and TV years from now," Barker said. "That's why you have to shoot for quality, and that's where some of these companies that overpay films get into trouble, because they can't transcend the moment."
Posted by Ray Pride at February 3, 2005 04:14 PM
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