Watching the MGM+ limited anthology series “American Hostage” with exec producer and star Jon Hamm at its Sept. 12 Toronto fest premiere, you might be reminded of last year’s Sept. 7 Toronto premiere, Gus Van Sant’s thriller “Dead Man’s Wire,” about the same 1977 Indianapolis hostage crisis. Or the 2022 podcast “American Hostage” with Jon Hamm. Or the 2018 doc “Dead Man’s Line,” whose directors were consultants on “Wire.” Welcome to a new level of déjà view.
There have long been competing projects (on killer asteroids, volcanoes, etc.), but with an increasing reliance on reboots and new-to-you IP, an overabundance of outlets, and more mediums like audiobooks, podcasts and YouTube videos at viewers’ fingertips, audiences are experiencing more projects about the same subject than ever before. So how can Toronto film buyers navigate these waters? How can producers get the most out of film sales in this changing marketplace?
And do similar projects increase or cannibalize audiences? The exception to every rule right now is true crime: “61% of true crime podcast listeners are also watching true crime TV shows or movies, and [half of them] are also watching it on YouTube,” says Edison Research at SSRS VP Megan Lazovick. And look at “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.” Just before its July 31 debut, there were 26 million-32 million hours of “Spider-Man” franchise content watched in a week across the major platforms’ back catalogs, according to Showlabs from Ampere/PlumResearch.
Then,in the week after the film’s debut, the same viewership tripled to 98 million. WME partner Eric Reid, who specializes in managing rights in the agency’s lit division, says he hasn’t seen projects on the same subject in different mediums take away viewers from each other — or necessarily add them. The podcast might have been the first point of entry for that story, and then there’s the documentary, then the dramatic series.
Those formats tend to get larger and larger.” But not TIFF’s two big Mt. Everest projects: Apple Original Films’ shot-on-location drama “Tenzing” (in theaters Oct. 9) and National Geographic Documentary Films’ “Everest: The Other Side” (out Oct. 30). What projects are you less likely to see?
Unless, say, they have unique characters with narrative potential. For producers, Ramo entertainment lawyer Elsa Ramo says docs can present big opportunities. (She reps Boardwalk Pictures, at TIFF on Sept. 13 with the cowgirl bronco riders doc “Cheyenne”). Nobody is thinking that things are just a one-off.” Even the anthology series “American Hostage.” Despite three competing projects out already, writer Eileen Myers (an exec producer alongside writer/exec producer Shawn Ryan and podcast/series exec producers Shawn Christensen and Gabriel Mason) has more in mind.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
