Peter and the Wolves
So, to get to this question before it’s asked. Why is the OIAF not showing Suzie Templeton’s new (acclaimed) film, Peter and The Wolf? It’s interesting that you should ask because the film was submitted by it’s distributor/co-producer Breakthru films in England. The film was viewed, selected and programmed for festival competition. The letter confirming the film’s acceptance was sent to Breakthru Films (the entrant).
That’s when things got strange.
We were told that in 2007 they were only doing orchestral screenings for a price of between 5,000-10,000 pounds (which is, I dunno, between 10-20k in canadian dollars). Festival screenings we were told wouldnt begin until 2008.
Well, this is a bit of a surprise because not only had I just seen the film at Annecy but the producers had completed the entry form, signed the rules and sent Peter and the Wolf to Ottawa.
When we mentioned this they eventually determined that they had indeed submitted the film, but apparently it was the mistake of a temp employee. Because of this, they were willing to offer us a one time deal. They’d let us show the film for a discounted rate of 500euros.
500euros is about 600-700 Canadian dollars. That’s a pretty sizeable chunk of change for a short film rental. Now, we do pay artist fees (among other perks), but nowhere near this kind of money. So, you know, it’s an excessive amount of money and really, would it be fair to other competitors if we said, sure, we’ll give you this wad of green? No, no it wouldnt (Hey, i’d love to give animators that kind of green all the time…but t’aint possible).
In the end, we couldn’t find common ground and that’s why you won’t be seeing Peter and The Wolf at the OIAF this year or next year (it will be ineligible because it’s been submitted this year).
I don’t think anyone is really to blame, but I do think it’s important that people know that we did accept the film for competition.
A shame really - for everyone.
Chris Robinson
July 25th, 2007 at 4:35 pm e
Hi Chris,
Do you know if Annecy paid to have the film shown? It seems at the best extreme arrogance on their part or at worst greedy to expect payment for showing the film when they submitted it to your festival.
Its like me going into a high class restaurant and asking them to pay me to eat there (I don’t know maybe celebrities do ask this??). It may be a good film, I know the Melbourne Animation Festival probably doesn’t have that sort of cash lying around so we probably won’t get it here. Its a pity because I loved Dog and Stanley and was looking forward to seeing it.
They will get money from TV and DVD sales anyway so It seems a bit petty to be asking for $700 dollars.
Cheers
Neil
July 29th, 2007 at 7:47 am e
Annecy did not pay to have it shown.
They will do the festival circuit in 2008. No fees will be asked for from what I know.
At the end of the day, it’s a strong film, but it’s not a masterpiece. Definitely not a film we’ll be talking about in the future. If it was, I’d have fought harder for it.