Minimum Guarantees

Distribution

The 2025 Film Markets Reality Check: Cannes, Sundance, TIFF, and AFM Under a Tighter Rulebook

December 20, 2025 FilmTake Comments Off on The 2025 Film Markets Reality Check: Cannes, Sundance, TIFF, and AFM Under a Tighter Rulebook

The 2025 film markets delivered a consistent message across continents and calendars. Sundance tested demand. Cannes refined presales. TIFF amplified select winners. AFM clarified the new floor. Together, they confirmed that the industry is not rebounding to its old shape. It is stabilizing at a smaller, more disciplined scale. Fewer films will move. Fewer territories will matter. Fewer buyers will decide outcomes.

Distribution

Film Distribution Reset: Genre Wins, Big Acquisitions, Sparse Deals, and New Frontiers

September 24, 2025 FilmTake Comments Off on Film Distribution Reset: Genre Wins, Big Acquisitions, Sparse Deals, and New Frontiers

Let’s be blunt: TIFF 50’s low deal count and headline grabs tell the same story: the old model of acquisition excess no longer exists. But that doesn’t mean distribution is dead; it means it’s being refined. The more brutal, quieter truth is this: many films failed to get deals, not because they weren’t good, but because the margins, windows, and risk calculus no longer justify speculative purchasing.

Distribution

TIFF 2025 at Halfway Mark: Slow Negotiations, Genre Plays, New Distributors, and Market Jitters

September 10, 2025 FilmTake Comments Off on TIFF 2025 at Halfway Mark: Slow Negotiations, Genre Plays, New Distributors, and Market Jitters

Well into its second week, TIFF 2025 is shaping up less as a buying frenzy and more as a barometer for where the independent business is heading. Deal volume remains lean, but the festival has already produced a $15 million bidding war for a Midnight Madness horror and a seven-figure North American deal for Gus Van Sant’s “Dead Man’s Wire.”

Distribution

TIFF 50 Sees First Big Buy: Obsession Fetches $15M as Horror Fuels Market Momentum

September 8, 2025 FilmTake Comments Off on TIFF 50 Sees First Big Buy: Obsession Fetches $15M as Horror Fuels Market Momentum

As TIFF celebrates its 50th anniversary, the festival spotlights what might be its most resilient genre amid a fractured marketplace: horror. With shrinking screen counts, compressed Pay-1/Pay-2 deals, and younger ticket buyers pulling away from theaters en masse, horror remains a rare safe-haven—cheap to produce, reliably engaging, and buoyed by fervent word-of-mouth among young theater-goers.

Distribution

TIFF Turns 50 as Buyers Weigh Rising Costs Against Shrinking Streaming Fees

September 6, 2025 FilmTake Comments Off on TIFF Turns 50 as Buyers Weigh Rising Costs Against Shrinking Streaming Fees

Toronto’s 50th anniversary edition arrives with independent distributors weighing risk against opportunity. Theatrical remains a tightrope, Pay-1 and Pay-2 license fees are under pressure, and negotiations are slower across the calendar. Yet a sturdier acquisitions slate, a pair of well-capitalized newcomers, and a crop of commercially minded titles suggest TIFF could regain some of its old deal energy.