Remember when Lionsgate treated us horror fans like gold? One of the men behind the love was Producer Peter Block, who you can thank for the SAW franchise, THE DEVIL'S REJECTS, FINDO and a trio of upcoming horror films, THE MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN, REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA and THE BURROWERS. Now off on his own ventures, it was announced today that Block has launched A Bigger Boat, a film company that will produce the genre fare he oversaw as longtime prexy of acquisitions and co-productions at Lionsgate. You can read the details inside, along with a tease of his first two projects (*cough* John Carpenter).
The venture -- which takes its name from the classic line from "Jaws" -- sets course with a co-financing and distribution deal with Overture Films that covers North America and another with Alliance Films covering the U.K., Spain, Italy and Scandinavia, according to Variety.
The Overture and Alliance arrangements position Block to have at least 50% of the financing on genre films that will cost between $10 million and $25 million. Block will use those contracts as collateral to underwrite the film budgets and said the clout of his partners give the cushion to make more favorable deals in other territories.
Those partners will include GreeneStreet Films, whose principals, John Penotti and Tim Williams, will be involved in the A Bigger Boat slate as producers. They will also lend Block their business affairs, legal and accounting operations, and GreeneStreet Films Intl. prexy Amy Beecroft will be the sales agent for the films in territories not covered under the Alliance deal.
Block is in the formative stages on a slate that will likely include a John Carpenter-directed thriller and the E.L. Katz-scripted thriller DARK CORNERS. Block will begin by making two to three films per year and feels that the partnerships -- forged through relationships built during his eight-year Lionsgate stint -- allows A Bigger Boat to launch quickly without having to built a backroom infrastructure or chase bank credit lines that often aren't what they appear.
"I wanted to launch a company different than many I see that talk about how much money they raised but leave out the bank covenants that restrict drawing on it," Block said. Block described his output/financing arrangement with Overture as "something between a first look and a put deal," with a submission and approval process that ensures that Overture toppers Chris McGurk and Danny Rosett believe in the films as much as Block does. Covering 50% of the budget through Overture and Alliance makes the rest easier.
"I can bank those contracts and get the films financed and won't have to sell them right away at lower costs," Block said. GreeneStreet's Penotti worked with Block at Lionsgate on GreeneStreet films such as the John Polson-directed Russell Crowe starrer "Tenderness" and got good advice from Block on non-Lionsgate films like "In the Bedroom" and "Swimfan." Penotti had never heard of a venture contracting out another's backroom infrastructure but said the deal benefits both and puts GreeneStreet in the genre game.
"We're known for working with first-time directors and for material that isn't overtly commercial, and the films Peter has always been involved in have a more definable target audience that takes guesswork out of the P&A spend and ancillary estimates," Penotti said.
I wondered why Lionsgate had balls for two years and then pussied out after that. Now we know the truth. Peter was trying to get more good films out and everyone else at Lionsgate was cutting him off at the knees. Go Peter! And get us our fucking Poughkeepsie Tapes and Trick r' Treat if you could......
i agree. Block clearly made Lionsgate what they are. i will support Block's films. he has respect for us horror movie fans. LG sucks now. to fuck over MMT and Repo! (and i'm sure many more to come) is unforgivable.
I still think boycotting Saw V this year will show teach them a lesson! Let us make sure Saw V isn't even in the top 10 this year. Sure it is only one film, but it is at least a start. Make them realize that the fans don't appreciate it.
By the way Peter; now that you are out of Lionsgate, could you please give me the name and number of the person who changed the ending of The Descent. I'd like to have a word with that person..........
I agree. I'm not going to Saw, or anything else Lionsgate puts out. I like the fact he likes working with first-time directors that have fresh ideas that haven't been tried out.
brodie - I assume you are responing to my comment about the ending of The Descent. I have heard (and believe) that the ending was changed so it could set up a sequel. Then there’s some other story about test audiences not liking the original ending and crap like that. I don’t believe the test audience theory because if that were true then No Country For Old Men would have a better ending – along with several other movies I can think of. The folks at Lionsgate started to earn many fans and much respect when they released House of 1000 Corpes – a film that was shelved for a long time that no one else had the guts to release. Then they gave us Saw, The Devil’s Rejects, Hard Candy, Crash, and a bunch of other great and edgy films. And movie fans were thinking that Lionsgate was different from the rest of the sell-out studios out there – which for a while they were. Things started to get bad when they changed The Descent’s ending and have been bad since. You can read other’s comments on this and other sites and will see how displeased many people are with Lionsgate lately. I do realize that movies are also a business with a lot of money at stake. But the entertainment business is also based on its fans. So I guess what I’m saying is “don’t fix what ain’t broken”.
Ps. It’s not like I was losing sleep over that ending or anything. But since you asked…..
believe it or not, it was a test audience isssue. The abbreviated ending --- all 10 seconds or so --- tested much higher: audiences responded to what they had seen instead of questioned what they had seen. The decision was made with the support of the director, and wouldn't have been made otherwise, in order to get the best word-of-mouth. Glad you liked the other films too; check out Fido, Devil's Backbone, Cronos and Midnight Meat Train; i think you'll be happy. Sorry for the delay in responding.
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The venture -- which takes its name from the classic line from "Jaws" -- sets course with a co-financing and distribution deal with Overture Films that covers North America and another with Alliance Films covering the U.K., Spain, Italy and Scandinavia, according to Variety.
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