Gallic laffers get guffaws

Gaumont comedy 'Intouchables' had notched up an remarkable $116.4 mil within the French box office by 12 ,. 20.At 2008's Unifrance Paris Rendez-Vous, foreign entrepreneurs jeered their heads off watching Pathe's "Thank you for going to the Stays." But nobody considered buying it.That was then. Meanwhile, the world biz has experienced credit and Eurozone crises, entrepreneurs are becoming more risk-averse, arthouse auds happen to be have contracted -- as have TV sales and DVD areas over much around the world.InchGeneral, prices come in freefall since the economic meltdown in 2008, apart from Germany, Russia and China, where they've elevated,Inch states EuropaCorp worldwide sales mind Marie-Laure Montironi.Global Gallic B.O. walked from $549 million in 2008 to $457 million this past year and $442 million a year ago, Unifrance estimations.Knowing by these amounts, France's sales sector should practically maintain mourning, but that's not the problem whatsoever.Whatever their box office, Gallic sales agents' revenues on French film exports rose a muscular 26.1% this season to $225.2 million, the most effective result since French CNC film agency began tallying sales in 2004.Several factors have been in play.Once easily wiped off as local product, comedies are really prime export fare. Some say like auds like feel-good films in feel-bad occasions.Introduced by Dany Boon's "Nothing To Declare," Franois Ozon's "Potiche" and Jean Becker's "My Days With Margueritte," eight laffers, plus two dramedies, figure among France's finest-grossing exports (see chart).Since Boon's 2008 laffer "Stays" received an eyecatching $53.7 million within the B.O. outdoors France, Gallic comedies have attracted more customers, states Pathe Intl.'s co-intl. sales mind Muriel Sauzay.French dramedy "Intouchables," which received $116.4 million in France through 12 ,. 20, looks set to assist goose comedy sales.Repping combined revenues for sales agents of $15.7 million, Belgium and French-speaking Europe, where French comedy stars are huge, ranked together as French films' third greatest export territory this season, trailing only the U.S. and Germany.Frequently more middle-of-the-road than edgy dramas, comedies can also enjoy well on tv, a continuously-more valuable distributor concern, states Other Position prexy Olivier Albou.Other key areas also provide rallied."At Toronto as well as the AFM, Korea and japan were buying a little more in comparison to previous years," states Films Distribution partner Nicolas Brigaud-Robert."The U.S. companies are more dynamic when compared to a couple in the past,In . reviews Gaumont Worldwide mind Cecile Gaget. "New players Open Road and Film District, for instance, have revived industry. The Weinstein Co. and IFC remain very essential for European cinema."Thrillers and actioners now command "high costsInch in Russia, Sauzay adds.The occasions when movie revenues depended on theatrical have remaining. Genre films may hardly register on B.O. charts but pack good ancillary sales, Brigaud-Robert argues. "Particularly for foreign movies in several places that P&A is extremely high, ancillary is strong and flicks aren't cast-driven, cash is not created from theatrical any longer.InchInchInternational TV and DVD sales aren't that disastrous," adds Camille Neel, Le Pacte's worldwide sales mind. "We've been making good catalogue sales on films that labored better in the TV format than theaters."States Gaget: "Small-budget French genre films from emerging company company directors sell well should they have got a effective concept that's original enough (and) a great script -- which is easier if they're backed by producers getting a brief history.InchA completely new generation of French company company directors for instance Fred Cavaye ("Point Blank") and Frederic Jardin ("Sleep deprived Evening") are turning out cost-contained thrillers that, like genre, pack large ancillary potential."Industry has reduced for dark, intimate French dramas, whether there's a cast or else,In . Gaget states. "These films is only able to be employed in theaters, need top reviews and great festival exposure."Nonetheless, on art films generally, customers still buy films they love, which regularly leads to investing in an offer wars simply because they frequently love the identical films, states Pyramide leader Eric Lagesse.But, it's the bigger films have a tendency to punch the big sales amounts: Pathe's $64 million-allotted "Oceans" and $26 million "Declare" drove up agents' sales figures this season, states Sauzay.France's finest-grossing films of 2011 might use be two major worldwide movies, both French minority co-productions: "The Three Musketeers" and Studiocanal co-produced "Unknown," getting an overall total $133.millions of gross.Any $40 million-plus Gallic movie runs the risk of with different U.S. buy for recoupment along with its French backers needing to setup the big Stateside P&A costs.Techniques to sidestep over-reliance upon the U.S. cut different ways. Plus, lots of Gaul's finest films -- for instance, the $33.3 million "Would I Lie, However? 3" -- are juggernaut comedies that largely recoup from France.Also, companies are paring budgets and restricting exposure via co-production. "Budgets come down substantially in the last two to three years," one producer states."Oftentimes, we've handled to pre-finance films without any U.S. deal, most likely through pre-sales or worldwide co-productions," Sauzay adds, stating the $40.5 million toon pic "Why I Did not Eat My Father,Inch pre-funded worldwide with Italian and Chinese companies.Revenues is a factor, profits another. And nowadays everybody has one eye in the base line.RELATED LINKS: Distribs, exhibs flock to Paris Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com