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US DISTRIBUTORS TALK ABOUT COL•COA
"My experience with COLCOA was wonderful - they handled our film THE CONCERT with great care and made the premiere a really memorable event. I'm happy to see such a great organization promoting French cinema both big and small here in the States, particularly with my long personal devotion to French film. Merci, COLCOA! We look forward to working with you again in the future."
Harvey Weinstein, Co-Chairman, The Weinstein Company
“It was a delight to have our French Spy Thriller FAREWELL be showcased at COLCOA this year and to win a special mention was an honor. It was also great to have FAREWELL participate in the High School Screening which grooms the American Youth to get used to the wonders of French cinema and since FAREWELL is based on a true life cold war event it was essentially a history lesson. COLCOA created positive buzz for the film prior to its summer release and help influence exhibitors to book the film in Los Angeles and New York. COLCOA is a must attend festival for current French cinema handpicked by a knowledgeable programmer so we can scout the current crop of French films for potential future acquisitions. The combination of an excellent venue, great sponsors, the support of the French Consulate and UniFrance, makes COLCOA a wonderful experience for acquisition executives and the general public alike! I really look forward to next year!”
Michael Kananack
Vice President of Acquisitions and Sales
NeoClassics Films
“As a niche DVD publisher entering theatrical distribution for the first time, COL.COA, was the ideal partner to debut our film HENRI-GEORGE CLOUZOT'S INFERNO in the US. The passion that Francois Truffart and his team put into the festival is evident, and it helped to create a real buzz and excitement a full three months before we theatrically debuted.”
Jeff Masino
CEO
Flicker Alley
“Los Angeles has grown so much in recent years in its embrace of local film festival programming and COLCOA is at the forefront of building these audiences. It is a leader in bringing exciting filmmakers to meet audiences’ expectations. It is a terrific place to launch a film for release, to discover emerging talent, to catch up on films.”
Sara Rose, Buyer
“COL•COA is a great event and very effectively serves two purposes for us - identifying films for acquisition and showcasing films we have already acquired. We look forward to our ongoing collaboration.”
William Schopf, President, Music Box Films
“What’s remarkable is how COL•COA has galvanized support of the otherwise nonplussed professional film community in Hollywood as well as reaching a passionate general public. These two divergent segments were united in their film appreciation and fed off each others enthusiasms as evidenced in the high level Q&A sessions for many selections. "
Richard Lorber, President & CEO, Lorber Films
“COL•COA is one of the « Must attend » event of the spring, and I do my best to never miss it. It offers a rare opportunity to see quality French films in Los Angeles over a week. We cover most of them with great focus, which is almost impossible to do at AFM, Cannes or TIFF. I also love the fact that we can measure the level of support and commitment the filmmakers show in supporting their own films --which is critical for releasing foreign language films in the US these days. Finally, we’re able to get a good sense of the reactions from American audiences to the films. We are pleased to say that we’ve made several offers on French films for US distribution following successful COL•COA screenings.”
Frederic Demey, Sr. VP Distribution, NeoClassics Films Ltd.
"It was very exciting to see the huge crowds that showed up to see French films at COL•COA. The festival is doing an incredible job at building a regular audience for French films in Los Angeles. It is not only popular commercial films but also more challenging art house titles. I was very happy to meet with so many directors and producers from France as well as people that share my love of French cinema."
Ryan Werner, VP Marketing & PR, IFC Films
"It was very important for us to have "Her Name is Sabine" show at COL•COA this year. Since the film never had a commercial release in L.A., this was the one opportunity for local audiences to see this beautiful film in a theatrical setting. On the other hand, the festival also proved to be the perfect setting for a sneak preview of our summer hit "The Grocer's Son", which opened theatrically a few months later to great success, thanks in part to the wonderful promotional work by COL•COA and the positive word of mouth of its audience. We look forward to much more future collaboration!"
Adley Gartenstein, President, Film Movement.
"COL•COA provides an invaluable service to the community; it's both an outlet to showcase some of the best new films from France as well as a marketplace for distributors. Thanks to the successful presentation of A SECRET at COL•COA 2008, we were able to create a real buzz in Hollywood a few months before its release in the U.S."
Marcus Hu, President, Strand Releasing
"We have found COL•COA to be a marvelous way to position important new French Films for Los Angeles and for the US market. COL•COA creates a wonderful film friendly atmosphere within the Los Angeles cultural scene and gives a great launch to our upcoming French releases."
Suzanne Fedak, Head Theatrical Distribution Koch Lorber Films
"I was very pleased with the presentation of "La Vie en Rose" at the 2007 COL•COA festival in Los Angeles. It was important for Picturehouse to make the premiere an "event" to showcase the film. COL•COA set the perfect tone, creating a celebratory atmosphere that was great to introduce the film, Olivier and Marion to the West Coast audience and critics. "La Vie en Rose” has now opened to tremendous reviews and box office in Los Angeles and COL•COA played an important role in our campaign. In addition, your team made the coordination of all the details very efficient and worked very well with our group at Picturehouse."
Bob Berney, Distributor
"It was our privilege to have Audrey Tautou's and Gad Elmaleh's PRICELESS featured in COL•COA festival. This wonderful annual event provides the perfect opportunity to reach the thriving French community and key industry professionals here in Los Angeles."
Samuel Goldwyn Jr., President, Samuel Goldwyn Films
"COL•COA put on a wonderful Los Angeles event for 'Paris je t'aime.' It was a good kick-off to a successful theatrical release. We would like to thank Francois Truffart and his entire staff for extending the invitation and for their generous hospitality."
Avi Lerner, Co-chair, First Look
"COL•COA is of course a great annual survey of contemporary French cinema for Los Angelenos but for distributors its a great venue to launch new releases as well as reconsider still available titles that we may have underappreciated initially. We'll look forward to working with COL•COA in the years to come."
Edward Arentz, Managing Director, Music Box Films
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