“Cannes 2009: Year of the genre mash-up”
Get ready for the new buzz phrase: “Genre Mash-Up,” this per a Daily Variety analysis of Cannes 2009:
For the global film business, genre-busting may be the next big thing.
Both in the Cannes Competition and in the market, auteurs are mashing art house sensibilities with pulp fiction. It’s an attempt to hook film buyers mindful of shrinking theatrical prospects for both art house and nonstudio genre films.
Some examples:
As the Competition screenings near the halfway mark, festgoers have been treated to the sight of a doubting priest-turned-vampire in Park Chan-wook’s “Thirst”; Jacques Audiard’s social realism-meets-prison drama “A Prophet”; and Brillante Mendoza’s cop drama-cum-critique of Filipino society in “Kinatay.”
And then there are the art house directors who are changing their spots.
Lars von Trier has seamlessly switched from the stark experimentation of “Dogville” and “Manderlay” to psycho horror in “Antichrist”; while serious-minded auteur Ang Lee has gone all groovy with the comedy “Taking Woodstock.”
And what does this interest in genre mash-ups boil down to:
These shifts in approach and subject matter are partly a subtle survival strategy by filmmakers in an ever more picky market. In this market, movie buyers are slow to commit to anything that doesn’t have clear commercial potential.
“Look at the films that won in Berlin,” one veteran buyer said. “They are great movies but they are a hard sell to audiences. Today you need more than just a good name and great reviews. You need a commercial hook.”
“You need a commercial hook.” We’ve been focusing on that all year at GITS. In fact, we’ve had several posts about generating commercial story concepts and even genre bending like here, here, here, and here. So by reading this blog, you’ve saved yourself a trip to Cannes to discover that “you need a commercial hook.”
Next order of business: Generate a great story concept with a strong commercial hook, sell the script, and get the movie made, so you can go to Cannes — as a participant!