Producer Denise Robert had worked closely with Les Films Sevilla for many years.
Posted at 8:00 a.m.
All the feature films she has produced over the past 10 years, from reign of beauty (Denys Arcand) until Vanishing lines (Catherine Chabot and Miryam Bouchard) via 1:54 (Yan England), The Fall of the American Empire (Denys Arcand) Liar (Émile Gaudreault) and many others, were put on the market by the company whose theatrical film distribution sector ceased operations on Tuesday. For the first time in her career, the producer says she is “really worried”.
“We are all in shock,” she said in an interview with The Press. I find what is happening now deeply worrying. There are other distribution boxes in Quebec, but they are all underfunded. »
Seville Films was the only one strong enough to be able to organize a Quebec-wide film launch. There is a chronic lack of means in the field of distribution.
Denise Robert, producer
The producer salutes the dedication and kindness of the employees of Seville who, even having lost their jobs, ensure that things run smoothly in view of the upcoming release, on July 6, of Vanishing lines, comedy-drama whose grand premiere in Montreal took place Monday at the Théâtre Maisonneuve of Place des Arts. But what will happen next?
“Denys Arcand is going to shoot a new feature film in the fall,” she says. We will also start work on the film adaptation of sisters-in-law in a musical. However, the release of a film is prepared with a distributor well in advance, even before shooting begins. We need support, an infrastructure. »
Repatriate the catalog
Denise Robert is also concerned about the fate of the impressive catalog of Quebec works managed by Les Films Sevilla. It also calls on government authorities to repatriate the rights to all these films. “At all costs, it must stay in Quebec and make these works accessible to the public. that the rights of Decline of the American Empire owned by Americans makes no sense,” she said.
In this, it agrees with the position of the Quebec Association for Media Production (AQPM). “Only a Quebec company will be able to appreciate the richness of this catalog and promote its influence and marketing for the benefit of audiences and rights holders,” said Hélène Messier, President and CEO of the AQPM.
In this regard, remember that Seville Films is a subsidiary of Entertainment One, a company purchased in 2019 by the American giant Hasbro, specializing in toys and games, for a sum of approximately 4 billion dollars.
Denise Robert, producer of Barbarian invasions by Denys Arcand (to date the only Canadian winner of the Oscar for best international film), believes that substantial financial support is necessary to, on the one hand, recover the rich heritage catalog of Seville Films, and, on the other hand, on the other hand, showing new films by devoting the necessary means to them.
“Even if a new company were to arrive on the scene, I don’t see how it could free up such large budgets to do both. It is imperative that the state funds this sector of our industry properly, in line with our ambitions. We have to give ourselves the means to compete with the Americans, because it’s worth doing. The talent is there. The disappearance of Seville creates a very big void. And what will happen to other distributors? she asks.
Screens to reclaim
In other words, the producer has the feeling that the Quebec film industry is at a turning point and that it is heading straight for disaster if nothing is done. Hollywood films occupy a very large share of screens in Quebec.
We must reclaim our screens! It looks like part of the chain is breaking. The erosion we are witnessing worries me deeply and above all our cinema should not become one of platforms.
Denise Robert, producer
“Obviously the pandemic has hurt. It is precisely necessary to support the distribution companies with real means, the time to let the public find their way back to the cinemas. »
The talent of the creators allows him to maintain confidence. “But the government needs to move quickly. »
In the office of the Minister of Culture and Communications, Nathalie Roy, we are told that the situation is so worrying that the Minister has mandated the Société de développement des entreprises culturelle (SODEC) to monitor the situation very closely, in order to ensure that no Quebec film is affected by the closure of the theatrical distribution service of Seville Films.