Our International Sales Agent (Isa) of the Day coverage is back again for this year's Cannes Film Festival. We will feature successful, upcoming, innovative and trailblazing agents from around the world, and cover the latest trends in sales and distribution. Beyond the numbers and deals, this segment will also share inspirational and unique stories of how these individuals have evolved and paved their way in the industry, and what they envision for the new waves in global cinema.
Pamela Leu recently started Be For Films, which is making its debut at Cannes this year. This is exciting news because it's the first and only company dedicated to film sales in Belgium, and there are a number of very talented directors there who need the assistance to share their films with the world. Be For Films features high quality art house films that include documentaries and features. Pamela explains more about her company and what she is selling at the Cannes Film Festival.
How did Be For Films start?
I have a master's degree in communication, and I started working in film sales after school. I was previously working Films Distribution for eleven years, a sales company based in France. I started with festivals, and then I went into TV sales for the whole catalog; I worked with rights for all of it. Running my company was the next step in my career, and I started Be For Films on my own.
This is the first film sales company in Belgium. Maybe some producers tried to do sales, but for a Belgium company that's only focused on sales, this is the first one. The closest sales companies are in France and then there is Fortissimo in the Netherlands.
Wbi and Flanders Image were very happy and supportive when they learned about my wish to run this company in Brussels. They are now proposing Belgium films and documentaries that really need sales agents.
There are many young directors coming from the French and Flemish parts of Belgium. They're making nice thrillers, and also many great TV series for TV. This is another good reason for me to be there.
Why are you in film sales?
This business is my passion. I love to travel and share this passion with buyers. I like attending festivals to see how audiences respond to these films. It's really amazing how people can react. For example, with Femen, it was interesting to see how the audience. They were moved and impressed by this important story. This is really important for me to see.
Please share more about your lineup for Cannes.
Femen is a Swiss documentary that got an award at the Nyon Film Festival. It's about a movement that started six years ago with a few girls in a town in the Ukraine. They decided to go against what's happening to women: staying in the kitchen, and not being able to do what they want. They also stood up against what's happening to animals and nature. These women had to leave their country, and most of them are now staying in France, Switzerland and Germany. They're still fighting, and spreading this movement in Europe. They have goals to go worldwide as well.
The Treatment is a Flemish film. It's a psychological thriller by Hans Herbots, and I was very happy to get the international rights for this so I could bring it to Cannes. I think this film will have a great life, in terms of sales and and festivals. It's adapted from the book The Treatment written by Mo Hayder. The Enlish Times said it's one of the ten darkest films ever written in the UK. Hayder's books are bestsellers and have been sold worldwide.
We also have a contemporary film called The Easy Way Out by Brice Cauvin. It's a French production, and some of it was shot in Belgium. This is full of legendary actors including Agnes Jaoui, Laurent Lafitte, Benjamin Biolay and Marie-Christine Barrault.
Cannes Film Festival Lineup:
The Treatment
The Easy Way Out
I Am Femen
Recycling Lily
More About Be For Films:
Be for Films is an independent sales company based in Brussels and Paris. We aim to bring on the international market place up to 6 - 8 new feature films / documentaries per year and establish strong and long-lasting business relationships with producers and talents. The company will be officially launched during Cannes Film Festival 2014.
Pamela Leu recently started Be For Films, which is making its debut at Cannes this year. This is exciting news because it's the first and only company dedicated to film sales in Belgium, and there are a number of very talented directors there who need the assistance to share their films with the world. Be For Films features high quality art house films that include documentaries and features. Pamela explains more about her company and what she is selling at the Cannes Film Festival.
How did Be For Films start?
I have a master's degree in communication, and I started working in film sales after school. I was previously working Films Distribution for eleven years, a sales company based in France. I started with festivals, and then I went into TV sales for the whole catalog; I worked with rights for all of it. Running my company was the next step in my career, and I started Be For Films on my own.
This is the first film sales company in Belgium. Maybe some producers tried to do sales, but for a Belgium company that's only focused on sales, this is the first one. The closest sales companies are in France and then there is Fortissimo in the Netherlands.
Wbi and Flanders Image were very happy and supportive when they learned about my wish to run this company in Brussels. They are now proposing Belgium films and documentaries that really need sales agents.
There are many young directors coming from the French and Flemish parts of Belgium. They're making nice thrillers, and also many great TV series for TV. This is another good reason for me to be there.
Why are you in film sales?
This business is my passion. I love to travel and share this passion with buyers. I like attending festivals to see how audiences respond to these films. It's really amazing how people can react. For example, with Femen, it was interesting to see how the audience. They were moved and impressed by this important story. This is really important for me to see.
Please share more about your lineup for Cannes.
Femen is a Swiss documentary that got an award at the Nyon Film Festival. It's about a movement that started six years ago with a few girls in a town in the Ukraine. They decided to go against what's happening to women: staying in the kitchen, and not being able to do what they want. They also stood up against what's happening to animals and nature. These women had to leave their country, and most of them are now staying in France, Switzerland and Germany. They're still fighting, and spreading this movement in Europe. They have goals to go worldwide as well.
The Treatment is a Flemish film. It's a psychological thriller by Hans Herbots, and I was very happy to get the international rights for this so I could bring it to Cannes. I think this film will have a great life, in terms of sales and and festivals. It's adapted from the book The Treatment written by Mo Hayder. The Enlish Times said it's one of the ten darkest films ever written in the UK. Hayder's books are bestsellers and have been sold worldwide.
We also have a contemporary film called The Easy Way Out by Brice Cauvin. It's a French production, and some of it was shot in Belgium. This is full of legendary actors including Agnes Jaoui, Laurent Lafitte, Benjamin Biolay and Marie-Christine Barrault.
Cannes Film Festival Lineup:
The Treatment
The Easy Way Out
I Am Femen
Recycling Lily
More About Be For Films:
Be for Films is an independent sales company based in Brussels and Paris. We aim to bring on the international market place up to 6 - 8 new feature films / documentaries per year and establish strong and long-lasting business relationships with producers and talents. The company will be officially launched during Cannes Film Festival 2014.
- 5/16/2014
- by Erin Grover
- Sydney's Buzz
French sales agent heads to Belgium to set up new company. First slate includes Belgian Hans Herbots’ crime thriller The Treatment.
Long-time Films Distribution sales agent Pamela Leu has launched her own Brussels-based sales company, Be for Films.
Leu left Nicolas Brigaud-Robert and François Yon’s Paris-based Films Distribution on amicable terms last month.
The company will provide some initial back office support while Leu rolls out her first independent slate at Cannes.
“After 11 years of collaboration with Films Distribution, running a company and creating Be for Films was the obvious step to achieve my own dreams and desires for doing business in the film industry,” Leu told ScreenDaily.
Be for Films is the only fully-fledged sales company based within Belgian borders, although state-backed organisations like Wallonie Bruxelles Image and Flanders Image do a lot of promotional work for local productions.
“My first goal is to support local French and Flemish-speaking productions and bring news talent to the...
Long-time Films Distribution sales agent Pamela Leu has launched her own Brussels-based sales company, Be for Films.
Leu left Nicolas Brigaud-Robert and François Yon’s Paris-based Films Distribution on amicable terms last month.
The company will provide some initial back office support while Leu rolls out her first independent slate at Cannes.
“After 11 years of collaboration with Films Distribution, running a company and creating Be for Films was the obvious step to achieve my own dreams and desires for doing business in the film industry,” Leu told ScreenDaily.
Be for Films is the only fully-fledged sales company based within Belgian borders, although state-backed organisations like Wallonie Bruxelles Image and Flanders Image do a lot of promotional work for local productions.
“My first goal is to support local French and Flemish-speaking productions and bring news talent to the...
- 4/30/2014
- ScreenDaily
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