Point of view of a sales agent : Géraldine Bryant (The Bureau Sales)

Since 2009, sisters production companies Le Bureau (FR) and The Bureau (UK) have widen their activities to the international sales through The Bureau Sales. The Bureau Sales now handles more than 600 titles, including Celluloid Dreams and Rezo Films library, from prestigious directors. Benefiting from a strong expertise, positioning and presence at major international film markets, The Bureau Sales also recently moved on to selling in-house produced or co-produced films.

What does MIFC mean to you?

The principal activity of The Bureau Sales is the international sale of catalog films, so it is important for us to be present at MIFC, and to meet with privileged partners, both distributors and cinematheques, who allow us to exploit this catalog but also laboratories that allow us to make it exploitable and exportable.

What does the classic film represent in the catalog of The Bureau Sales?

We have a catalog of about 600 titles of which more than half date before 2000.This represents more than 50% of our sales.

What is The Bureau Sales' strategy on this particular niche?

Seven years ago, we started with the observation that catalog films were not very well represented internationally, so we decided to specialize in the distribution of these films abroad. Many producers followed us and it turned out that there was a real opportunity in this niche. The multiplication of viewing platforms and the digitization / restoration of films have given a second life to heritage films.

How important are these films to the international market?

It is important to be able to rediscover for the new generations the great films that have marked our era, but it is also important to have easy access to it. The digitization of the films has made it possible to give importance to these films, as they are now accessible on all media and beyond the borders of the countries.