FILM START UP AIMS TO BRING WORLD CINEMA TO SCOTTISH SCREENS
Two Glasgow-based entrepreneurs are looking to bring world cinema to Scotland and the wider UK, after buying the rights to two critically acclaimed international films in their first distribution deals.
After securing an initial seed investment, Graham Fulton and Jen Davies set up Conic earlier this year, spotting a gap in the market in Scotland for an independent first-run film distribution company.
They previously spent more than two decades between them at Glasgow film company Park Circus, representing classic and new films around the world.
Conic’s first acquisition, Utama, is Bolivia’s entry for next year’s Oscars and had its UK premiere at London Film Festival this week (8th of October). Telling the story of a Quechuan couple fighting against an unusually long drought, it will also be screened at the Belfast Film Festival later this month before going on limited release at cinemas around the country.
The company’s second film, Leonor Will Never Die – a Filipino drama by first-time female director Martika Ramirez Escobar – has won awards at the Sundance and Toronto film festivals. The movie is a love letter to the country’s cinematic heritage and is about a filmmaker who falls into a coma, becoming the hero in her own unfinished screenplay.
Graham Fulton, co-founder of Conic, said: “The Scottish film industry is booming in terms of production and studio space, but there isn’t as much happening on the sales and distribution side.
What we’ve set up with Conic is a missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle, a first-run distributor bringing new films to screens across the country. There is a wealth of talent in Scotland and we’re excited to be building a team in Glasgow.”
Jen Davies, co-founder of Conic, commented: “Our first films both have the qualities we look for in a movie – incredibly strong storytelling, a creative vision from the filmmakers, and something innovative or different. We are very excited to be bringing them to the UK and Ireland and opening them up to new audiences.
We’re already looking at other titles and are committed to supporting amazing Scottish films too – providing directors with another avenue to get their work out there and on screens across the country.”
