Viewpoints: sales strategies

Ildar Davlethanov
Commercial Director
PhoenixFilm
Russia

Can you tell us about your sales strategies?

PhoenixFilm is an independent production company, and we have established close business contacts on a high decision level with major television channels in Russia and the FSU, so our main concern is to cultivate these relationships and nourish them with new quality content, which we have been so far, quite successful. While remaining faithful to this basic business principal, we are also looking to develop new contacts among distribution companies and local channels, as the non-exclusive rights sector is generating a more and more substantial part of our budget revenue.

What countries are the most important for your sales?

As I said, the market that has brought the bulk of our revenue is that of the Baltic countries and the FSU, including Russia, of course. We've been enjoying close and stable relationships with the major players in this segment, and the central prospective of our development here is cultivating these relationships and establishing new partnerships among local companies that would be interested in repeat runs and non-exclusive rights. Speaking of non-CIS countries, our priorities are Eastern Europe and China.

What were your key deals with TV channels in 2007?

We work with a number of TV-channels in different countries that are going through different levels of economic development, and it's not possible to speak of any separate deal as the key one. Phoenix is an independent company, and every deal is important for us.

What countries will you target during MIPTV 2008? What TV channels will you target during MIPTV?

It is always rewarding to discover new markets and establish new relationships. There is a constant need for any production company to stay connected in order to be competitive. The television market is becoming more international, and the benefit of such an international communication platform as MIPTV, is the opportunity to keep up-to-date with industry demands. Of course, our primary target at MIPTV is to recognize and re-establish business opportunities with the existing partners. But it is also a chance to present our new catalogue and projects to a wide circle of potential partners all over the globe, and receive immediate feedback.

What are your new titles for MIPTV 2008? 

The catalogue of titles that we are offering on the European market is constantly renovated. This year we are presenting projects released during the end of 2007 and at the beginning of 2008, among them I'd like to mention "Territory of Fear", directed by Michael Weinberg, a taut, action packed four-episode thriller about a man confronting a cruel entertainment freak of the rich, who gather in a remote Siberian backwater forest for a paintball game that turns out to be a human safari; the adventure detective movie "Stealing from …", an FSB versus tycoon intrigue, with an intricate plot about financial fraud, money laundering and conspiracy, and also love, beautiful people and beautiful locations.