At the San Sebastian Film Festival's Creative Investors' Conference, American execs underlined the importance of the global landscape
There was some much overdue optimism on the first day of the Creative Investors’ Conference, co-organized by CAA Media Finance, in San Sebastian on Tuesday, as execs from an established U.S indie distributor and new market entrant both celebrated the record breaking figures from the summer box office.
“I think it’s a recovery and I think it’s a phenomenal result,” said Elissa Federoff, head of distribution at Neon. “Every year since the pandemic, we have seen growth, and it’s been amazing to watch. I think it’s also really important to reset our stage because, really, we’ve gone through a lot in the U.S. marketplace.”
Federoff argued that major changes in the people’s behaviour — such as rise of streaming, gaming and social platforms — was now proving to be an opportunity to help boost the box office, rather than simply the opposite.
“We’ve seen opportunities for new pathways during this point. We’ve seen the opportunity for the things that maybe we would say have set us back,” she said. “We’ve seen incredible things happen on social platforms, and normally we might say, “Oh, that’s detracting from our theatrical business.’ When in reality, we have seen some of our greatest films this year come from creators from YouTube, and that’s an incredible sensation.”
Federoff suggested that rather than looking at pre-COVID levels all the time, the industry should “set ourselves within the norm and see where we can go from here.”
Further enthusiasm came from Rob Williams, president of Sumerian Pictures, which started operations in mid 2025 and made a high-profile acquisition earlier this year with “Josephine.”