“You’ve got to walk the walk,” says Rupert Preston of why it’s taken him a beat to talk about his UK production company Sunrise Films that runs as a separate but complementary entity to his UK-Ireland distribution company Vertigo Releasing since 2016.
Sunrise now has two feature films under its belt and at least two more aiming for production next year - George Amponsah’s crime thriller Gassed Up debuted at the BFI London Film Festival while Philip Barantini’s Accused launched on Netflix last month and Preston is satisfied the company is hitting its stride.
The inspiration came from the late Nik Powell, who had been both distributor and producer since the 1980s.
“Nik said to me, ‘Distributors make the best producers, because they’re thinking about who’s actually going to see the film in the end,” recalls Preston.
Preston runs Sunrise with Nigel Williams, who is chairman of Vertigo as well as UK sales outfit Protagonist Pictures. Sunrise is “primarily production-based” says Preston but will also handle sales and distribution outside of the UK and Ireland, on films the company has made.
“Our business model is not to strictly be a producer who just earns their producer fee as it’s incredibly tough to turn that into a proper business,” notes Preston. Instead, the aim is “to be flexible and innovative to get films made” and to try to “maintain positions across the exploitation of the film.”
Although established as a separate business entity, the connections with Vertigo run deep. Vertigo’s 15-strong team make up the entirety of the Sunrise staff, including Preston, Vertigo’s head of acquisitions and business development Ed Caffrey, and newly hired head of US and international distribution Andrew Nerger. The trio will be at next month’s American Film Market, aiming to sell Gassed Up to international markets.
That film is the “perfect scenario” for the Sunrise model, says Preston. Amazon Prime Video pre-bought UK distribution rights as the cornerstone financing of the film with Vertigo handling a UK-Ireland theatrical rollout from February 9, 2024 on “hundreds of screens”. Outside of the UK, Sunrise holds all international rights.
Preston acknowledges such neat deals won’t always be possible. “There will be more traditional models where we take the producing fees out then look to maintain some of the rights,” says the exec.
He believes there are strategic benefits to having two companies, instead of running production activity through Vertigo. “Previously things could get a bit fuzzy round the edges. Now we’re all super-focused and see what is and isn’t working [in separate areas of the business].”
Wide range
Sunrise had planned to shoot two films in 2020, before the Covid-19 pandemic put many productions on hold and Preston focused on Vertigo’s UK-Ireland distribution business. He has now adjusted the distributor’s strategy to account for the tough theatrical market for independent films.
“Over the last three years we’ve made a conscious decision not to just be driven by traditional theatrical releasing,” says Preston. “We still do those; but we just do a wide range of other types of films – straight to digital, and library re-releases.”
Gassed Up was one of seven Vertigo films at LFF, alongside animated awards contender The Peasants and UK indie Hoard. That breadth of genre will apply to both Vertigo and films produced by Sunrise, says Preston. Instead of only doing one type of film, the goal is to find the right outlet for each title. “It’s fun to mix things up.”
While he won’t be drawn on exact figures, he says Vertigo’s increased activity is possible because “the prices react to what the marketplace is telling us. The market is tough.”
Sunrise is gearing up to shoot at least two more films in 2024. First up will be No Place Like Kill, the directorial debut of London-based editor Matt Newman, who has edited Nicolas Winding Refn films including Drive. Preston describes it as “in the mould of The Long Good Friday meets Get Carter”. Sunrise is out to cast, with a spring 2024 shoot pencilled in.
Caffrey and Preston will produce Romulus, the new film from Vivarium director Lorcan Finnegan. Adapted by Enemy writer Javier Gullon from sci-fi novel Man Plus, Romulus centres on an astronaut grappling with his role in a 21st-century space race.
Also on the slate is First World War drama United We Stand, written and directed by Fisherman’s Friends’ Nick Moorcroft and Meg Leonard, also targeting a spring 2024 shoot.
Preston is confident his Sunrise production activity won’t draw him away from Vertigo’s distribution staple. “It’s just not to be constrained by the UK. It’s a big, digital world – you can’t just be constrained to this one island. You need to break outside of that.”
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