“Donna Langley trusts us”: Focus Features’ Peter Kujawski on Universal relationship, ‘Conclave’, ‘Nosferatu’ success, and why a film is never ‘content’

Peter Kujawski has been chairman of Focus Features for nine years, and in that time has bolstered its reputation as a global-facing specialty company of refined taste and rewarding relationships, working across multiple genres and budget levels.

The proudly theatrical-first company can operate as the full studio on a feature or North American distributor, or collaborate with Universal Filmed Entertainment Group (UFEG) sibling Universal Pictures International when it acquires international or worldwide rights.

Kujawski, or Kujo as he is affectionately known in the industry, argues that “the communal experience becomes part of the movie”. The ardent proponent of cinema-going and his team will have enjoyed the $180m-plus worldwide box office of Nosferatu, which currently ranks as Focus’s second highest-grossing global release of all time (after Downton Abbey’s $195m in 2019. Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale will open on September 12.)

Robert Eggers’ vampire reimagining joins a storied history of Focus releases that have tapped the zeitgeist or delivered at the box office, such as Promising Young Woman, Darkest Hour, the Downton Abbey films, BlacKkKlansman and recent best adapted screenplay Oscar winner Conclave. The Vatican thriller was one of a host of awards season success stories that Focus played a significant role in bringing to the big screen, the others being best picture winner Anora and The Brutalist starring best actor winner Adrien Brody.

On the eve of CinemaCon, which runs in Las Vegas from March 31 to April 3, Kujawski, who served as managing director of Universal Pictures International Productions until that company merged with Focus in 2016, talks to Screen International about forging strong ties with the world’s leading talent, the benefits of working within UFEG, and what he would like to see exhibitors do next.

Kujo, firstly can you explain what is and what is not a Focus Features film?

A Focus film is never “content”, which I consider the most insidious word in the media business these days. Content to me implies that it is servicing the pipes. What defines a Focus film is very broad, but the one unifying characteristic is that it is a specific filmmaker’s vision that has to be unique on either an emotional, intellectual or aesthetic level, and we do all we can to get that vision out into the world as broadly as possible.

What is the case for theatrical?

The whole technical experience of a movie theatre is undeniably a better way to watch a movie than even the best home set-up. But the important thing is the people. A movie only exists in reality in the connection between the images and sounds coming from the screen and the processing of those images and sounds in a viewer’s mind.

The communal experience becomes a part of the movie. The first time we saw Conclave was in a small room with Focus executives and I saw [many] great scenes. It wasn’t until seeing the film with an audience for the first time at Telluride that I tuned into the full level of delight, the messiness of the characters and the audience roaring and applauding when Isabella [Rossellini] does her little curtsy at the end of her speech.

What do first-time film­makers who work with Focus need from you?

They need the people who are in it with them to build a framework they can trust, so they can do their thing and not feel we’re trying to turn it into our thing and control them. We focus on being there with them to understand what they want to achieve, and then locking in that framework so we can help them achieve that. We had an awesome experience making [Sundance 2023 selection] A Thousand And One with AV Rockwell, who had made incredible shorts. We saw Sean Wang’s Dìdi at Sundance [2024] and he and I had long conversations and I insisted we would be a part of the process and that his vibe of handcrafted, familial filmmaking would continue into the campaign.

And returning filmmakers?

It’s not that different. We’ve had great luck on repeat business. We’ve worked with Rob Eggers on every film he’s made. We saw The Witch at Sundance [in 2015], loved it, and we acquired the international rights while A24 was acquiring domestic. We work with A24 a lot that way. We did the international on The Lighthouse, then we made The Northman with New Regency, then made Nosferatu alone. You see it with Wes [Anderson] and our partnership with Indian Paintbrush and Steven Rales. Sometimes they are going to insist we go a different direction, and we will do that. Sometimes a filmmaker will get on board with an idea we have. The more you can engage in an honest conversation where it’s not always saying yes to everything but is building something together, the more they want to come back.

Do you give final cut to the filmmakers?

Yes, in the world of studio business affairs some filmmakers have final cut in the deal and some do not. There’s never been a “director’s cut” version of any Focus movie that’s been released. Every film we do is the final cut, because we want to help the filmmakers execute the best version of their movie and get it out into the world.

Focus provides equity financing and finishing funds. How do you gauge the measure of commitment?

I get to work for Donna Langley [chairman, NBCUniversal Entertainment and Studios], who allows us to operate our business in a way that uses the full infrastructure of UFEG. There is not a hard budget cap for Focus, nor is there a mandate whereby we must never do a particular kind of film. To get involved in something, we have to love it; we ask ourselves, “Can this be great?” and then, “How can we make it responsibly?”

Sometimes we buy the whole world on a movie, sometimes we’re making it as a studio and developing from scratch, sometimes we’re just acquiring international rights on a film and doing that at the same time a domestic partner is picking up the rights. Donna is the biggest champion of the most mainstream filmmakers and shares my fandom of someone like Goran Stolevski [You Won’t Be Alone, Of An Age, Housekeeping For Beginners], whose first movie was a Macedonian-­language, poetic meditation on the human condition. She loves all that as much as I do.

When Focus buys worldwide rights or international rights, is it accurate to say the film is branded as a Focus release and your partners at Universal Pictures International distribute for you outside North America?

That’s right. Within UFEG there is Universal, Focus and DreamWorks Animation. We’re responsible for the creative voice of the Focus slate, for the P&L of the titles that sit on the Focus slate, whether they’re worldwide releases or international or domestic only. There is no gap between us and Universal Pictures International — Veronika [Kwan Vandenberg, president] and Niels [Swinkels, EVP and MD] and Julian [Noble, president international marketing] and the awesome team there. It’s like that great line in The Substance: “You are one.” They are deeply embedded to every part of our process. We find our domestic release date in partnership with the international team to make sure the film has a good worldwide rollout. Any script we’re reading and taking seriously, we are sharing with them. We share marketing materials and campaign materials that we like for domestic to make sure they will work internationally.

How does Focus split the box office with UPI? Do you pay a fee?

We are one. There’s no separation. There’s no transactional fee between Focus and UPI. Ultimately our P&L responsibility at Focus is built around our internal budget and strategic slate. We are responsible for the total financial performance of all the movies we do on a worldwide basis. At the same time, Veronika and Niels have their feed into the overall UFEG budget and experience. We listen to what they need for their markets and they hear what we need for our creative slate. We cannot do what we do without their support, and we’re additive to their process.

Sometimes you’ll be in a situation where you’ll need to pull the trigger quickly. Do you have the sole greenlight, or do you have to confer with Donna?

It’s not as spelled out as that. I’m joined at the hip with Donna on all decisions we’re making. I never present something to her without going through our process. If we’re on the ground at Sundance, say, the team will watch stuff, discuss it and make sure it fits our strategic agenda and is with a filmmaker that we believe in. Donna trusts us to make the right call, and I want her thought partnership and buy-in. There’s no better mentor and guide to help you build a great slate in the modern world of movie-making.

So you have greenlight at Focus and the process works smoothly because you are in lockstep with Donna?

Donna has always been supportive of our greenlight process.

Focus was involved in different ways on a number of this year’s Oscar winners. How did you get involved with each of them?

We can touch the whole process from many angles and had a great season. We had Conclave for domestic because by the time we entered into a partnership on that film, Glen Basner [FilmNation founder and CEO] and his team and Steven Rales had sold the international rights to independent territory distributors. We also had Anora, which we acquired years ago for international rights off a pitch by Sean Baker. I don’t think there was a script. We’d done the international on Red Rocket in partnership with A24 and loved working with Sean, so we wanted to repeat that. Neon did the domestic rights and we love them [Film­Nation was a producer, co-financier and sales company on Conclave, and was the studio, financier and worldwide sales agent on Anora].

Years ago, we acquired The Brutalist for all of international [from Protagonist Pictures] when it was a different version of the cast. Our international deal ballasted the financiers of that film to actually greenlight it. They wanted to hold on to the domestic rights until later in the process and we were happy with that. By the time they were ready to show the film domestically, we had a full slate. We were happy to see A24 come on and partner on that movie.

How do you approach the challenging US distribution market?

It is ever more challenged. We have to love something and feel like there’s a responsible way to get involved. Increasingly, sadly, that does mean we see things that we love but may be challenged in terms of finding a cut-through into the theatrical landscape. We are a theatrical company, period. We have to be responsive to the thing that drives that imperative. You need the big idea at the centre of it that the audience can understand quickly and be motivated to get out of the house to engage with. We only raise our hand when we’re ready to commit ourselves mind, body and soul.

Who are your major competitors as buyers?

We compete with Netflix as much as we compete with Warner Bros, Searchlight, A24, Neon or IFC and SPC for certain things. We compete with Tobis in Germany, or any international independents who are putting together their offers for things that we love for a specific inter­national scenario.

What’s the split between Focus acquisitions and productions?

It’s a bell curve and it’s a few [cases], not a tonne, where we watch the finished film and acquire either for the world or domestic only. The vast majority of what we do sits in the heart of the bell curve, which is in the world of the filmmakers that we tend to love and who tend to self-­generate.

They work with their agencies to build the package and that comes to us largely formed, and sometimes we then take that on and make it as the studio, and sometimes we do a negative pick-up for that deal. For The Holdovers, there was a buyers screening at Toronto [2023] where we bought the movie. The other end of it is Nosferatu. We were the studio on that, we worked with Rob from script stage. Same thing with TÁR. We paid Todd [Field] to write a script, he turned in a first draft, it was an outright masterpiece, and we made that movie.

Are you the studio on Robert Eggers’ Werwulf?

Yes. When we were releasing Nosferatu, we were talking to Rob about a new idea. The script showed up in my inbox, I cancelled my meetings and read it, and two hours later I called Rob and told him it was another masterpiece and we would figure out how to make this movie.

Are you the studio on Black Bag?

Yes, we control it outright and there’s no other financial partner. Steven [Soderbergh] sent it into us largely packaged with an awesome script [by David Koepp] and Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett in the cast. We committed to finance the movie.

The budget is reportedly $60m. Is that accurate?

It’s a little overstated, but it was a big swing.

The major US cinema chains have pledged to invest $2.2bn in upgrades. What is the one thing you would most like to see addressed?

A lot of great work has been done upgrading seats and projection systems. The biggest thing is focusing on the service aspect of the theatre-­going experience. That means investing in employees to ensure efficient turnaround so theatre auditoriums remain clean and polished, and having staff connect with movie-lovers in a positive way — you want it to feel like a mom-and-pop experience between the local audience and the theatre.

You’re releasing films throughout the year, and some are awards contenders. Do you look at something as a potential awards film when you’re getting on board?

I don’t think for one second about awards when considering a movie. It’s purely about the filmmaker and what we think that story can do in the world. The reality is if you’re doing that [process] well, then awards often come. Many of the best movies made this year were in the awards conversation, and many were not. The award circuit is its own beast and is a meaningful part of the experience for those involved.

Candidly, the totality of what the awards race has become these days — and you felt a new crescendo this year — makes me anxious. I feel it’s not necessarily on the whole a net positive for the movie business, although it is a net positive for many of the movies involved. The primacy of awards season has been shaped by the perspective of a content mindset: you have people who chase a movie because they think it has awards potential so they can put notches on their scorecard as a company. I think that’s the wrong motivation. If it becomes the motivating factor for individual artists and companies, then a lot of times you’re setting yourself up for a degree of cynicism and disappointment over things that maybe happen or don’t happen that are beside the point of what a great movie is out there to do in the world.

What other concerns do you have about the business?

I do worry in a world where we’ve all fractured our own psyches. Every industry is dealing with this. We live in a short attention span economy where the only thing that matters is the rapid-fire dopamine hit of whatever is in front of you. It’s our obligation as storytellers to create a forum and sense of urgency and priority around engaging with things in a complete way.

Talk about older audiences and how to reach the younger audiences.

The older audience has mostly transitioned to being content to watch things at home. However, there is the exception to every rule, and if you give them the right thing they will still come out in a really big way. We felt that with Conclave, and every time we mention Downton Abbey the audience is there in a huge way. That’s an audience we want to remain dedicated to and provide films for, while recognising that is it ever going to be at the heights it was for that audience? Maybe not.

At the same time, a great thing is happening with younger audiences and a lot of companies have dedicated themselves to this audience. Letterboxd is curating a younger audience that is voraciously devouring classic cinema and training themselves to love greatness. We were surprised at how young the Conclave audience skewed and how many people turned up to that in a real way. There’s things you can do [to engage the young audience], but the biggest thing you can do is let them start whatever conversation they’re going to start on that movie and then enter their conversation. Don’t try to tell them what the conversation is. When you see some of the memes that started to form around Conclave and Mean Girls, you can get involved with that.

What is coming up this year for Focus?

We have Wes Anderson with his brilliant, hysterical, globe-trotting The Phoenician Scheme. We’ve got Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke’s new movie Honey Don’t! with Margaret Qualley, Chris Evans and Aubrey Plaza. Yorgos Lanthimos is working with Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons again on Bugonia, opening in November. We’ve got Chloé Zhao cutting Hamnet right now with Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley, which is going to be special. And Daniel Day-Lewis emerged from retirement with Anemone, something he wrote with his son Ronan, who is making his first movie. It’s spectacular. We’re ecstatic about the year ahead and feel it’s what we’ve spent the past nine years building towards — a slate that looks like this and can look like this into the future.

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