Led by Naomi Despres and Michèle Marshall, the Los Angeles, Singapore and London-based company is committed to championing auteur-driven projects in the sub-$10m bracket
At a time when much of the market is running scared from drama, Los Angeles, Singapore and London-based independent film financier Desmar remains committed to championing auteur-driven projects in the sub-$10m bracket.
“We don’t have a genre focus, but we’ve done a number of dramas. We love dramas. No retreating from dramas for us,” says Los Angeles-based co-founder Naomi Despres. “We love auteur filmmakers – that’s where the great voices live. We’re eager to swim in that water, support those filmmakers and be in that space.”
One current example is Marie Kreutzer’s Cannes Competition title Gentle Monster, which they boarded as a co-financier after taking part in last year’s Cannes Investors Circle showcase, at which the project won the $22,500 ArteKino Prize. IPR.VC is also a financier on the film.
Their meeting with Kreutzer began with the Austrian filmmaker spilling some water, which they took to be a good luck sign. “It’s the first time we did the Investors Circle – it’s a lovely way to get connected to the filmmaker and the projects,” says Despres, with Desmar taking part again this year. “[The filmmaking team] sent us the script right afterwards. We read it and thought, ‘We have to do this one.’”
Further dramas the company has co-financed include Mike Leigh’s untitled next project, Babak Jalali’s upcoming A Town In Nova Scotia, Philippa Lowthorpe’s H Is For Hawk, Kei Ishikawa’s A Pale View Of Hills, Jan Komasa’s Good Boy and Paul Andrew Williams’ Dragonfly.
“We are looking to broaden our slate to include other kinds of films,” adds Despres. “We have some comedies we are gearing up for, and we’re doing a project with Temple Hill, which is more of a romantic thriller. The emphasis is on excellent screenplays and directors that we believe in.”
“And, of course, the numbers need to work as well,” says Singapore-based co-founder Michèle Marshall. The pair conduct their own internal assessments on risk, but, says Despres, a “gut feeling” is often enough to stretch to a higher risk threshold. “We don’t have a strict formula,” she adds.
The company’s biggest single film investment to date has been $1m (they decline to reveal which project). Backing comes from investments of high-net-worth individuals and some personal funds. All projects the company has backed since its launch in 2023 have been in the sub-$10m bracket. “It’s not to say we wouldn’t do something higher than that – there have definitely been things we considered in the higher budget range – but those [sub-$10m] projects have been the ones we’ve fallen in love with,” says Despres.
The pair have been friends since they met at Princeton University in the US while doing undergraduate degrees. American Despres stayed in the US and became a producer, co-founding Artina Films in 2005 with Robert Salerno, for which her credits include 2014’s Kill The Messenger and 2018 Sundance premiere Lizzie.
Chinese Austrian Marshall worked for global advertising agencies including Grey and McCann, with periods living in Switzerland and the UK. She set up a traditional inn in Japan, before basing herself full-time in Singapore.
Over the years, the pair talked about finding a film project on which to collaborate, with Caroline Ingvarsson’s low-budget BFI London Film Festival 2023 premiere Unmoored the first project they produced together under Desmar. It inspired the duo to form their own film fund.
Moving forward
Many of their relationships in the European industry grew out of connections Despres had built during her time at Artina Films or through Unmoored, which Marshall co-wrote. They became involved in Komasa’s Good Boy, produced out of the UK by Recorded Picture Company, because its cinematographer Michal Dymek had worked on Unmoored, and backed A Pale View Of Hills through Unmoored’s Polish producer partner Lava Films.
Key partners in the UK include BBC Film, Film4 and Protagonist Pictures. The financier is expanding its reach, with projects coming together across Asia and the US, and it may consider expanding the team. Desmar is currently a tight-knit trio, completed by Yasmin Asif, the London-based production and development executive.
“It’s something we are considering, but [keeping low overheads] has been critical to date to be able to literally put dollars on screens,” says Marshall. “We are starting to burst at the seams a little bit.”
Desmar also backs development. “The projects we are developing are things we are also going to produce,” says Despres. “But that can be a very long road.”
The aim is to shoot one to two films a year, produced through the company, while continuing to invest in three or four projects a year. The production slate includes Harry Macqueen’s next project, which will be shot in Japan. “For things we produce, our investment may be higher,” notes Despres.
Their focus has been on working with established filmmakers, but that might soon evolve. “There are a couple of projects that we are strongly considering right now with first-time filmmakers,” says Despres. “That is exciting to us, [but] the bar is very high and we have to really believe in those filmmakers.”
Championing female filmmakers is in the company’s DNA, with both projects hailing from female writer/directors. Collaborations with female producers include Johanna Scherz on Gentle Monster, Naïma Abed, Émilie Georges and Jennifer Monks on A Town In Nova Scotia, and Georgina Lowe on Mike Leigh’s project. “All these women are incredible, I would trust them with my life,” says Despres.
It is preferable for the funder to join a project as early as possible, but not essential. “We have found projects that come to us very last minute don’t always work out,” says Marshall. “It’s not to say we won’t join it later on, but we do like being part of the earlier process.”
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