EXCLUSIVE: Three of documentary’s top talents are teaming up to form Autlook Collective, a new company conceived as a European documentary hub with expertise in sales and production.
Stephanie Fuchs, CEO of Autlook Filmsales, Arianna Castoldi, former head of documentary at Mediawan Rights, and two-time Oscar-nominated producer Rémi Grellety, president of Warboys Films, are partnering on the forward-looking initiative that comes as many companies in the nonfiction space are scaling back.
“The team’s role is to bring the right partners to the table at the right moment,” notes a release, “with a preference for joining projects during development or production, while there is still time to shape the financing plan and prepare the film’s launch.” Production involvement will be considered on a film-by-film basis, separately from sales representation.
“In these specific times and challenging ones, I think we should try things a bit differently,” Grellety tells Deadline. “I think there’s value in working together — producer and sales agent — earlier on in the life of a project. So, that means that we will have the ability on… a curated amount of projects, to come in early, try and find production money for the team, whether through French or European production, but also relying on our network of potential partners around the world, including in North America. And then be a part of the production and work with the team to launch the film in the best way possible — festival strategy, sales, awards campaign.”
Autlook Filmsales is based in Vienna; Autlook Collective will be headquartered in Paris.
“It was important for us to be a majority French company and not just a sub office or a new division,” comments Fuchs. “The idea is it’s going to be under the Autlook umbrella, so it will be [an] expansion, but also in order to start co-producing… it makes a lot of sense to do this in [Paris],” where Grellety is based.
Castoldi will lead Autlook Collective’s sales activity, working closely with Fuchs and Autlook Filmsales.
“The idea is obviously to keep on doing what Autlook is doing, but also be a key partner for both universes,” Castoldi says. “Meaning that if a French documentary producer needs our help for European partners and for partners outside Europe, we can do that. But at the same time, if an American partner or someone else coming from other parts of the world needs some help [getting] into Europe and into France, we can do it as well because we all have that experience. We all have behind us at least 10, 15 years of market experience. We know the people, we have already our network… Putting all our strengths together in a moment where the market is a little bit tough, we believe it’s the solution. So, expertise and know-how all together.”
The Autlook Collective trio sees opportunity where others have shrunk to defensive positions.
“It is risky to expand in a time where people are scaling down,” Fuchs acknowledges. “But… I strongly believe there has always been an audience for documentaries and it’s not going to go away… I think we’re in a very unique position that we have the strong standing or we have a strong slate and I’d much rather build on that and bank on that and risk the expansion rather than believing in the, let’s say, more negative outlook.”
Adds Grellety, “Difficult times makes for daring choices. I think we have to be there. I think we all believe in documentaries… And even considering the state of the world, I think it’s even more important than ever.”
The timing of the Autlook Collective launch, in fact, may be auspicious. Documentaries have enjoyed a sudden resurgence at the box office, led by the Elizabeth Holmes-themed film You Can See Everything, which has earned $80 million in the U.S. and is just beginning to open internationally, making $1.4 million abroad to date. NAZA, the investigative documentary about Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza, has made $13.5 million internationally, against $1.3 million in the U.S. Everest: The Other Side, directed by Oscar winners Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, has collected $1 million internationally and another $2 million domestically in less than two weeks of theatrical release.
“When you see documentaries doing well at the box office again, and I feel like there is this new wind coming in, it’s also the perfect time [to launch],” notes Fuchs.
“I believe that the audience is there, but maybe was a little bit waiting for something different in terms of stories,” Castoldi observes. “I would say the audience today is very attentive to the political situation all over the world. And the fact that some documentaries like Musk or like NAZA are bringing people to theaters, it’s a proof that there is an interest in the world around [us]; that has always been the core of documentaries.”
Autlook Collective will be a presence at the IDFA Forum, which runs Sunday through Wednesday (November 15-18) in Amsterdam. The new company isn’t ready to announce initial projects, but… “We are in discussions,” Fuchs allows. “I think for us all, it’s very important to not rush it and to not just sign films for the sake of signing them and starting with a big slate. It’s really the creation that’s important. But we have been starting to have conversations and starting to talk to filmmakers and to partners to also put the word out a bit like, ‘Look, that’s what we’re planning.’ Again, having the option to get on board earlier on that we currently have been doing also opens a lot more conversations that can happen.”
Fuchs adds, “That’s why also IDFA’s going to be a very important moment for us to have these conversations in person when so many of, at least of the European doc community is going to be there.”
Grellety will not only be representing Autlook Collective at IDFA, but the latest Oscar-contending film on which he serves as a producer, Closure, from director Michał Marczak, is also screening in the festival. His Oscar nominations came for producing I Am Not Your Negro and Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat. The success of those documentaries speaks to a strong curatorial eye, an asset possessed by the three Autlook Collective principals.
“We will build on what we know how to do, what we’ve been doing, which is a curated approach,” Grellety says of Autlook Collective. “A curated approach in selecting projects, in being there with the project over time and not just for a short moment of time. It’s this approach that is the core of what we want to do.”
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