Vancouver Based Cinecoup Works As Accelarator For Canadian Films

By: Talha Bhatti  |   May 23rd, 2013   |   Business, News, O Canada

Vancouver-based startup, Cinecoup, is playing a major role in the indie film sector of the Canadian city. The venture is described as a contest for indie filmmakers similar to popular singing competitions like American Idol. TechVibes has profiled the Canadian firm and says, “Over the course of the contest, the competing filmmakers are challenged to feature scenes with no dialogue, create marketing materials, hype their projects, and prove that their IP has legs beyond the film.” Cinecoup was created by its president J. Joly in 2009 after his work on the idea as part of dimeRocker.

 

Vancouver’s strong film-making heritage has helped contestants from the city perform well in the competition so far. In the Top 15 group, all six Vancouver based works made it to the next round. In the Top 10 a project called “Grade Nine,” is looking like the front runner.

 

J. Joly thinks his project will help the industry which is struggling. He states that, “It’s film business, it’s not film friends. But the film business in Canada isn’t really a business since it’s so subsidized and not based on performance. Just because Telefilm Canada gives you twenty thousand dollars to produce your script doesn’t make it a good script. If the subsidies went away, a lot of people would be out of jobs. They feel entitled that every year that their offices are paid for even though the last three times they did not deliver successful movies. I don’t know what you would call that. If you don’t make revenue and you only take subsidy, what is that?”

 

J.Joly also wants people to know that he supports all entrants to Cinecoup’s contest. He adds, “Just because we back away from it, that doesn’t mean it’s not a viable project. It just might take six months more. At no point do we want to say ‘If you’re in the top 60, you’re a shitty product. You just might need more development. Here’s an easy way to use a tech analogy: this is a film accelerator, and we are the angels behind it. We want to invest in film entrepreneurs.”

 

“The great thing about this fund is that it has a built-in audience, packaged films, and I believe at least one or more will be in Cineplex, because they’re very bullish about support. If you participate in Cinecoup, you’ll get your movie made. We’re not a destination. We’re a launchpad.”

 

Matt Granger, a film-maker, is just as excited about the future as Joly and say, “Back in the 80s, the Australian film industry were making these gritty Australian films, and these guys are making these outlandishly cool films because they were able to. We were never able to, we were caught up in this government crap, nobody could make a movie if they hadn’t made thirty thousand: this could be a revolution. This could get attention worldwide. This is the tip of a very, very large iceberg that J.’s started, and that’s been the biggest surprise, that there’s a group of people who are willing to put their money where their mouth is, and make it happen.”

 

Granger adds that, “If we could be a service industry to our own productions, that would be great. J’s a rebel; in his word, he’s disruptive. Win or lose, I applaud the guys doing this. There’s people out there who will support it.”

 

Joly and Cinecoup are getting ready for a second round and he tells upcoming participants to, “See what the successful people did the first time. The teams that did the best were the ones that had traditional members and a media person, right up front. There’s a few teams that didn’t think like entrepreneurs. Be authentic. Don’t try to be clever and cheeky and say it’s beneath you, don’t break your social contract with your audience. They want people who are passionate about what they’re doing. Look at the quality of what the audience pushes to the top.”

 
Source: TechVibes