Well then Nicsters... we have to collect $2,200 to be granted the pleasure, LOL! Um, let´s see... damn, all I´ve got on me is chump change! Some distribs put a price on interviews; Costs of junkets passed on to journalists
How much would you pay for 10 minutes with Brad Pitt?
As budget-pinched distribs in smaller territories look to defray the costs of junkets, they're increasingly pushing journos to dig into their own pockets to secure interview slots at film festivals.
The practice, which has grown more commonplace in recent years, came to the attention of Michael Moore during a Venice Q&A session with Variety VP and editorial director Peter Bart.
Norwegian journo Nils Gjerstad stunned Moore by revealing that he'd been asked to pay almost $3,000 for a one-on-one interview.
"If I find out a distributor of my film is asking for money from journalists, they'll never distribute any of my films again," said a visibly angry Moore.
Sales agents and distributors typically agree to share the costs of staging a film junket at a film fest. But some distribs in smaller territories are passing the costs on to journalists.
With Werner Herzog's "My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done," which played as the surprise film at this year's Venice fest, some journos were being asked to fork over $1,500 for a slot with star Michael Shannon.
For Herzog's "Bad Lieutenant," the price of an individual interview with stars Nicolas Cage and Eva Mendes was pegged at $2,200 each.
"This doesn't usually happen, but when you're dealing with some of the smaller territories such as in East Europe, those costs do get passed on," says one publicist. "It's the only way the economics work. It's a very expensive operation to bring in talent."
The practice, however, opens up a whole range of ethical dilemmas.
While journos for deep-pocketed TV and print outlets are usually able to find the coin for such interviews, freelance reporters and journos with smaller outlets struggle to get access.So some find inventive -- and sometimes ethics-blurring -- ways to cover the costs. In Croatia, for example, reporters have taken to finding sponsors, such as car manufacturers and banks, to front the cash. In return, the sponsors get free advertising.
"Instead of speaking to my head of marketing to buy an ad, these sponsors can now talk directly to me," says one Croatian reporter.
And even when distribs cover the costs for journos to attend a junket, the access can come with strings attached.
"Sometimes these distributors force you to interview all the actors in a film whether you want to or not," says Australian journalist David Stratton, who was initially told by the local Paramount office that it wouldn't be offering any time with Moore for "Capitalism: A Love Story" but then reversed itself two days before the fest and covered Stratton's costs of attending.
"The concern with distributors paying for interviews is they might try and put pressure on you. So far that hasn't happened to me but there's always the fear it might."
Stratton says the lines are blurring uncomfortably.
"The concern with distributors paying for interviews is they might try and put pressure on you. So far that hasn't happened to me, but there's always the fear it might."
While the trend has been a recurring gripe for some journos, an increasing number are reconciling themselves to it.
"We need these interviews and it's the only way to get them," said one journo on the Lido. "It's really a question of who we're getting. I'm not sure about $1,500 to interview Michael Shannon, but I'd happily pay $5,000 to get a slot with Brad Pitt."
