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Manufacturing proximity through film remakes: Remake rights representatives and the case of local-language comedy remakes

  • Miguel Fernández Labayen EMAIL logo and Ana Martín Morán
From the journal Communications

Abstract

This article analyzes the industrial and cultural dynamics of transnational film remakes, focusing on the recent rise of remake rights representatives and the production of comedy remakes for local-language markets. Through the use of in-depth interviews with remake rights representatives and the analysis of primary and secondary sources, we scrutinize the strategies of these players in mediating the production processes of remaking foreign popular films into local-language hits. The article takes on two tasks: First, it dissects the work of the different agents at play in buying and selling remake rights and examines their business models and tactics; second, it looks at the generic contents that these agents are circulating through selected catalogs. In this context, comedy becomes a privileged interface to link diverse national markets and manufacture an ideal of proximity, whereby foreign popular comedies – unknown to local audiences – are remade with a local flavor and presented as ‘new’ national hits.

Acknowledgments

The authors have written this article in the context of the research project CSO2017-85290-P, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund. We would also like to thank David Castellanos (Cinema Republic), Mercedes Gamero (ATRESMEDIA), Guido Rud (FilmSharks), and Meg Thomson (Globalgate) for sharing their time and knowledge on film remakes with us.

References

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Tables

Table 1:

Remake rights representatives and IP distributors.

Company’s name

Year/Place of foundation

Type of business

Crazy Cow

2007 / Brussels

Distribution of TV & film, remake rights representative

Cinema Republic

2008 / Madrid

Remake rights representative and film production

FilmSharks Int’l

2003 (from 2008 in remake rights business) / Buenos Aires

Sales agent, remake rights representative, production

Eccho Remakes

2011 / Los Angeles

Remake rights representative

Globalgate Entertainment

2016 / Los Angeles

IP trade, production

Table 2:

Cinema Republic, 2017 catalog (source: Cinema Republic, 2017).

GENRES & CATEGORIES

NUMBER OF

FILMS

COUNTRY

YEARS

Comedy

6

Brazil (4)

Italy (1)

Spain (1)

2012, 2013, 2014, 2015

2013

2002

Comedy / Drama

1

Argentina

2012

Romantic comedy

1

Spain

2009

Buddy comedy

1

Mexico

2002

Family / Superhero

3

Denmark

2013, 2014, 2016

Children / Fantasy / Superhero

1

Italy

2014

TOTAL

13

Brazil (4)

Denmark (3)

Italy (2)

Spain (2)

Argentina (1)

Mexico (1)

2002–2016

Table 3:

Eccho Remakes, 2014 catalog (source: Eccho Remakes, 2014).

GENRES & CATEGORIES

NUMBER OF

FILMS

COUNTRY

YEARS

Comedy

11

Denmark (4)

Netherlands

Germany (2)

Italy

South Africa

Norway

Poland

2008, 2009, 2011, 2013

2013

2007, 2010

2007

2011

2010

2004

Romantic comedy

6

Chile

Italy

Belgium

Germany

Norway (2)

2010

2009

2007

2010

2003, 2005

Thriller

8

Netherlands (2)

Poland

Denmark (2)

Spain (2)

Russia

2008, 2009

2009

2008, 2009

2004, 2010

2012

Romantic thriller

1

Bulgaria

2011

Horror

3

Denmark

Norway

Spain

2007

2008

2007

Thriller / Horror

1

Spain

2010

TOTAL

30

Denmark (7)

Norway (4)

Spain (4)

Netherlands (3)

Germany (3)

Italy (2)

Poland (2)

Belgium (1)

Bulgaria (1)

Russia (1)

Chile (1)

South Africa (1)

2003–2013

Table 4:

FilmSharks, 2018 catalog (source: FilmSharks Int’l, 2018).

GENRES & CATEGORIES

NUMBER OF

FILMS

COUNTRY

YEARS

Comedy

9

Argentina (4)

Spain (2)

Italy 1

Argentina-Spain 1

Chile 1

2000, 2016 (2), 2017

2016, 2017

2017

2015

2016

Romantic comedy

1

Argentina

2004

Erotic comedy

3

Argentina

Brazil

Spain

2012

2010

2010

Fantastic comedy

1

Chile

2007

Dramatic comedy

3

Argentina

2007

2010

2011

Dramatic black comedy

1

Argentina

2008

Dramatic comedy Romance

1

Argentina

2014

Black comedy

1

Mexico

2011

Black comedy-social satire

1

Argentina

2005

Black comedy-thriller

1

Spain

2000

Social satire

1

Mexico

2013

Family social satire

1

Israel

2001

Action comedy

4

Mexico

Spain (2)

Colombia-Brazil

2011

2011, 2014

2010

Drama

1

Finland-Sweden

2009

Urban drama

1

Chile

2004

Revenge drama

2

Israel

Sweden

2007

2009

Sci-fi inspirational drama

1

Brazil

2010

Thriller

1

Argentina

2017

Action thriller

1

Germany

2010

Thriller-black comedy

1

Mexico

2007

TOTAL

36

Argentina (13)

Spain (6)

Mexico (4)

Chile (3)

Brazil (2)

Israel (2)

Italy (1)

Germany (1)

Sweden (1)

2000–2017

Argentina-Spain (1)

Colombia-Brazil (1)

Finland-Sweden (1)

Published Online: 2019-08-24
Published in Print: 2019-09-25

© 2019 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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