Rising Interest Rates, a Fading Theatrical Movie Business and a Post-Strike Hangover: Breaking Down the Threats Facing the Cannes Market

variety.com:

Paul Schrader was about to start shooting “Oh, Canada,” his adaptation of Russell Banks’ novel about a troubled artist taking stock of his life, when the major actors union went on strike.

For a second, it looked like all that hard work, passion and planning might be for nothing — with performers on the picket lines and major studios holding out on their contract demands, it was hard to see how cameras would ever roll on the low-budget indie. “Everything shut down,” said Brian Beckmann, the CFO and COO of Arclight Films, which is selling international rights to the film. “We were in this position where we had spent all this money and secured all this talent and we weren’t sure we could move forward until the strikes were over.” Because it was made outside the studio system, “Oh, Canada” was able to get a union waiver and that’s a big part of the reason that it is one of the only U.S.

films shot during the strike to premiere at this year’s Cannes. Others weren’t as lucky, with one project after another abandoned or delayed indefinitely, a victim of an industry in turmoil.

And even though Hollywood’s labor issues have been resolved, it’s never been harder for the independent producers and financiers who flock to Cannes each year looking to make and then sell their movies.