CEO Tamara Berkemo on Palisades Park and Dual Hollywood Strikes – The Hollywood Reporter

If you were to design a global sales agent in a lab, it would look a lot like Tamara Berkemo.

Born in Italy to Chilean parents and raised between Sweden and Rome before moving to the US to attend film school, the multilingual executive has been a force in the independent film scene since her first job, straight out of UCLA, at Mark Damon’s MDP Worldwide. Over the next 16 years, Berkimo spent time at MDP (later Media 8 Entertainment) and then at Foresight Unlimited, the production and sales group that Damon created in 2005. The slate she oversaw ranged from big-budget action films released at the studio, Like Peter Berg the only survivor And Balthasar Kormakur 2 guns, both Universal Pictures films that grossed $155 million and $132 million worldwide respectively; By Kevin Costner The upside of angerthe New Line version, which grossed $28 million worldwide; and Patty Jenkins’ low-budget true crime drama MonsterThe film, about serial killer Aileen Wuornos, won star Charlize Theron an Oscar and grossed more than $80 million, including about $65 million for Newmarket Films domestically.

“In addition to her sense of story, (Tamara’s) instinct for selling, acquisition, and marketing is (amazing),” Damon says. “She saw the right place for the film and exploited it to its full potential. Hundreds of people have worked with me during my 50-year career in production and distribution, and rarely have I had a CEO who shined so brilliantly in all aspects and phases of our business.”

In 2019, when Chicken Soup acquired Foresight for Screen Media, the distribution arm of Soul Entertainment, Berkimo took over as Executive Vice President at Screen, while still serving as President of Foresight.

Last year, when new media investment group Ashland Hill Media Finance launched its global sales arm, Palisades Park Pictures, it appointed Berkemo as CEO. Ashland, founded by Joe Simpson, Simon Williams and Jonathan Bruce in 2022, and backed by an alternative investment fund with assets under management of approximately $2.5 billion, has already invested more than $100 million in a slate of projects across all genres, including Phillip. Noice action thriller movie Quick CharlieStarring Pierce Brosnan. Horror reboot by Christoph Ganz Return to Silent Hill; And Rupert Sanders the crowa highly anticipated reimagining of the 1994 supernatural horror classic.

Palisades is also in the market for the rights. Last year, Berkimo signed an agreement with German company VIP Medienfonds to acquire all available rights to the Media 8 film library, including Monster, extreme anger, And features such as the actor Battle in Seattle With Theron, Channing Tatum, Woody Harrelson; And the Barbara Kopple action thriller the damage Starring Tatum, Anne Hathaway and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Finally, the VIP Library includes a mix of international and foreign rights to 14 films released between 2002 and 2013.

Berkimo’s first market as head of Palisades was in Cannes last year, but Berlin has been able to see the company achieve real success. Its EFM slate includes the romantic comedy from John Travolta and Katherine Heigl This is my business!Directed by Green book Writer Nick Vallelonga. Action thriller film by Neil Marshall Duchess With Colm Meaney; The long-running family film Distant magic treea modern-day adaptation of Enid Blyton’s classic children’s novel, written by BAFTA award-winning screenwriter Simon Farnaby (Wonka, Paddington 2) is the adaptation and Ben Gregor (Britannia) will direct.

“We have a mix of things,” Berkimo says. “The goal is to have two or three larger theatrical films a year, working with studios to release domestically if possible, a few films in the $20 million to $30 million range, maybe more genre-bending, but still with a strong cast (and) “A few of them are smaller and of higher quality. We don’t just want to make movies, we want to make good movies.”

THR I spoke with her about her career, the impact of the Hollywood strikes on business, and the Palisades strategy.

What was your first job at work?

I grew up in Europe and came to the United States to study at UCLA’s film school. After graduating, I interviewed everywhere and got a job at MDP, which was owned by Mark Damon at the time. This was in 2000. I was doing acquisitions and sales and I got promoted, and in media for 8 days, when we actually got some money, I moved on to doing more production. If you remember Monster, The upside of anger, running scared With Paul Walker. We’ve done a lot of good films. Media 8 has been a huge part of my life. Then Mark went out to start Foresight, and he asked me to come in and be a part of that. So we started Foresight in 2004. I was vice president of production. I moved from acquisitions and sales to production, but since we were a small company, I basically oversaw everything, doing production, overseeing domestic and international sales, theater and bookstore. I was eventually promoted to president and ran the company for 15 years. The model in Palisades Park Pictures actually looks similar to the Foresight model. We want to be part of the films early on, be part of the packaging, and do the theatrical deals. I feel like I watch the news every day and there’s a new big package sold to a streamer or studio. If you’re a freelancer, you have to get there early, you can’t wait for the packages to go out, you have to produce them, package them yourself, and find the financing for them.

With Ashland Hill behind you, I suppose funding isn’t the biggest issue.

Of course, it’s amazing to have them, because they fund the company and we can make films with them – that’s the goal. It’s nice to not always have to search for funds yourself. But we can implement projects separately, with third parties. with Distant magic treeAshland had a relationship with the producers and I came in and we worked out the numbers and committed to financing the film. We are securing the cast now. The director works on the pictures and puts the main crew in place. It’s a perfect example of the kind of thing we’ll do moving forward. It’s a bigger budget project and we think it can reach an audience of four quarters. With these big theatrical projects, it’s always a leap of faith, but if the script is strong enough, and if the producers are at a certain level, we’re ready to take the leap.

Is that the main goal with Palisades, to do theatrical films?

We have a mix of things. The goal is to have two or three larger theatrical films a year, working with studios to release them domestically if possible, and a few films in the $20 million to $30 million range, perhaps more of a genre, but with a strong cast, which probably isn’t necessary To expand domestically and can be a play in the international market, although international theater is clearly linked to local theatre. And a few smaller films – you know, quality films with great scripts and great filmmakers. From the first time I sat down with the Ashland Hill team, this has been our goal. We don’t just want to make movies, we want to make good movies.

You launched Palisades in Cannes last year, what has changed in the market since then?

Obviously you have two markets, domestic and international. I think the local market is not doing well in the independent space. Buyers don’t buy as much and don’t pay as much. It’s getting more difficult. During the coronavirus crisis, there was a huge rush to buy movies that did very well on streaming devices, but that business has actually declined. People are more careful now. I think this will change at some point. People still need movies. In the international market, I feel a real desire for theatrical films, for bigger films. So you really have to pay attention to the script and the director and what makes this project different from the other 10 projects that can make it stand out and turn into a play. Buyers are becoming more patient and more selective. For the sake of the right movie, they will come forward and go after him. But if they don’t find anything, it’s okay to sit and wait.

What impact will the end of the writers and actors strike have on available projects and packages?

People are still very selective. It started during COVID-19 when we had more time to think about what we really wanted to do. I feel like people still take their time and don’t rush things. This applies to talent as well as buyers, and basically everyone working in the industry right now.

You have a truly global background, growing up in Europe but with Latin American parents, and now working for over two decades in the US

Yes, I was born in Italy. My parents immigrated there from Chile. We moved to Sweden when I was a little kid, then back to Italy. I went to primary school in Rome, and then we returned to Sweden. Then back to Italy. Then I moved to the United States to study at university. So she bounced a lot.

You’ve spent most of your career working with Mark Damon, a true legend in independent filmmaking. What is the most important thing you learned from him?

Maybe flexibility. It is very flexible. Mark was an actor, and this was his dream. But he wasn’t a good enough actor. He thought, “If you can’t achieve your dreams, find a new one.” He has always been able to adapt easily, change his or the movie’s plans, and do whatever was needed. This is one of his great strengths and something I learned from him. Buyers will be interested in Mark’s ability to offer. His acting skills are on display when he “performs” his shows, and he can tear up when commanded. I’ve seen him go from not caring to buying a movie with a trailer alone. When I started working for Mark, one of the first things he did, before my first market, before every market, was make me pitch to him. He gave sugar-free feedback, which was nerve-wracking. But it quickly became a real duo, with Mark and I collaborating together, adding different textures and different elements to the story. I do the same thing with my team. I can feel their discomfort when they are put on the spot. But you can’t grow if you stay in your comfort zone.