Indie Distributors Say the Record Summer Box Office Is a Recovery, Not
Summary
Speaking at San Sebastian's Creative Investors' Conference, execs from Neon, Sumerian Pictures and Pastel called the summer numbers encouraging but pointed to Cannes, not the box office alone, as the real test of the specialty market's health
Executives from several U.S. independent distributors and producers struck a cautiously optimistic tone on the opening day of San Sebastian's fifth Creative Investors' Conference, co-organized with CAA Media Finance, according to Variety. Neon's head of distribution Elissa Federoff called the record-breaking summer box office "a recovery" and "a phenomenal result," and said that rather than measuring the industry against pre-COVID levels, it should "set ourselves within the norm and see where we can go from here." She also pointed to Neon's own run of seven consecutive Cannes Palme d'Or wins, including this year's winner Fjord, as evidence the "global landscape" is "more important today than ever before." Pastel Pictures' Adele Romanski said she is now thinking "a lot differently" about taking directors' debut and second features to Cannes and the international market, calling it where the company is "actually seeing opportunity in terms of theatrical and support and financing." Rob Williams, president of Sumerian Pictures, which launched operations in mid-2025 and made a high-profile splash earlier this year acquiring Josephine out of Sundance, said the company's roots in Sumerian Records position it to capitalize on films with music ties, pointing to its debut release Mile End Kicks, starring Barbie Ferreira as a young music journalist. Josephine, he said, "might not have music ties, but was just a great film that we thought we could support and create an audience around." The panel was moderated by Paul Getto of Animo Strategies. The conference continues through the week with sessions featuring Killer Films' Christine Vachon, Goodfellas' Vincent Maraval and RT Features' Rodrigo Teixeira.