The Pool Films Launches With Digital District, Victorine Studios

As France’s role as a hub for international production continues to gain momentum, a new breed of international sales company, The Pool Films, is making its debut in the fall festival circuit with a one-stop-shop model incorporating financing, co-production, post production and filming location as part of its services.

Based in Paris, The Pool Films is being launched by international sales veteran Gilles Sousa and producer Tim Belda, with the backing of Digital District Group – the VFX house behind Netflix’s “Under Paris” and “Lupin,” among others — and the Victorine Studios. The latter is a Hollywood-style centenary venue in the French Riviera, in Nice, which has hosted many iconic films, including François Truffaut’s “Day for Night,” Marcel Carné’s “Children of Paradise” and Jacques Tati’s “My Uncle.”

Sousa, who co-founded Pulsar Content where he headed international sales following a long tenure at Bac Films, knows the festival and market circuit inside out. He’s forged close relationships with directors such as Paolo Virzì, overseeing titles including “Like Crazy” and “The Leisure Seeker,” and has worked on auteur-driven movies which premiered at Cannes, such as Joséphine Japy’s “The Wonderers,” Alice Douard’s “Love Letters” and Céline Sallette’s “Niki,” alongside elevated genre fare such as “The Deep House” by Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo, which sold to Blumhouse for the U.S. and Universal for international territories. Sousa also handled “Mads” by David Moreau which sold to 28 territories including English-speaking markets with Shudder/IFC.

Belda, on the other hand, brings a background in European co-productions and has collaborated with acclaimed directors such like Kike Maíllo, Santiago Mitre and Abel Ferrara. Having lived a number years in New York, Belda has managed cross-border financing models that connect investors, public funds and private partners.

Acquired by last year by David Danesi‘s Digital District Group (a leading VFX studio with offices in Paris, Brussels and Mumbai), the Victorine Studios is a historic production site located in Nice – only 16 miles from Cannes — which has hosted the shoots of classics including “Day for Night,” “Children of Paradise,” and more recently the Amazon Prime action film “Head of States” starring Idris Elba and John Cena.

In an interview with Variety, Sousa said the idea for launching a sales company with the involvement of Digital District Group stemmed from having successfully collaborated with the banner on a few projects. One of them is “The Deep House” which Pulsar was able to sell to Blumhouse and Universal in the thick of the pandemic after Digital District Group created a promo.

“‘The Deep House’ was the first French genre film acquired by Blumhouse,” says Sousa, who points out the “conditions were quite extreme and complicated because the filming of ‘The Deep House’ had been paused due to COVID and we had so few images to show to buyers.” But Pulsar still had to pre-sell the film because “there was an investment risk.” “So we quickly got in touch with Digital District, which was responsible for the special effects and post-production on the film, to create a promo that we presented at the first virtual market during COVID, which was the AFM in 2020, and it got the ball rolling,” he says.

Sousa said that while international sales sector hasn’t traditionally worked closely with VFX studios in the past, “it now makes perfect sense to collaborate at a very early stage in order to trigger some interest from buyers in a complicated market, particularly for pre-sales.” The executive most recently teamed with Digital District on “Mads.”

“Ultimately, our mission is to connect ambitious projects with the right global partners and to design strategies that work creatively and commercially,” Sousa says.

Belda says the idea behind the “turnkey” model is to “attract international productions with a package of tax incentives, financing opportunities that exist in Europe, with VFX, sales and a filming location.”

The alliance with Digital District allows projects at Pool Films to tap into France’s tax rebate for international co-production which represents 40% of local expenses for movies with VFX.

“The tax rebate can bring budgets significantly down, and we can also propose VFX services at a competitive rate,” says Belda.

Danesi, who has committed to investing €37 million in the Victorine Studios over the next six years, said, “By combining Victorine’s heritage, Digital District’s technical strength and a clear sales focus, The Pool Films is set up to support producers who want their stories to reach audiences worldwide.”

Pool Films’ name was inspired by Jacques Deray’s “The Swimming Pool” which shot at the Victorine Studios in 1969, as well as by the company’s model which will aggregate a string of indie French producers, who will be able to collaborate on select projects. The new banner will introduce its first slate to buyers at upcoming markets.