CSB has been working for months on an exciting project with film journalist Andrew Urban of Urbancinefile. We’re interviewing film and television practitioners about their business experiences.
Our aim is to develop a deeper understanding about the history of business decision-making in film and television and to share with our audience the wisdom from the accumulated mistakes, experiments and achievements of the contributors.
Jonathan Olsberg - biography
Jonathan Olsberg has worked in the film industry for 24 years, starting out in New York as an international sales agent, handling titles such as My Beautiful Laundrette, before distributing specialised films in the U.S. from directors like Godard, Verhoeven, Greenaway and Paul Cox. In 1989 Jonathan returned to London as Managing Director of international distributor and sales agent Glinwood Films (The Last Emperor). In 1992 Jonathan founded Olsberg|SPI, which has become one of the world’s leading screen industry strategic consultancies. SPI supplies specialist advice to public and private sector clients from the European Commission to the UK Film Council; from Telefilm Canada to the Australian Film Commission, and from the BBC to independent companies from Aberdeen to Auckland.
Jonathan is also a producer with his UK company, Dakota Films, where his latest production is Fade to Black, written by John Sayles, directed by Oliver Parker and starring Danny Huston, to be released in 2008. Jonathan’s first career was in finance, as a chartered accountant and then in merchant banking (Hill Samuel) in London and New York. This followed a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Columbia University in New York. He is also non-executive chairman of Moonstone International Screen Labs, a training scheme for writers and directors affiliated with Robert Redford’s Sundance Institute.
Audio download
Chapter 1 - Insights into financing and distribution - 13 minutes
- Olsberg SPI – specialising in screen industries, public & private sector, worldwide
- Clients include cities, eg Hong Kong and Birmingham, Australian agencies
- High level workshops helping delegates to improve their businesses
- Co-production tournament – product to help develop skills
- Valuing film libraries, or advising TV companies
- FAQ in Australia: how to best use government funding
- Hypothetical test for government agencies
- Is production the whole business or just part of it?
- Business training: 1) making the stuff, 2) the corporate aspect
Video downloads
Chapter 2 - Incentivising success and building businesses - 11 minutes
- Changes in screen industry in Australia – impact on businesses
- French system for film producers consistently rewards success - the Offset may or may not achieve that
- Offset is about getting it made, but marketplace success doesn’t feed back to the producer
- Need for strong vertically-integrated businesses – a challenge for public policy
- Challenge for businesses: to match creative strengths with business skills
- Hard to build value and create an exit strategy – must assess objectives
Video downloads
