The Knowledge is a series of interviews with leading screen industry figures, conducted by experienced film journalist Andrew Urban and published via the CSB blog.
Richard Sheffield - biography
Richard has spent all but four years of his working life in the motion picture industry. He has worked for 20th Century Fox, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Greater Union Organisation and for eight years in the 1970s was United Artists General Manager for New Zealand and the South Pacific. In 1987, he was instrumental in setting up a Film Distribution division within the Becker Organisation, and also became involved in development and production.In 1995, Richard became Managing Director of Polygram Filmed Entertainment, drawing upon his experience to again set up a film distribution operation in Australia and New Zealand. The operation was very successful, resulting in double-digit annual percentage increases to bottom-line profits in each of the four years he headed the company.
Since the beginning of 2000, Richard has stayed involved with film through his own Entertainment Company, Polyphony Entertainment, a film and music company. With Polyphony, Richard consults to Hoyts Distribution on their film acquisitions. This involves reading and evaluating scripts and negotiating distribution agreements. In 2001, Richard executive -produced Bill Bennett’s The Nugget starring Eric Bana and in 2004, Oscar nominated Director Steve Pasvolsky’s first feature, Deck Dogz starring Tony Hawke. He is actively developing several feature projects. In addition to this, Polyphony is a boutique film distributor releasing around half a dozen films a year. Richard is also a director and co-owner of Ninth Dimension Home Entertainment, whichowns rights to in excess of three hundred feature films and television projects.
Chapter 1 - Different roles - 12 minutes
- Setting up the company
- Consulting to Hoyts on acquisitions
- Backstory: setting up Beckers distribution
- Drop Dead Fred & Four Weddings and a Funeral
- Importance of casting central role… and luck
- Price number crunching
Video downloads
Chapter 2 - Distribution: campaigns and platforms - 10 minutes
- Setting up Polygram Filmed Entertainment in Australia
- Budgeting the campaign, timing the release
- Instant word of mouth
- Relative returns from different platforms
Video downloads
Chapter 3 - Development, production, distribution - 10 minutes
- Leaving corporate life
- Polygram and Australian films
- Paperback Hero
- The journey from script to screen
- Running Polyphony in the current market
- A preference for production
Video downloads
