Insights from Romanian film industry: interview with Stefan Bradea (Bad Unicorn)

For the beginning of this year, we at Business Review wanted to delve into the profile of the Romanian cinema-goer. As recent public reports show, the Romanian market reached almost EUR 60 million in box-office. Amidst this exploration, we can’t overlook recent social media buzz surrounding Romanian movie launches with hate speech. Are these controversies shaping cinema-goers’ choices and perceptions? We tried to find out more, as we engaged with most known film distributors for unique insights into their tastes and preferences. 

For this series, Business Review talked with Stefan Bradea, co-founder of Bad Unicorn, an auteur film distribution company with 8-10 film releases per year. Among the films distributed are the acclaimed titles as Corpus Christi, Another Round, Close, Aftersun, Past Lives and the first local wide releases of anime – Belle and One Piece Film Red.

How would you describe the Romanian cinema market in terms of audience attendance and box office performance in 2023? Do you believe are going to be any changes in 2024?

According to our estimates based on cinemagia.ro (and the lack of official CNC data for 2023), the Romanian theatrical market has reached almost 60 mil EUR in box-office, overpassing the banner 2018/2019 pre-pandemic years. This increase has largely been driven by a flow of high grossing Romanian comedies and a steady number of US blockbusters. Unfortunately, data on audiences is incomplete, as a major distributor is not reporting audiences, but the box-office increase is largely justified by the price ticket increases and less on audience increase. Actually, we suspect that total audience in 2023 is about 20% less than 2019, but overballanced by the 20-25% ticket price hikes.

Are there any specific genres or types of films that have been particularly successful in Romania recently, and do you plan to capitalize on these trends in 2024?

Read more about

Insights from Romanian film industry: interview with Andreea Zidaru (Forum Film Romania)

read more

The box-office increase has largely been supported by the commercial Romanian comedies – Haita de acțiune, Miami Bici 2, Nuntă pe bani, Romina VTM, Ramon, plus the marketing phenomenin Barbieheimer. Secondary, we could see certain genres such as horror and animation being particularly attractive for young an family audiences. Lat but not least, 2023 has been the year of event cinema, with the Taylor Swift concert film making a splash in Romania as well.

As we are a distributor focused on quality films but also tapping into new genres, in 2024 we will try to further develop our animation/family slate, as well as Japanese anime event releases, while maitaining our curated slate of auteur driven films.

Can you share any insights into your distribution strategies for Romanian independent and art-house films in 2024 and how you plan to support the local film industry?

Concerning Romanian quality films, we will continue to monitor and assess potential on existing local project. As our main focus will continue to be foreign films, it is likely that we will pick and represent 1-2 Romanian productions.

What role do film festivals play in your distribution strategies for independent and art-house films, and are there any notable festivals or events in 2024 where audiences can expect to see a strong Romanian film presence?

We treat all notable local film festivals as significant release launchpads for our films. Transilvania IFF, Films de Cannes, French Film Festival, American Independent FF, Visuale Italiene and such are very important in starting our promo campaign and building efficient word-of-mouth. Whenever possible, these are great opportunities in attracting international talent towards our audience, virtual or real.

Are there any upcoming movie releases or major film events scheduled for 2024 that your company is particularly excited about and expects to have a significant impact on the Romanian cinema market?

In terms of box-office, we are excited to have a Christmas release of a big potential animation – Niko Beyond the Norther Lights, with the potential to reach over 50.000 admissions. Other that this, we hope that our independent american titles to be released this spring will be boosted by the Oscars nominations.

Is there still any place for public relations and media partnerships plays in your efforts to promote local films?

We do use certain key media partnerships in promotion of our films, while public relations supports us better convey the notoriety of our independent films to certain social groups.

How do you engage with film critics, bloggers, and influencers to generate positive reviews and discussions about Romanian films, and how does this impact the success of your distribution strategies?

We are in close contact with relevant film critics and try to offer talent access for interviews, as well as early access to our film previews. Unfortunately, though, film critics are a very reduced group and not so active on film premieres and new titles, but we are trying to maintain a constant dialogue. As for influencers, we constantly try to stay in touch and tackle a varied array of topics, depending on the films themes.

In an age of digital media, what online platforms and social media channels are you focusing on to connect with the younger, tech-savvy audience and raise awareness about films?

We are active on Facebook, Instagram and more recently on TikTok, using classic type of communication (posts, reels, paid ads), as well as using the existing SoMe trends. For larger film releases, we are also using YouTube campaigns with trailering.

How do you envision harnessing the power of film festivals, both local and international, to create a platform for showcasing and promoting Romanian independent and art-house films in 2024?

International festivals, as well as major local ones, can create a significant buzz around new titles, using their PR and their magnifying event effect. More so, through film festivals we can access an audience that is not necessarily active in movie-going but rather comes to such a condensed crème de la crème cinematic showcase.

At the same time, festivals allocate a much larger overall PR & promo budget, so de availability of film talent and special interviews/Q&A sessions that can be further used in the release campaign is much wider.

Regarding the local scene, an intersting phenomenon takes place, due to lack of proper arthouse venues. As we have under 10 such auteur cinemas througout the country, the pressure on their programme is much higher than normal, with many film festivals (especially specialised ones) taking weekends or weeks out the available scheduling time of such cinema venues and acting as indirect competitors for auteur film distributors.