Arthur Schweitzer
Cinevest Interactive is a sales agency for TV series, feature films, sports, and documentaries worldwide. Currently, the company is promoting films done by producer and director Tunde Aina "who have really emerged in Nigeria making films with beautiful scenes, beautiful storytelling, and great acting," said Arthur Schweitzer, Founder & President, Cinevest Interactive.
From Tunde Aina, the distributor is pushing "Underbelly" (83') which follows the story of two friends who travel from the west to the north in search of a better paying jobs to be able to buy tickets for a music festival. They get jobs but one of the friends gets into a love affair with his gangster bosses’ wife; and "Herdsmen" (84'), which tells the story of Khalifa, a retired assassin that must come out of hiding after his niece was kidnapped by a notorious bandit group headed by Zakari. This is part of a deadly battle of many generations between the Northern Herdsmen and the Farmers in the south. "We have not seen so much from Nigeria in the past, so this is a breakthrough. We're looking for the best films from anywhere in the world with good storytellers. That's important," he remarked.
Cinevest Interactive's Founder and President also stood out the series "Wine Outsiders" (5x30') where Felix Mendez takes audiences on a tour of five wine regions in Spain. Next season, Felix will visit the “Wine Outsiders” in France. "We're getting a lot of interest on this series, which first season has been filmed exclusively in Spain and next season will take place in France," commented Schweitzer.
Another important part of Cinevest catalogue is the music titles. "We also found very fine concerts, studio recorded, that are very well liked in Europe," said the executive. "Willie Nelson at Billy Bob’s Texas" is a special concert recorded in ideal studio Willie performs his most popular hits and "Charlie Daniels at Billy Bob’s Texas" is one of Charlie’s concert recorded a short time before his death in ideal studio like conditions Charlie and band performs his most popular songs.
CURRENT LANDSCAPE
In an industry more a more consolidated, Cinevest Interactive is working with a variety of non-exclusive streaming platforms, whether they be FAST channels, or independent screen. "Independent platforms emerged in different parts of the world and they are trying to compete as they go for non-exclusivity and we're seeing a lot of the AVOD model coming out and that's sustainably strong for streamers these days," he observed. "We're trying to be innovative in the way that we sell and the way that we market," he added.
Cinevest Interactive will be collaborating with other companies to raise its library. "We want to raise the number of titles we can each offer and go to our regional strengths in Latin America, Middle East. Western Europe, and also Eastern Europe," he completed.
By Romina Rodriguez and Karla Flores
