Intervju med Laird om dromjobbet

Laird Adamson to the right

Hello Laird.
So you are Head of International Sales at Magnolia Pictures, a well known independent film distribution company in NYC. A dream position for many. How did you get to where you are today?
I actually had a fairly normal career trajectory for film in New York. I started as an unpaid intern, working for Merchant Ivory Productions (During post-production on Jefferson in Paris) and at Universal back when they still had a development office in New York. Then I went on to work at Miramax, in the international division, which is where I figured out that this was the part of the industry I really enjoyed. Despite that, I still continued to work in production, most significantly at Killer Films, then got back into international distribution. Sticking with it and the people I’ve met along the way are really what have been most important to my moving from one job to the next.

I’m sure that all the films you sell are great, but how do you sell a movie that you don't really like yourself? Does it happen?
I’ve been fortunate, but that is always going to happen at some point. In those situations, you really have to focus on what the project has going for it, what got someone else so passionate to make the film – or focus on the market aspects, why it will work, where the value is for it.

Is International Film Sales as glamorous at it sounds?
Not at all. It’s a lot of wonderful destinations, bur when you get there all you really see are hotel rooms and offices. You travel so much, you just want to get home as soon as possible. You can’t complain too much though. The people who work in the international film sector are really fantastic so it is fun to see them from market to market. They become real friends.

Name one of your favorite films and your favorite film to have worked on?
”City of God” is one of my recent favorite films, also “There Will Be Blood”. I’ve really enjoyed working on “Cocaine Cowboys” because it was the first film we took international rights on that we did not produce or finance ourselves.

And finally, what advise would you give to someone that wants to get in to film sales?
I think it’s best to just jump right in. Find out what international sales division are out there and try to work for them, beit paid position or unpaid internship to get in the door. Also, go to the big festivals and offer to help out those companies there. They always need help at the markets and it’s about getting in the door and showing them you can take on the work.


Thanks you for your time,
MT & AL