Latin American super-producer Daniel Dreifuss was in his father’s hometown of Montevideo this week to speak to the Ventana Sur film market about how to craft an awards season campaign.
It’s clear why the market would want to host Dreifuss as he’s a qualified authority on the subject, having backed Oscar-nominated fare such as Pablo Larraín’s 2012 feature “No” and last year’s four-time Academy Award-winner “All Quiet on the Western Front.”
During his discussion, the hitmaker talked about far more than how to earn plaudits, however, explaining that if the initial goal of a project is to win awards, chances are that the honors will never come.
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Below, we highlight five takeaways from a one-on-one conversation between Dreifuss and Variety and his enlightening masterclass at Ventana Sur.
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First and Foremost, A Creative Producer
Dreifuss is the kind of producer who likes to be involved in a project as early as possible. He’s a creative producer who will escort a film through screenwriting, markets and workshops, development, production, distribution and, after the film has premiered, an awards season run. He will also work hard to help finance a project, although he admits that’s probably his least favorite part of the process.
“I realize that I’ve got a very good job. For me, it always felt normal, but I have come to realize it’s quite particular. What I think I do best is find stories that other people don’t see. I find connections that may not be obvious to others. When I’m working on a project, my focus is 99% on the creative process. I only do the financial part out of necessity. I don’t enjoy looking for money, so if anyone out there likes to earn and find money, please come say hello to me after the talk,” he joked, eliciting laughter from the Ventana Sur audience.
“I’m not the person from Argentina to ask for money from the government of Argentina or the person from Uruguay who is going to get the federal aid,” he explained to Variety, “But, I think it can contribute to making the process better I have a creative capacity.”
Story Above All Else
“It always starts with the script for me,” Dreifuss insists. “I believe we tell stories because we want to talk about the personal, whether that be a historical fact, an anecdote from our family, a trip that inspired us… We tell stories that connect to us personally. That’s where we find themes that can connect to audiences globally, which creates visibility and then, occasionally, awards may come.”
Storytelling as the foundation of any project was a constant theme throughout Dreifuss’ talk and his conversation with Variety. More specifically, he explained that a producer must, or at least should, feel a close connection with the story their films propose to tell.
A Campaign Must be Personal
Dreifuss already had an impressive resume before he joined production on Edward Berger’s four-time Oscar-winning feature adaptation of “All Quiet on the Western Front,” which launched him into the stratosphere of Latin American producers and the upper echelon of producers working anywhere in the world.
“There was always a personal connection. My grandfather was born in 1899, and when he turned 18 in 1917, he went off to fight in WWI. He was wounded in his back and operated on in a horrible frontline hospital like the ones in the film, and he had to use a cane for the rest of his life. His cousin died on the frontline, like the kids in the movie, in the last few hours of the war.”
“I’m a product of that story, especially because, 20 years later, my grandfather and his entire family were sent to a concentration camp by the same country he fought for in WWI. Only three people survived there, my grandfather being one of them. He came straight from that camp to Montevideo, which is why my father was born here.”
Although the film is based on an iconic book written half a century before he was born, Dreifuss says that his family’s history meant the project always felt extremely personal.
Getting the Word Out
While having a personal connection to the story you’re trying to tell is crucial, according to Dreifuss, the fact of the matter is almost nobody in the crowd – in the general public or those few who vote on major awards – can know the story is personal without a bit of background information. Dreifuss says that’s why, even after a film has premiered, his work is far from finished.
“I think whenever you can establish a narrative that connects themes and creators, you find something that will engage people,” he told Variety, “But obviously, you have to share that connection with the audience, either through the press or, better yet, one-on-one, as you screen the film.”
According to Dreifuss, any producer looking to woo awards voters “must attend Q&As and public talks and be available to give your film visibility. You have to believe in its narrative and humanize the film. If a filmmaker spends 10 years trying to make a film, and they fought for their vision, you have to keep fighting for it as you go forward.”
Awards Can’t Be the Goal
Dreifuss’ Ventana Sur talk was pitched as a conversation about organizing an awards campaign, but the producer insisted that a project must never be launched with awards glory in mind.
“Something very important to me is that I don’t make films for awards,” he pointed out. “When people say things like, ‘I’ve got a project that will be great for the Oscars,’ I think that’s the wrong way to start a project.”
Whether or not Dreifuss makes his films for awards, the honors seem to find their way to his work in the end. Any aspiring filmmakers in the Montevideo crowd would be wise to consider his words, as few in the crowd have a track record on par with the accomplished producer.
