Richard Propper and Kirt Eftekhar

World Screen Weekly, October 4, 2007

O.S.I.

Earlier this year, independent distributors Ocule Films and Solid Entertainment announced plans to join forces under the banner of O.S.I. They took a joint stand at MIPTV and will be exhibiting together again at MIPCOM next week, but they are retaining their individual brand identities. “O.S.I. is going to be the umbrella name for the organization,” says Richard Propper, the president of Solid Entertainment. “We determined that these brands, Solid Entertainment and Ocule, actually have great value. Solid has been around for more than 13 years and Ocule has been around for nearly five. The buyers have come to know these individual brands. We did a lot of evaluation on this and it seemed like it would be foolish to just junk those for a new company name.”

For both executives, the joint venture was a natural evolution after working together on several projects over the years. They first met when Eftekhar—who is the managing director of Ocule Films—produced Porn Star: The Legend of Ron Jeremy, which Solid secured the first U.K. sale on. “Kirt and I just became friends,” says Propper. “Along the way we made some very good deals and it just grew from there. A lot of our goals, for the company and otherwise, are really in the same place. We both wanted to build our companies, we’ve accomplished that. We wanted to build a much larger company, we will accomplish that.”

Propper and Eftekhar stress that O.S.I.’s clients will benefit from each of their unique areas of expertise. Propper has a long history of selling series and one-hour specials to broadcasters worldwide. Eftekhar also comes to the table with broadcast sales experience, as well as knowledge of the theatrical documentary marketplace. “Nonfiction has become very popular in the theatrical world and that’s something that Ocule has a lot of experience in,” Eftekhar says. He cites as an example the feature Big Rig, for which he has negotiated a North American studio distribution deal that will be announced at MIPCOM. “On the international side,” Eftekhar continues, “by having Richard on board, we’ll be able to look at the large traditional broadcasters [internationally] as well as see if there are theatrical play [opportunities]. That’s a huge advantage for clients because everyone has theatrical aspirations. There are so many hidden gems that should be put into theaters. We’re able to do that. We have the relationships with the theaters to make that happen.”

Eftekhar stresses O.S.I.’s “non-fiction reach,” which runs the gamut from Solid’s Man Made, Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore? and Alaska’s Coolest Birds to Ocule’s The Art of Football, Wall Street Warriors and the catalogue of programming from Bodog Entertainment, which Ocule is representing outside of North America.

“The types of producers that contact us are unique,” Propper says. “We’re both established in this business, so we are the first call for many producers who are funding, developing, in post production or have completed films.”

Eftekhar adds: “The key word for me is service. We’re really able to look at a program or a feature from a 360-degree perspective. We’re dealing with a lot of independent clients. It’s really important for us that we are cutting-edge and make intelligent marketing choices in how we launch our programs. That’s what niche audiences are all about: It’s identifying where they are, who they are and how you reach them. With O.S.I., I think we’re going to be able to fully service large entities as well as individual filmmakers. We bring a lot of enthusiasm and experience to the table.”

For Propper, a 360-degree approach is crucial in this constantly changing landscape. “Online, broadcast, theatrical, DVD; we’re setting up a company that will really harness all these great distribution methods while keeping one foot in the traditional forms of distribution. The truth is, you need someone who understands the old methodology of distribution and who can grasp what is coming.”

—By Mansha Daswani