New Kid on the (Distribution) Block: Mitropoulos Films & MJ Peckos

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What do the current critics' darling Ballast and the geriatric romantic-comedy Elsa & Fred have in common? More than you know. The former is enjoying a successful limited U.S. theatrical release, as did the latter a few months ago, opening in NYC at the fabled Paris theatre, the city's oldest continuously operating venue for foreign and specialty films. Both have come to theatres via the help and good work of a new distribution channel: MJ Peckos and her Mitropoulos Films.

"Here's a name I don't know," I thought to myself when I noticed Mitropoulos as distributor for Elsa & Fred. It was around this same time that various film distributors -- Picturehouse, Warner Independent, Tartan, ThinkFilm -- were either being shut down entirely or encountering such severe financial woes as to render them little more than useless. So the idea of any new distribution channel seemed encouraging.

It turns out that the woman -- MJ Peckos -- in charge of Mitropoulis Films (named for her husband, who's Greek) is no newcomer to film distribution. For ten years she was president of First Look Pictures; following that she ran Tartan for two years. "My father was in distribution at 20th Century Fox for 40 years. I was raised in the Boston area and my dad had that particular branch. Eventually he rose in the ranks and our family moved to Hollywood, where he managed distribution for Fox."

When we mention to MJ that nearly everything regarding distribution for independent and foreign films seems eventually to go by the wayside, she tends to agree. "I've seen this industry change -- a lot," she notes. "This is a very different time than it was several years ago. The playing field has changed. And I don't know whether it will ever return to the form it used to be."

Nonetheless, Peckos insists that there is room for small distributors who are savvy. "You just have to carve out your niche," she tells us. And what is her particular niche? "It's funny," she admits, "as I am doing a lot of different things at the moment -- including a number of 'service' deals. Like for Ballast."
We had heard that Lance Hammer (above) was doing his own distributing for his film, but Peckos explains that what Hammer has done is to put together a team headed by Steven Raphael and herself. "Then we hired some terrific publicists like Susan Norget & Marina Bailey, and we all are assisting Lance in getting Ballast out across the country. There is a great deal of interest in his film, and I have now booked the top 15 markets, including New York City, L.A., Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, Boston, DC, Detroit, St Louis, Atlanta, Seattle, with Dallas/Houston in the mix but not booked quite yet. There are even some small locations, too. I have requests from Hudson , NY ; Omaha , Salt Lake City , Nashville -- and we're definitely going to try to get dates in Mississippi and throughout the south."

We ask about the film that piqued our interest in Mitropoulis: Elsa & Fred. "That was also a 'service' deal," Peckos explains. "And I handled the marketing and release, right through to distribution. We had a specific strategy with this film because it had a very specific demographic. While many films need to do very well during their first week, with movies that skew 'older,' this is not the case. Seniors tend not to rush out during the first week. They wait for word of mouth. Consequently, everywhere that Elsa & Fred held over, it did well. But if a theatre kept it for only one week, it did not. This is the way the senior demographic reacts to going to a movie: There is never a sense of urgency, but over time business builds."

Peckos explains that the original distributor for Elsa & Fred was a Mexican company called Distrimax --sort of the Lionsgate of Mexico. "They wanted to get into US market and so primarily became involved in Latino DVD distribution, Peckos says. "Now they have actually bought films that cross over to an Anglo audience."
Coming up from Mitropoulis? A film called La Zona (which was in the recent New Directors Festival from the Film Society of Lincoln Center), directed by Rodrigo Plá (The Dessert Within), whom Peckos calls a formidable force in Mexican cinema. Also on the agenda is Shadows by Milcho Manchevski, who, nearly 15 years ago, gave us the wonderful Before the Rain.

"I am also currently releasing the documentary Stealing America : Vote by Vote. It's been playing around the country prior to the upcoming election and will be out quite soon on DVD or via the web. This is another 'service' deal. And last year I released a documentary called The Price of Sugar. This year the same company has a film called American Violet, directed by Tim Disney and written by Bill Haney -- two really great guys. We are hoping to place the latter film with a bigger distribution company because of its interesting and timely subject matter and its stars (below) -- Alfre Woodard (center), Tim Blake Nelson (left) and Michael O'Keefe (right).

"Most of what we do these days," notes MJ, "are service deals, because more and more filmmakers have understood the facts about controlling their life and their destiny. Rather than selling their films for a small amount of money and never seeing anything beyond that, by using the service deal, they have the chance to do better. One of the ways in which they can finally see a profit is via DVD distribution and ancillary rights. I started the DVD division at First Look, so I understand the ins and outs of this."

Theatrical distribution, she explains, calls attention to the film, so that when the DVD appears, people will already have heard of it. "Elsa & Fred, for instance, played in 65-70 cities, so people will know the movie when it comes out on DVD. There'll be that necessary awareness."

Peckos says that her business has evolved over time into something to which filmmakers come in order to get this service. "I also consult for a foreign sales company called The Little Film Company. I do all their marketing. Over the many years I've been in the business, I have been involved in all the aspects of it, so I sort of know a little about a lot of things."

I'd say the lady knows more than a little. Filmmakers looking for help with distribution might do well to contact MJ Peckos and Mitropoulos Films via mj@mitropoulosfilms.com