Originally founded by Greg Rubidge in 2009, Toronto-based Syndicado is an increasingly prominent player in the documentary sales world. Aleksandar Govedarica co-founded the company’s world sales arm, which he runs out of Europe, in 2016.
“When we founded the company, the rumour was that there is no room for another sales agent and the market was saturated, but I knew that if we got good films, we would manage to position ourselves on the market,” explains Govedarica (who had been working with Taskovski Films before moving to Syndicado.) “We were going for daring and authentic films that were not maybe so obvious but that when you see the footage, they just feel right, especially when supported by a clear authorial vision. That always finds an audience I think.”
“I really love cinema, that is why I am in the business,” Govedarica continues. “When people ask me how do we acquire films, I think it really comes down to instinct.”
One of the company’s recent hits, Salomé Jashi’s Taming The Garden, about a wealthy and anonymous man whose hobby is the digging up, and subsequent replanting, of foreign trees into his own man-made Eden, was picked up by Govedarica at development stage. He saw three minutes of footage of a gigantic tree floating on the water and knew immediately that he wanted to support the project. “I was just mesmerised by the image. There was something primordial about it. I immediately knew there was something there and that you could build a film around this scene.”
Syndicado handles selected fictional dramas alongside its documentaries. “We’re looking for cinema really,” Govedarica says, citing the company’s 2021 Venice Days winner, rehab drama Immaculate directed by Monica Stan and George Chiper-Lillemark, as an example of the type of fictional project he cherishes.
The company’s recent acquisitions include Greta Stocklassa’s Blix Not Bombs which it boarded at development stage. The film went on to have its world premiere at CPH:DOX. This is a profile of Hans Blix, the Swedish politician who headed the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission on the eve of the Iraq war. This has been licensed to a number of territories, among them France (GlobeScreen Auditoriums), Germany (Cine Global Filmverleih) and, just closed, Slovakia (Film Expanded).
Govedarica and his team also recently took on sales for Daniel Kötter’s Landshaft (pictured), a feature doc dealing with the ‘political geography” of the disputed border land between Armenia and Azerbaijan. This premiered in competition at Visions Du Reel. “It was sent to us by the filmmaker who really admired our catalogue,” he explains. “It really fits our philosophy. It is very cinematic, character-driven, auteur-style cinema and nicely paced. It’s a pleasant watch.”
On the fiction side, the company is pre-selling Rati Oneli’s Ulysses, likely to premiere next year, and Petroleo by Álvaro F. Pulpeiro.
Reflecting on the state of the doc market, Govedarica suggests that distributors “are buying less” than pre-Covid. Meanwhile, almost all festivals programme fewer films post pandemic, and many major festivals are planning additional cuts in programming.
“Since the pandemic started, we see an upturn in the VOD market,” he says. The company has around 30 of its catalogue titles currently on Netflix. Syndicado is also beginning to license more titles in emerging markets including Thailand and India.
The company comes on board projects when they are still in their infancy. “The trend is that you have to step in as early as possible. The market is quite competitive and there are less and less good films. We have to take a risk and step in early. Quite often lately, we came aboard in late development and early production. We finance films and executive produce one or two each year.”
Syndicado tries to finance films without giving away any rights. It has had some notable successes doing this, for example on Bernadett Tuza-Ritter’s A Woman Captured which it sold to the Why Foundation after Sundance. “That deal included 120 territories and it was shown on 74 broadcasters. That probably wouldn’t have been possible if we gave away the rights at an early stage.”
Govedarica disputes the idea that the streamers are now buying less. He argues that they are actually buying more. The difference is that they’re acquiring in a different way. “They like to buy catalogues because it is more convenient for them, especially with documentaries. They’re buying in bulk, let’s say.”
The company has closed three package deals on primarily older titles with Netflix over the last three years.
As for broadcasters, the Syndicado boss believes they are now operating more and more like streamers. They take VOD rights and up to 80% of their audience is likely to come from VOD catch up. “More and more, European broadcasters ask for European rights on their VOD platforms,” he notes.
And, no, Govedarica doesn’t find dealing with docs any different to dealing with fiction. “I always say we are doing cinema. It just happens we started with what we call documentaries but the goal was always to do cinema. It was a natural progression to switch over to fiction, but I think the line [between the two] is quite blurred. Many festivals are programming documentary and fiction in the same section…”
Like several other leading sales execs in the doc arena, Govedarica cut his teeth in the business with the formidable Irena Taskovski. What did her get from her? “She has this tendency to put people into the fire, let’s say. You learn a lot.”
Syndicado runs on a relentless schedule, attending two to three markets each month. What would constitute a successful Cannes for Govedarica? The Syndicado boss answers the question swiftly: “to eat as many oysters as possible…”
