C International Sales Inks Sales Representation Deal with Argentina’s Pablo Solarz (EXCLUSIVE)

By Jamie Lang

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Argentina’s Pablo Salarz, one of Latin America’s best-known film and TV writer-directors, has entered a non-exclusive financing relationship with C International Sales, the international arm of Cinestaan Film Company. Although non-exclusive, the deal is an early example of international companies moving to court or tie-down key talent in Latin America.

The deal was negotiated by C International director of sales Paul Hudson, head of international operations Deborah Sathe, and Solarz himself. According to a press release, an important part of the negotiations was that the deal be non-exclusive, allowing Solarz to maintain full creative control of his projects from start to finish.

The first-look deal is for any upcoming projects to be written or directed by Solarz, and includes a minimum guarantee component on each. The deal marks Cinestaan’s push further into international production, having earlier this year executive produced this year’s Cannes best director Pawel Pawlikowski’s “Cold War,” which world premiered at the festival.

Solarz last directorial feature was 2017’s “The Last Suit,” which won the audience award at the Miami Film Festival and the Seattle International Film Festival’s Golden Space Needle. In 2011 Solarz was nominated for the Argentine Academy Award for best screenplay for his work on “Together Forever,” which he also directed.

“Having gotten to know Pablo over the last 12 months, it’s clear that he is one of the most prolific and talented writer’s in World cinema today, and his story-telling has an international appeal that translates across cultural lines,” said Hudson in the release.

“His films have been remade in multiple languages across the globe, and we hope that our early involvement brings more of his projects to the big screen,” added Sathe.

Solarz added, “Having met and worked with Paul during the U.S. release of ‘The Last Suit,’ I was impressed with his commitment. And having worked together, I shared different stories that I’m developing, some to be shot in Argentina, some in Mexico and one in Chicago. After paying attention to the pitches and helping me translate some of them from Spanish to English, he came to me with this offer that, without a doubt, means a lot to my future as a writer and director.”

John Hopewell contributed to this article