We recently connected with Alex Cohen and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Alex thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One deeply underappreciated facet of entrepreneurship is the kind of crazy stuff we have to deal with as business owners. Sometimes it’s crazy positive sometimes it’s crazy negative, but crazy experiences unite entrepreneurs regardless of industry. Can you share a crazy story with our readers?
A few years ago (2017), I was going through many scripts and film packages in order to find our next production. We wanted to produce a Family film, which was – and is – a very dragging genre. I got this great script about a girl sneaking an Elephant out of a circus, and avoiding the search parties for days. I decide to pick this one to produce. We start the casting process and they manage to get great names, like David Arquette or Tom Arnold, and others we almost got like Bill Murray.
When the producers sent me their picks for the little girl, they had this beautiful and touching 14 years old actress, that gave a pretty solid audition, and they really liked her. But from the point of view of Distribution, this actress was not what I had in mind. I told the producers to go back to casting and find us a “Disney” or “Nick” star. If they really wanted this girl they picked, then her friend would have to be coming from a famous kids Series or Network.
We tried to cast the late Cameron Crowe, that was a phenomenal actor, but he was doing “Descendants”, which would end up being his last film, unfortunately. That’s when one of the producers found Jenna Ortega. She read and loved the script, I, of course, validated her as being our missing link, and we started filming “Saving Flora”, which ended up being a great artistic and financial success.
About a month ago, I was very excited to go see the new “Scream”. I always was a big fan of the franchise and had the chance to discuss it with David Arquette. I did not really check out the new cast, as I heard that the original actors were there, and that was enough for me. I was pretty surprised to see Jenna Ortega straight in the opening scene and throughout the whole movie. The on-set connection that David and Jenna had on “Flora” (he is playing her father), was very strong, and I was in disbelief to read that my choice of pushing to cast Jenna with David had impacted one of my favorite franchises of all time.
Alex, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
With over twenty years of leadership in content distribution and production, as well as his experience in all facets of the entertainment industry, Alex Cohen is trusted worldwide for his film releasing strategies and production. Juror and Board Member for the International Academy of Television Arts & Science since 2011, Cohen is Founder and CEO of Synkronized Films, with over 300 Films & Docs produced and distributed in the US and worldwide. A library of more than 150 Festival nominations including the Cannes Film Festival, and 52 Awards and counting. Cohen’s films have been released by companies like Paramount, Sony, Lionsgate, Millennium, E1, and many more.
Cohen made his debut in the entertainment industry in 2000, opening Synkronized in Paris, a French-based label manufacturing and distributing DVDs exclusively from the Majors. The company quickly became one of the main players in the French video retail market, with over 11,000 titles in DVD available in stock and deals directly with editors in every country, delivering over 7000 active re-sellers. As President and CEO of the company, Cohen kept expanding Synkronized, negotiating and partnering with Majors of the Entertainment industry in France such as Universal Pictures, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros, Paramount, TF1, Buena Vista (Disney), amongst others. In 2003, Cohen implemented a distribution agreement with Paramount Pictures France for 52 US Films acquired by Synkronized and exclusively distributed by Paramount on the European Market. Cohen held the spot for 1st supplier of Amazon France, at a time when the home entertainment video retail market was at its all-time high.
Cohen moved the company to the United States in 2004, focusing on distributing films on all platforms and soon developed a reputation; Nabbing over 150 Festival nominations, coupled with strong marketing and advertising strategies with an exposition to all social media, from the day social trend started to have an impact. He began by distributing high-level films in the US, after securing steady growth for the company he positioned Synkronized for an aggressive plan of expansion.
In 2006, Cohen entered Synkronized into an exclusive distribution partnership with E1 (Entertainment One US & Canada) that would last 8 years, with over 80 new releases into the marketplace. In 2008, Cohen started producing films. He fully produced and released over 20 feature films and TV Series. Cohen produced and licensed the feature films Director, Cougar’s Inc (staring Denise Richards) and Breaking Wind in collaboration with Lionsgate Entertainment. Over the years, He has realized the acquisition and co-production of over 180 feature films and Series.
In 2010, Cohen moved the Synkronized label and library to expand its domestic presence in partnership with Millennium Medias. Higher profile releases and budgets ensured the label a secure and steady position and placement with newcomers Behemoths such as Netflix, Hulu, Redbox started to appear in the marketplace and instantly carried all of Synkronized’s titles. With mainstream releases such as Lady Gaga’s Biography, 3D animations, or films with casts such as Milla Jovovich, Bill Murray, and more, Cohen brought Synkronized to its next step and in a connected vision for future expansions.
In 2011, Cohen was named a Board Member at the International Academy of Television, Arts & Sciences and a Juror for both the International Academy of Television, Arts & Sciences and the International Emmy Awards in the category Drama Series & TV movies and He has been judging for the past 8 years. He won the Florida award from the DBFF Film Festival for outstanding support to independent filmmaking. Invited to give workshops and conferences at film festivals, Cohen is today considered a key player for the distribution and production of content in North America. He is a well-known and recognized TV personality in France, featured as a mentor for aspiring actors in one of the highest viewed TV reality shows in Europe, “Les Anges de la Téléralité”, alongside other top featured mentors Kim Kardashian, Snoop Dogg, and Pamela Anderson.
In 2016 Cohen and Synkronized partnered with the Chinese public company “Dream Factory Group”. Cohen continued his distribution and production strategy expansion plan, as DFG started implementing their footprint in the US market by producing the animation film Rock Dog. Since then Cohen and DFG have funded, produced, and distributed worldwide over 25 movies. Amongst Cohen’s project in 2019. the Sundance Official Competition Selection “Luce” starring Naomi Watts and Octavia Spencer. Cohen along with Synkronized and DFG also funded and produced the 2018 multi-award winner Family film “Saving Flora”, starring Jenna Ortega, David Arquette, and Tom Arnold. In 2019, Cohen and Synkronized ended their 3 years partnership with the Dream Factory Group, after they delivered their last films to Summit/Lionsgate, “Norm of the North 2” and “3”. Cohen is slating ambitious projects for 2021, as the company is partnering with American Entertainment Investors to produce several Films and Series, starting with the pandemic Horror movie “Stay Safe”.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
My company holds and pretty unique position in the Entertainment Industry. We are a full US distribution label, but we have never been backed by any financial institution. A full privately handled distribution studio. This is the reality for an immigrant trying to accomplish his American dream. When one is self-funded, it has to be extra aggressive in gaining momentum, market shares, and IPs. An example: when the DVDs were booming, placing a title at Redbox would mean a quarter-million dollars. There were 22 slots per month in a box, if a film of mine made it there, it means that I have beaten one of the major studios this particular month.
Since our company has been distributing much bigger projects, I had to tone down a lot of our aggressive tactics and moves. The Digital era gives the same chances for every distributor to reach all of the audience in the States. They have been more than educated and can recognize quality productions, helping us to level with our much bigger competitors.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I partnered with a company called Zu Films and Wu-Tang productions about 10 years ago, to produce a docu-series, about the life of Ol’ Dirty Bastard (ODB). But the Doc market in 2010 was not great, and we kept it aside. Now that a large audience has taken interest in those major contemporary stories, we went back to shoot more 2022 footage and we will come up with the right Docu-Series at the right time. It’s a story that has to be told.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.synkronized.us
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afikomane/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/synkronizedus
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-cohen-a3a4887/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/synkronizedfilm
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SynkronizedFilms