Born in Belgium, Michel Vandewalle was drawn to the world of entertainment as a very young man. He was part of an international orchestra and participated in theater and dance in school and later as a teenager started working in front of and behind the camera. There were also early signs of Michel as an entrepreneur, as he began conducting interviews of stars on Premieres Pirate radio DJ and newscast. By the mid-80’s he became a credit controller at Cannon Entertainment in Brussel and started working in publishing and production. Michel’s career began to take off in 1991 with a move back to Europe working for Bertelsmann in Hamburg and eventually with UFA Film and Television. He was tasked to set up the International distribution company, which later became the Fremantle and RTL Group. Michel went on to produce animation, CDi Philips, documentaries and eventually created and produced a quarterly music show for RTL2 called The Dome. His experience led to consulting for the European Community and investors. In 2007 he moved to Munich for a start-up called EVA, where Atlas International Film was the sales company. Keeping his eye on the opportunities of international sales, the idea of EVA was bundling the German film funds and selling the filmrights worldwide. In 2015 he took his vision and experience and acquired Atlas International with his company wonderworld entertainment. Michel has been a Jury member of the International Emmy Awards, Golden Nymph Television Awards of Monte Carlo and other. Michel currently lives in Munich.
TFV: Michel, as you gear up for the European Film Market in Berlin, the Film Verdict appreciates your time to meet with us. Atlas International is one of the standard bearers of German independent film companies in Europe, established in 1967, representing over 100 producers around the world and an extensive library. How do you keep the company current and even cutting edge, within the ever-changing film community?
MICHEL: We have a tendency to always try to be ahead of time. We did have an office in New York for ages but with the internet coming up we changed that. I remember being one of the first in 2007 or 2008 (not sure anymore) to have a dedicated website where clients with password could screen our movies. Nowadays that is how screening is done. Even the end user is now watching online via streaming platform movies, series and documentaries. Streamers are becoming more and more online tv stations, adding now entertainment, cooking programs and scripted reality. The internet can now deal with the huge amount of traffic which it was not sure it would be able to 20 years ago. I have been in the entertainment business since the mid 80s and worked in finance, publishing, marketing, acquisition, distribution and as a producer, music, doc, animation, fiction. I had a company making websites and games before it all took really off. It has always been a challenge to figure out what was going to change and find out how to approach your clients in the best way with the right product. In the end it still gets to direct contact and having content that interests your clients. Very simple in a way. Screenings in general on markets are getting less and less visited except for the movies that are in competition. There are less people working in acquisitions in companies than before. Now you have your contacts that cover more than just acquisitions, so they have less time on a market . . . so, in short, the sentence “Send me a screener” is now more popular than ever. On the other hand we are now in contact with everyone 365 days a year minus the Xmas holidays via email, zoom, (does one still Skype? ), WhatsApp and whatever. I remember Telex and Fax machines… Calling people worldwide was costing a fortune. Markets are now not the only place to meet like in the olden days… Communication, unfortunately, has become more and more an exchange, or better said, a flood of emails, so on Markets you actually get to talk and look people in the eyes WOW. I find there is a lot of fluctuations in the companies, and contacts are changing more frequently. Sometimes hard to keep up.
TFV: And with over 12,000 license agreements around the world, what are the biggest changes you are seeing in the licensing agreement area, such as with virtual reality, AI or other areas that are non-traditional?
MICHEL: Contracts are getting more and more complicated instead of easier. But it makes it more challenging. Does one first go to local distributors and then TV, and what about streamers… and what to do with the online activity of tv stations – how to deal with that. Who gets online rights, how long etc… when is who coming in the chain or not at all, and which ones go directly to only a streaming platform? Theaters will always be there. I remember when commercial TV started theaters were predicted to die… then VHS was going to, then DVD and now Streamers. We are socially hungry to share our emotions together, just like on sports events and concerts. Watching a movie in a theater makes a comedy funnier than at home, and when a thriller makes the audience quiet and bundle up close together that is different too. And a Top Gun in a theater with sound and trembling of your seat… this oh so wow with no comparison…. So if you have good movies you will always get people in the theaters. The challenge is to get them to cherish all kind of movies. Funny that you are talking about Virtual reality and AI. It is really exciting and this could again be a game changer, but I have the feeling we still have to wait and see how this evolves. Although the speed at how things change – who knows, in a couple of months (Laugh). Keeping up with the technical evolution is the real challenge.
TFV: You personally have had a long career. You joined Atlas International Film in 2007 and took over the company in 2015, which gives the company a solid cornerstone for continued growth. What is your vision and ambitions for Atlas International?
MICHEL: When I took over Atlas I wanted to make sure the Atlas brand, which is known by the older generations but not really by the young audience, gets back up front. Most people don’t know that our founder, being one of the big partners for Germany in the sixties, was dealing directly with the majors. Atlas was also the first to sell what we now call the Hong Kong action movies. Atlas has and had Evergreens of Horror movies like Paul Naschy´s Werewolf, Alligator, Tombs of the Blind Dead, or sold classics like Baron of Munchausen representing the old UFA movies from the forties. Atlas was also representing the Constantin Catalogue for a long time. Paul Verhoeven movies, John Woo and other big directors. At the Cannes Film Festival in the 80s Atlas had an annual big party with Bavarian beer and Weißwurst that was flown in. So yes, big ideas in reviving this old brand, lets see what time brings.
TFV: What has been the biggest change you’ve seen in the international film business over the years? And how have your reacted to these changes in the marketplace?
MICHEL: Technology. But as I said that has always been the challenge over the decades. Did you know that we were selling 3D movies like Ape in 1976 and then it disappeared to come back 15 years ago? So sometimes things come back as commercialization did not work. I produced Cdi for and with Philips and I remember we had only one movie on Cdi, Last of the Mohicans, where one could look on a CD laserdisc a movie …. Cdi did not work but out of it came the DVD, so you never know what will take off. For sure the biggest change was the internet. Reminds me that I wanted to write my thesis on “The impact of satellites on communication,” which was not accepted in 1980 as that was for the professor, science fiction….
TFV: As you are off to Berlin, let me ask you what’s your key objective at EFM? What are the films you are highlighting?
MICHEL: See people as much as possible after those years of drought caused by covid. Highlights are Roxy from the multi awarded director Dito Tsintsadze, a metamorphose of a taxi driver which opened the Critic´s Pick in Tallin-Pöff last November. Our fantastic kids and family movie Tales of Franz which has been in over 40 festivals. We have a sequel already in post now. No Name Restaurant, a hilarious but profound movie about a Brooklyn Jew who with the help of a grumpy Bedouin and his camel get lost in the desert trying to reach Kairo to save a Jewish community in Egypt.
TFV: Since we are in the Award Season and several of your films have won various awards, what international film do you think will take home the Oscar this year?
MICHEL: That is very hard to say as Oscars are not predictable. Who would have thought Brokeback Mountain would get 3 except for Nicolas Chatier. Or All That Jazz, one of the most brilliant movies for me that most people forgot about it. For my German friends I cross my fingers for All Quiet on the Western Front for my Belgian friends Close, a brilliant movie and very touching, I’m happy for producer Dirk Impens. But hey there is Argentina, Banshees, Tar. What I really miss is seeing winners of Original score or animation, documentary, editor, costumes, production design… getting as much ovation as the big stars. It’s not only best movie and best actors its, the whole industry that is put into flowers … one realizes how many people are working on a movie when credits come in at the end.
TFV: And lastly, before we let you go, any last points you may wish to add?
MICHEL: As Monty Python sings: Always look at the bright side of life. There is always light at the end of the tunnel. Life is too short to look through dark glasses and we should not take ourselves too seriously.
