LOS ANGELES — Film financier Jason Cloth has taken some gambles during his Hollywood career. For starters, he backed Nate Parker's "The Birth of a Nation."
The movie, which premiered at 2016's Sundance Film Festival, sold to Fox Searchlight for a then-record of $17.5 million. It bombed at the box office after a 1999 rape allegation against Parker resurfaced (Parker was aquitted). Cloth made money on the sale, but Searchlight took a hit.
Years later, producers, agents and distributors have again convened, albeit virtually, for the latest Sundance. But Cloth, the Toronto-based chief executive of Creative Wealth Media, which works closely with Canadian production company Bron Studios, is now convinced that making small indie dramas for movie theaters is a sucker's game.
