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We took 5 minutes and had a short conversation with our Founder and CEO , Philipp Hoffmann .

He went to the ifs international film school in Cologne, Germany convinced he’d become a producer. He left film school completely convinced that he never wanted to be a producer. So he went into sales and distribution, working with The Match Factory (now part of MUBI) and becoming their head of marketing.

In 2013 he founded Rushlake Media, which is about to celebrate its 12th anniversary.

Here is how that conversation went!

Rahab: Tell us more about Rushlake Media and Tidpix

Philipp: At Rushlake Media, our mission is to bring authentic African stories to the world. That is why we have created our streaming brand, TidPix – Authentically African, to make our mark on the digital market in all its different niches and models. Most importantly, this work is being done by our outstanding team in Nairobi who live and breathe our mission every day. As a team and a company, we believe in the bright future of African filmmaking and storytelling.

We want to deliver value to our audiences. If they watch a film or show on TidPix and come away feeling entertained, excited, inspired, moved, etc., then we have done a good job.

Rahab: How does TIDPIX support film makers in the film industry?

Philipp: Simply with the ability to bring films to the market place. A lot of people in the industry still think that sales and distribution works like this: we write emails or make phone calls to 25 people in our Rolodex, five to ten of them buy the film and we get our fee for the “hard work”.

Well, the reality couldn’t be further from that. Today, our job requires a highly scalable infrastructure to deliver films to dozens of pipelines and handle the entire value chain, from acquisition to delivery to royalty management to data analytics. We need to be able to talk to top festivals around the world and at the same time understand the KPIs in the ad-supported streaming and FAST market such as render rates, fill rates and CPMs.

INCASE YO MISSED IN: A-Z OF FILM DISTRIUTION

Put simply, it’s a different job and a different skill set to filmmaking. Personally, I studied production and have some idea of how to make a film. Does that make me a great producer? Not at all. It’s the same with distribution.

And the landscape is changing all the time. We help filmmakers, storytellers and their work navigate that landscape and get them in front of audiences. In doing so, we’re able to unlock revenues and income that would otherwise be inaccessible to most filmmakers.

Rahab: Which was your Favorite African film of 2024?
Philipp: That’s a tough question, because whatever I answer would be unfair to many of the filmmakers we work with and their great films.

So let me carefully choose two examples: From West Africa, I should definitely mention THE LEGEND OF THE VAGABOND QUEEN OF LAGOS by the Agbojowo Collective, which we premiered in Toronto in September. It is definitely a film worth seeing and deserves to be seen by the world. Not only does it shed light on a burning and ongoing issue in Nigeria, the forced evictions of tens of thousands of people from their communities. It’s also an outstanding and entertaining piece of cinema.

On the other hand, let me leave you with a cliffhanger: We are currently negotiating a new film from East Africa that will once again push the boundaries of filmmaking we have seen from the continent. I’m really excited about it. More to come in early 2025. Stay tuned!

Rahab: Advice to upcoming film makers?
Philipp: Try to understand where the market and your audience is. And partner with a professional sales and distribution company.

Rahab: Any last words?
Philipp: These will certainly not be my last words. Perhaps the last words of this interview. We’re here to learn and to work with outstanding and wonderful filmmakers from the continent. If you have anything, feel free to contact us, especially our team in Nairobi. We’re really looking forward to it.

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