Ep 293: From Paramount to Independent Filmmaking: Rob Hollocks on Getting Films into Cinemas

Rob Hollocks has spent more than two decades on both sides of the film business — helping major studios sell some of the biggest films in the world, while ultimately pursuing his ambition to write, direct and produce films of his own.

In this episode of Filmmaking Conversations, Damien Swaby sits down with the British-born, Los Angeles-based filmmaker, writer, producer and former studio executive for a wide-ranging conversation about the realities of building a sustainable career in film.Rob takes us inside his years at Paramount Pictures, where his work in international marketing brought him into campaigns connected with films and franchises including Forrest Gump, Saving Private Ryan, Indiana Jones, Mission: Impossible and Star Trek.

He explains how studios adapt campaigns for different territories, why an actor who dominates a poster in one country might be secondary in another, how contractual billing affects key art, and who ultimately decides what audiences are being sold. But Rob argues that understanding marketing shouldn't be something filmmakers leave until their film is finished.

For independent filmmakers, he believes thinking seriously about audience, positioning and distribution should begin while a project is still being developed — without allowing those commercial considerations to dictate the story itself.

The conversation also explores Rob's work in animation and production finance, including his involvement with Riot Games and Netflix's acclaimed series Arcane. Rob explains what managing production finance on a project of that scale actually involves and how huge creative ambitions can coexist with financial discipline.That philosophy carries into his own filmmaking.

Through his independent work, Rob has developed an approach he describes as making films that are low-budget, high-quality and commercially responsible — putting as much of the available money as possible onto the screen while paying crews, treating people properly and avoiding unnecessary expenditure.Damien and Rob then examine the journey of Rob's psychological horror thriller The Observance, starring Kate Dailey, Ted Raimi and Alec James.

After an international festival run and multiple awards, Rob and his team took an unusually hands-on approach to distribution, retaining control of the film's marketing and securing a limited theatrical release through AMC cinemas in the United States.Rob explains what he discovered about getting an independent film into cinemas,