There was drama this week in the world of independent distribution, with multiple reports emerging on the financial struggles buffeting indie label Row K Entertainment. Variety was first to report on Row K’s current crop of issues involving its founders, Christopher Woodrow and Raj Singh. Row K began operations only 8 months ago, when it acquired distribution rights to four new films premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival.
It was reported that all four deals were in excess of seven figures, not bad for a startup. But Row K has struggled ever since, failing to meet their financial obligations and resulting in the loss of distribution rights to Maude Apatow’s POETIC LICENSE, one of the films they had acquired at Toronto.
More signs of weakness came from their theatrical release of DEAD MAN’S WIRE, starring Bill Skarsgård and directed by Gus Van Sant. Row K acquired the film at TIFF for $5 million and then spent $5 million more on its marketing. It was released in theatres on January 9, and went on to earn only $2.2 million at the box office, resulting in millions of dollars in losses for Row K.
This put the distributor behind the eight ball financially, forcing them to delay payments to various creatives and vendors. “The money is coming…” became a regular refrain from Row K execs. This was not sufficiently reassuring for Apatow, who turned the finished version of POETIC LICENSE into Row K in February and still has not been paid. Because this constitutes a violation of the agreement with Row K, Apatow is now shopping the film around Hollywood to find a new buyer.
Variety’s story was followed by a report in Deadline saying that Row K’s President, CFO, and CMO are all preparing to leave the company in order to protect their reputations after months of delayed payments to vendors and creatives. With Row K scheduled to present at this year’s CinemaCon in two weeks, it’ll be fascinating to see who will walk out on stage and what films they will present.
