Marketing
The Psion Dilema
Download Marketing
Market Positioning
The Psion Dilemma is positioned as a contemporary psychological conspiracy thriller aimed at adult audiences 25–55 who respond to paranoia-driven narratives, unreliable perception, and slow-burn revelations that blur the line between mental illness and institutional manipulation. Rooted in everyday realism — shared flats, public institutions, labour unrest, and media intrusion — the screenplay escalates into covert surveillance and psychological warfare, aligning it with prestige thrillers such as The Parallax View, Enemy of the State, and more recent cerebral works like Take Shelter and Utopia (UK). The project is well suited to a $6–10 million USD budget range, achievable through contemporary locations, minimal action spectacle, and tension driven by performance, sound design, and subjective point-of-view rather than VFX. Comparable films and series in this space have demonstrated strong performance via festival premieres, specialty theatrical release, and premium streaming platforms, with particular resonance in the UK, Europe, North America, and Australia. The Psion Dilemma offers buyers a high-concept, low-cost thriller with strong thematic relevance — surveillance, consent, mental health, and state power — positioning it as a prestige, exportable psychological property with significant upside in the streamer and limited-series market.
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Comparable Titles – Sales Reference Table
Positioning Summary
The Psion Dilemma occupies the commercially proven space between intimate psychological drama and institutional conspiracy thriller, offering buyers a high-concept, low-cost property with strong relevance to contemporary anxieties around surveillance, consent, and mental health. Positioned in the $6–10M range, the project is ideally suited for festival-led launch followed by premium streaming or specialty theatrical release, with significant upside through international sales and long-tail discoverability.
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Territory-by-Territory Sales Expectations
Positioning Against Comps
Overall Sales Profile (Agent Summary)​
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Primary revenue drivers:
UK/Ireland, North America, France, Nordics, Australia/New Zealand, South Korea -
Secondary strength:
Germany, Benelux, Eastern Europe, Japan -
Optimal release pathway:
Festival premiere → specialty theatrical (select territories) → premium global streaming -
Commercial advantage:
High-concept premise, contemporary relevance, and restrained production scale provide strong downside protection and excellent international portability.
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The Psion Dilemma is a prestige psychological conspiracy thriller designed to perform strongly across the UK, Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific, leveraging contemporary anxieties around surveillance and mental health to deliver durable international sales and long-tail value.
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​THE PSION DILEMMA — One-Slide Finance Waterfall (FEATURE FILM)
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Total Production Budget
£7.0 million
Contemporary psychological conspiracy thriller
Urban locations • Minimal action • No VFX dependency • Performance- and tension-led​
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SOURCES OF FINANCE
RECOUPMENT WATERFALL (STANDARD FEATURE MODEL)
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Sales Agent Fees & Expenses
(typically 10–15% of gross receipts) -
Senior Lenders / Gap Finance
100% recoupment + agreed premium -
Equity Investors
100% recoupment + negotiated uplift (usually 20–30%) -
Producer Corridor
(10–20% of net profits) -
Backend Participation Pool
Writer / director / key cast
RISK MITIGATION & COMMERCIAL UPSIDE
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Low-cost, high-concept thriller with strong international portability
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Contemporary setting keeps production risk contained
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UK Film Tax Relief materially reduces equity exposure
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Strong fit for festival launch → streamer / specialty theatrical sale
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Themes of surveillance, paranoia, and mental health have current global relevance
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This budget positions the film alongside successful £5–8M psychological thrillers, optimised for festival premiere, curated theatrical play, and premium streaming acquisition.
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