Oscar winner Sean Baker has found an unexpected way to inspire future generations of independent filmmakers at Banks.
The writer earned the first big payday of his career for his sequel to Best Picture winner Anora, the sex worker drama that made history by awarding Baker four trophies in one night, tying Walt Disney’s record at the 2025 Oscars.
The target project is “Ti Amo!” Baker described the film as “an ode to the Italian sex comedies of the ’60s and ’70s.” Warner Bros. announced the film won at CinemaCon in Las Vegas last week. It was a big change for Clockwork, the studio’s new indie-focused label run by Christian Parks (former head of marketing at Neon).
What they didn’t say on stage at Caesars Palace was that Clockwork had bought the distribution rights to “Ti Amo!” for an eye-watering $22 million, five sources familiar with the deal tell Variety. That figure incorporates the film’s budget, which is financed by FilmNation and is expected to exceed $10 million. The film’s final cost will not be determined until Baker completes the script.
But that surplus will be split between Film Nation, several other major production companies and Mr. Baker, who is poised to earn millions of dollars for his work as writer, director, editor and producer on “Ti Amo!”
For Baker, the agreement means greater financial security after years of struggling for his art. His brand is filmmaking on a whim and on a shoestring budget, and in its early days he shot “Tangerine” on an iPhone. For the first time in Baker’s career, Clockwork will have a single distributor overseeing release, marketing and strategy (excluding France).
“Isn’t it great to see a successful filmmaker like Sean finally get paid and be able to continue making movies his way?” said one executive familiar with the deal.
Baker won the project last year to multiple bidders, including Neon, A24 and Disney’s Searchlight Pictures. Two sources said one offer was about $5 million for U.S. rights alone, and another was closer to Clockwork’s worldwide distribution deal. Baker does not have a contract with a major talent agency, but asked Richter Grossman attorney James Feldman to negotiate on her behalf. He is managed by indie veteran Adam Kirsch, whose clients include other authors such as Ira Sachs and Amy Seimetz.
The project was pitched as a sales pitch, the official added. The camera is expected to arrive in September. Another sign of Baker’s post-Oscar power is that selling “Clockwork” wasn’t dependent on the cast, and he wasn’t expected to hire any big-name stars.
“Ti Amo!” The deal comes at a time when stars of independent filmmaking are finding it difficult to get fair compensation for their work. Many projects have left festivals like Sundance and Cannes without distribution, and even filmmakers who have signed contracts have been left behind or less involved on the back end as streaming has upended Hollywood’s economics. That’s why some people are experimenting with other ways to bring their passion projects to the big screen.
“Brutalist” director Brady Corbet is wrapping up his next project, an epic tale of American occult history, without a studio partner. Similarly, Tom Ford adapted Anne Rice’s novel Cry to Heaven as an independent feature film starring Adele. In both cases, the hope is that a film will fetch a higher selling price after it plays at a high-profile film festival than if it sells distribution rights before filming. Baker wouldn’t take such a gamble on “Ti Amo!” and given the big contract he earned, why would he?
Baker is well-respected among movie buffs, but to receive this kind of pay, he would normally have to shift his focus to directing mid-budget or high-profile films, or work for a streamer like Netflix. The latter is elementary, considering Baker is an ardent defender of the film. Mr. Baker has long been underpaid relative to his reputation and influence in the market.
Most of his projects take three years to make, and he tends to put all the money he makes into his next film. During the 2017 awards season for The Florida Project, Baker lived in a small apartment in West Hollywood. On the night of the 2025 Oscars, he and partner Sammy Kwan went home to walk their dog between the ceremony and the afterparty. I doubt if Christopher Nolan or Martin Scorsese would have done the same.
