Just to show you how hard what we are doing is, listen to this guy's story:
This is John Gulager. He won the directing competition for Project Greenlight 3. Dimension Films put up the budget (around 3 million dollars) and pretty much gave John free reign to make the film he wanted- FEAST. Well, now FEAST is complete and there is no sign of a theatrical release for this badboy. The main issue I am hearing with this film is that Dimension Films doesn't know how to market it. Whatever. The film has screened at numerous festivals across the nation and is drawing rave reviews from everyone who has seen it. My point is, this guy has a studio behind him. They put up the money and everything. We are doing this on our own. Finding the money, hiring the cast and crew, editing, festival promotions- everything. Just look back in this blog to see all the hurdles that we have already conquered and the ones that lie just ahead. No easy feat for any man, not even one with a studio to back him. Good luck John.
This is John Gulager. He won the directing competition for Project Greenlight 3. Dimension Films put up the budget (around 3 million dollars) and pretty much gave John free reign to make the film he wanted- FEAST. Well, now FEAST is complete and there is no sign of a theatrical release for this badboy. The main issue I am hearing with this film is that Dimension Films doesn't know how to market it. Whatever. The film has screened at numerous festivals across the nation and is drawing rave reviews from everyone who has seen it. My point is, this guy has a studio behind him. They put up the money and everything. We are doing this on our own. Finding the money, hiring the cast and crew, editing, festival promotions- everything. Just look back in this blog to see all the hurdles that we have already conquered and the ones that lie just ahead. No easy feat for any man, not even one with a studio to back him. Good luck John.
posted by Nick Evert at 12:47 PM
3 Comments:
Don't know how to market it? Bullshit. Horror movies are pretty easy to market. So are horror satires (Scream movies, Shaun of the Dead). So are comedies. It's called a built-in audience. Marketing should not be an issue.
Want a tough movie to market? Try "I Heart Huckabees". Or for you old-school fans, "Easy Rider."
I think it's pretty obvious what's going on here. Due to the commercial "failures" of the last two Project Greenlight features, Dimension is trying to put the series to rest. Granted, Miramax oversaw the last two productions, but it's pretty much been Weinstein's call all the way. "Stolen Summer" and "Battle of Shaker Heights" didn't fill the theater seats, so they figure it's time to call it a day, now that they've dumped $5 Million into these three films.
Funny thing is that of all the Project Greenlight features, "Feast" has the best chance of finding an audience. A $3 Million horror movie is going to make money if it's released theatrically. Dimension knows this.
What's funny is that Miramax/Dimension shot itself in the foot with the Project Greenlight features. Granted, they gave unproven writers & directors a shot a making a studio film, but they didn't exactly give them a fair shot at it. The ridiculously tight shooting schedule, not to mention the slew of documentary cameras following every move - I think those two films turned out pretty well considering the circumstances.
In some ways, I think we've got a better shot as indie filmmakers. No, we don't have the luxuries of a studio shoot. No money, no established crew, no bankable names, no connections. But everything we are free to do anything we want as long as we find the means to do it. We aren't locked in to anyone's rules or regulations. We own the rights and can do anything we want with it until it gets picked up by a distributor.
Of course, I'm not suggesting that what we're trying to do here isn't difficult. We've definitely got our work cut out for us, but at least we don't have to do deal with any of the studio bullshit.
(Not yet, anyway!)
I read today that the Weinsteins are all about Project Greenlight 4, and claim that BRAVO, Affleck and Damon are all on board. Huh. They haven't even decided to release Feast yet. They are also considering a Sin City and Rounders TV show. Anything to cash in I guess. (an IceBreaker TV spinoff would be super duper, but I guess we should concentrate on the feature film first!)
Huh. Well, so much for my analysis of the situation.
But seriously, can't market "Feast"? There's gotta be another angle to that. Horror movies - straightforward or satire - are easily marketed. The other two Project Greenlight flicks were not easy to market, but they hit theaters anyway.
But, I'm glad to see that it looks like PG4 is going to happen. What a cool show.
An IceBreaker TV series. Now there's an idea! But yes, let's get this feature done first.
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