Freya Black

The horror genre doesn't always have well-known actors. It's different in that way. Also Dark Reprieve did not sell to a huge studio, it sold to a very small distributor that does direct to DVD: http://www.us.rljentertainment.com/image-entertainment We also obviously have no details on what form the deal was. As I've said before I know people who have sold their first movie without a third party involvement to a much larger and well known distributor but the devil is in the details and getting from there to making the next movie can be really difficult. There wasn't any magic word or anything tho. Freya

Once again Phil you are talking about "feature length production" like it is butter that can be sold by weight.

Definitely not. I mean they could get hit by a car or anything, and they would all be older and the world would be in a different place. I think the answer to that is clearly no for so many reasons. Also most of the famous filmmakers didn't start out as nobodies so they would be extra stuffed than before too.

er yeah but it might still be the same universe, even if it's not on Earth. In fact I would suggest that a galaxy far, far away indicated the same universe. Well.... I guess that depends on where the narrator is but...

What about polarity and was it a regulated supply?!!!!! Freya

Wait is "how to" the magic secret to everything that I'm saying doesn't exist maybe? In which case I'm not only not claiming to know "how to" I'm actually claiming the "how to" is imaginary anyway.

Oh god! I'm really sorry but you are misunderstanding again. I'm not saying I know exactly what will be a huge hit or something (well other than the next Marvel movie probably) what I'm saying is that there are things that are commercially viable outside of the mainstream ideas of what is commercially viable. I'm not sure what you think is commercially viable as you didn't define it, so I don't know what is going on in your head but certainly there can be commercially viable films made for smaller audiences. That's all I'm saying about that. I can't say too much more about it as I don't know what is in your head and wouldn't know how to try and start explaining if I did I suspect. As far as I don't know how to any more than the rest of us.... I'm not claiming to know "how to" and havn't said "how to". Not that I have any idea what kind of "how to" you are talking about! ;) In any case whatever kind of "how to" it is I havn't made any claims about knowing it in this thread. I don't think so anyway... I suppose I could be wrong tho...? Going to have to try harder with this telepathy business.... Freya

I understood but then I'm also British so point taken! ;)

I didn't say there was a market for all the different kind of films. I'm saying the exact opposite. Also commercial viability is obviously very much at play. You just have weird ideas about that as I already said.

I understand that Richard is at least partly British I'm afraid.

Definitely not what Phil is saying. I don't know where to start with this. It seems to come out of that thing where people don't understand why there are B-Movies. Dark Reprieve was obviously aimed at a particular market and not a mass audience. Against the Wild was also aimed at quite a specific audience. This is one of the things I keep saying about this thread that people keep talking about indie features like they are this thing you sell like butter or maybe some kind of material that you buy by the metre and it's all the same. "but it's the very best butter!" Freya

THIS!

Who was saying that? and define "hard work" as that could encompass almost anything. Richards rise is all kinds of stuff including a lot of paper work but what does that have to do with anything? Why are people conflating everything together like this? It's talking like there is some magic word you say, some incredible secret that will not only get you an initial DVD release but also this whole "rise" over multiple releases. You just keep saying that magic word. If there was such a secret that held across everything it would again be having great sales and negotiating skills. There is a clear progression in what Richard has done, why are people here talking like it is all the same thing?

This is a crazy conversation. Dark Reprieve was a direct to DVD release. It's a lot easier to get a direct to DVD release than a full theatrical release and interest from Canal + etc. All this talk of secrets is nonsense. You can see a clear progression with the Releases Richard has had and with his career in general. I'm not saying it's easy to get a direct to DVD release but it's a lot easier than for theatrical distribution by a mile and I know people who have done it without third parties. A major aspect to getting even direct to dvd distribution is having thought about the end goal before shooting. Which brings us to the other strange thing in this thread. People talking about features as if they are all these interchangeable lumps for which there is an equal market for. Another important aspect is having good sales and negotiating and social skills. Actually I find those skills are often the most important in life generally. What kind of magic secret is it that people here are expecting? I'm sure there are loads of things that Richard hasn't told us all about but this idea that there is a magic secret that will make some random indie feature sell is weird. If there was such a secret it would be having a really good trailer and poster (and key art generally). Freya

I know it did. You miss read what Phil wrote. Freya

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AC-Adapter-For-Sony-TC-D5M-TC-D5-TCM-5000-TCM-5000EV-Recorder-Power-Supply-Cord-/371160394544?hash=item566ae22b30:g:aEEAAOSwGWNUYZGo

Maybe easier to get a working one and transfer the crystal upgrade. Are you running it off batteries. Are you sure it's not a contact corrosion issue?

I wasn't coming at it from that point of view. Richard had the backing of Canal + on this movie so that will help when it comes to selling to TV as that brings quite a bit of status but it's usual for a movie to appear on only one channel unless it is something huge and even then I don't think it's common to sell multiple release tiers at the same time in quite this way but then I don't know the details on the channels. Interesting turn of events for sure.

That's not true Phil. I know people in the UK who have sold films and others who have turned down offers to buy films and it was their first production. However you talk about it in a weird way when you say "films" like you just mean any old feature. There is no market for any old feature and most people make a movie without any real idea about what is going to happen to it at the end of the process. I'm sure there are a ton of things Richard isn't telling us because he would be here all day writing essays but the big thing that Richard has that he isn't telling you because he doesn't think anything of it, is that he has really good sales and negotiating ability. That is not a minor skill to have. We are talking about the direct to DVD market here which has a much lower barrier to entry than theatrical. One problem that a lot of people in the UK run into is that they make the movie too expensive and then aren't in a position to sell it. I see that time and time again. Sometimes they make really strange mistakes with the movie itself too. Freya

That's really interesting! So one channel has second run rights?? That is kind of a new idea. Did you negotiate that yourself or through your agent? Seems like quite a thing to pull off.

Yay! Sounds kinda interesting too. Kinda relevant here over where we now have a former backbencher as the head of the main opposition party. I like the idea of someone suddenly accidentally having the top job.

I'm not really a fan of Woody Allen. Thankfully I don't like most of his movies. I did like Match Point (one of his later unfunny ones). I've not seen the trailer and have no plans to watch it in the near future either. Freya

That's really impressive. Is that a subscription channel and a terrestrial broadcaster? I'm curious how the two broadcaster thing works? Freya

I think Storaro is one of the worlds greatest living cinematographers. I really like what he has to say about the subject too and his very different outlook and way of talking about cinematography. I think he has interesting things to say about the subject that make you think as opposed to people who waffle a lot trying to sound clever. I'm interested to see what he does next.

I think people are very happy to talk about the great work of Vittorio but less happy in the context of Woody Allen.