PCN reader Stephanie was kind enough to email me this story by Michael Phillips at the Chicago Tribune about the potential demise of small theaters in the wake of digital projection technology.
A figure commonly batted around: 75 percent of box-office revenue comes from 25 percent of the theaters. “So that means the other 75 percent can die off and the film companies won’t be too worried about it,” West says.
As major companies, movie studios and politicians lose their pioneering, risk taking balls in the mire of focus groups, meddling middle management and pathetic indecision. As Banana Republic introduces yet another homogenized clothing line in their relentless attempt to make the public look like a TV show. And as bastard patent trolls stifle innovation. We had Steve Jobs.
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When I went to see Drive last Saturday, I was joined in my theater row by a group of six teenage boys. The opening scene of the movie has Ryan Gosling as the wheelman of a getaway car. Every time Gosling hit the gas I could see the boys leaning forward in anticipation of crash laden car chase in which he leaves the LAPD in a pile of twisted metal in Gosling’s rear view mirror. But, as we soon see the movie is too sophisticated for that kind of CGI nonsense. Instead Gosling makes clever use of the urban terrain and the end of Lakers basketball game to complete his job successfully.
A few weeks ago I told you about a short, a western that utilized Kickstarter to get funded. Yesterday the folks at SweetPea announced that they were fully funded and then some. Emma Coats told me the following about her experience at Kickstarter.
It feels great to be funded, and beyond that to know that there are more than 200 people (not all relatives!) who are excited to see how it turns out. People advise you to find your audience before you start, and this is a huge step in that direction.
Our friend Koo, is pursuing a more ambitious Kickstarter goal. He’s looking for 115,000 to fund a feature length documentary about the very young recruits in the NBA. Have a look at the trailer below for Man-Child. And then help Koo make history by giving to his feature film funded.
When Country music singer Melissa Fuller approached Tony Czech to film and produce her music video, he had a hard time saying no. She’s his wife. Along with making the little woman happy, it was also a chance for Tony to show the world that there is more to Nashville than Honky Tonk and cowboy boots.
Tony Czech was my assistant long ago. Looking at the video, and the respected name he has made for himself, I feel uncomfortable saying his name and “assistant” in the same sentence.
