Dan: rules are made to be broken. fuck em
me: it’s all well and nice to want to try all sorts of alternative new models, but who in their right mind will chip in for this?
Dan: hmm, I guess that’s the experiement. Like Kev[in Smith] took a chance with all those credit cards, he could have spent his whole life paying it off.
me: no one in their right mind will even give me a credit card. These days are over sir, we’re living post-crisis. This ain’t 1995
Dan: You need to become and MP and claim it on expenses. That’s the new black it seems.
Ha ha. I might well have to. Yesterday was the sad day B-side, the very innovative and funky film distribution company closed it’s doors. They’ve been around for 5 years. They were doing well too. And click, just like that, off they went.
It’s not sad because they won’t be replaced and we’re all doomed forever, although it feels recently like soon enough the only choice we’ll have in cinemas will be between Avatars and Alices in Wonderlands. It’s sad because I have been researching the alternative funding/distribution methods for a while now and this comes to show how hard it still is to be ahead of the curve. I read Ted Hope at Truly Free Film, I follow the endeavors of the workbook project. And occasionally I get on the happy-go-lucky high from hearing so many voices chanting about the need to think about film differently… Yet so often it feels like at the end of the day the big guys come and stomp on our throats and the party, again, is over.
If you are unaware of the wider context of B-side’s exit this is probably the best article you will read: Why exhibitors should be B-Side themselves by Stephen Saito. Another one I cried over last night is Antony Kaufmans observation from filmmaker magazine – about the never dying dream of traditional distribution purchase. Why? Why, why why?
I’m not up for that. As a matter of fact the premise of the earlier mentioned film is not having a commission, not aiming for a distribution deal, ideally not having any traditional solution in place. DIY baby, all the way. And see where this takes us…
With all the luck we can get, it will be a place big guys hope is hell.
