Landmark Tagged Articles at Cinematical
The (Mostly) Indie Film Calendar: From Noir in NYC to Sci-Fi and Horror in LA
Filed under: Fandom », Exhibition », Cinematical Indie », The (Mostly) Indie Film Calendar »
Welcome to The (Mostly) Indie Film Calendar. Each week, we'll give you a round-up of what's going on in indie film (and sometimes just cool film news and screenings) in cities near you. If you know of cool stuff happening that's related to film -- a local fest, a series of classic restored films, lectures, workshops, open calls for casting of an indie film -- send your tips to me at kim(at)cinematical(dot)com and we'll add them to the calendar. Here are this week's happenings in film from New York to LA and points in between, right after the jump ...
Cinematical Seven: How Theaters Can Lure Audiences Back
Filed under: Exhibition », Movie Marketing », Cinematical Seven »
Unless I am with hardcore film geeks, it seems like every time a group of friends or relatives talks about movies, they vent about why they don't go out to see movies in theaters as much anymore. It's too expensive, they can rent perfectly good movies at home, babysitters cost way too much, it's not worth dealing with a loud and annoying audience, and by the time they sit through 30 minutes of high-volume commercials and banal previews, they are ready to leave before the movie even begins. Even my sister complains about the pre-movie ads, and she has no problem with watching commercials on TV.
Many big theater chains are fighting the trend to home entertainment. They are against shorter windows between theatrical release and DVD, they snarl the minute they hear the term "day and date," they claim that the problem is that the movies just aren't as good as they used to be. I think that theater owners need to think about innovative ways to get audiences back into theaters, instead of arguing themselves into obsolescence. Fortunately, many theaters are doing just that, so you can still find some places to enjoy a night out at the movies.
Going to the movies is supposed to be fun. Theaters need to make the theatergoing experience special and fun and as hassle-free as possible. There's nothing like seeing the manager or owner of a movie theater right there in the audience with you because he or she can't resist joining in the enjoyable time you're having. I've come up with a list of seven ways in which theaters, both chains of all sizes and indies, can potentially draw people out of their living room home theaters and back into big theaters again. I've included a few examples from my part of the country, but feel free to tell us about other theaters that are innovating to keep audiences returning. And if you have more ideas for theaters yourself, I'd enjoy hearing about them.
Indies Try Alternative Distribution Options
Filed under: Documentary », Independent », SXSW », Distribution », Cinematical Indie »
Indie filmmakers have been trying all kinds of ways to show their films when they're unable to find a good distribution deal. Sometimes their methods seem as creative as the filmmaking. Two of the films I saw at SXSW this year have selected some innovative methods of distribution:- 51 Birch Street, the personal documentary directed by Doug Block, will be distributed via Landmark's new Truly Indie program. Filmmaker/blogger A.J. Schnack points out that this is great news for filmmakers, because Block is a prolific longtime blogger and will hopefully share the pros and cons of his experience with Truly Indie.
- Jumping off Bridges, the narrative feature directed by Kat Candler, is being self-distributed. Storie Productions will tour the Austin-shot feature around the country in the next few months. What's different for this film is that many of the screenings are co-sponsored by local suicide prevention groups and counseling centers. The drama's storyline centers around teen and adult characters who have to deal with a suicide.
If you're interested in this sort of thing, IFC has also posted some recent news about indie films trying various self-distribution strategies. [via CinemaTech]
AMC Goes Arthouse
Filed under: Documentary », Independent », Exhibition », Cinematical Indie »
I reported earlier that theaters have been
trying to find new ways
to attract audiences. Multiplex chain AMC has decided to boost movie attendance by shifting its programming in some
markets. The AMC Select program, starting this weekend, will devote 72 screens in 39 markets to arthouse/indy features
and documentaries. The upcoming movies listed for the AMC Select program are big-name, well-known films such as An Inconvenient Truth, Little Miss Sunshine, and A Prairie Home Companion. No foreign-language or micro-budget films were listed. AMC isn't taking any real risks with this venture or giving screens to films that might not have theatrical play otherwise. These are all films you might see in a Landmark-owned theater. The article also doesn't mention which cities AMC will target with this new program -- are they the same cities that already have Landmark or other arthouse theaters, or is AMC planning to bring these indy films to new cities? Will the AMC Select program really lure more people into theaters, or simply draw them away from competing theaters?
Comcast/IFC in day-date deal
Filed under: Independent », Deals », IFC », Distribution », Home Entertainment », Politics », Mark Cuban », Cinematical Indie »
Comcast and IFC Entertainment will today
announce their deal (first outlined by Karina a month
ago) to simultaneously release independent films in theaters and on television, via video-on-demand. Kicking off on
March 24 with American
Gun, the agreement will have films in theaters across the nation (in IFC's theaters as well as in Mark Cuban's
Landmark Theaters; negotiations are on-going with other chains) while they are being offered to Comcast subscribers in
22 major markets for $5.99/viewing. Despite the fact that the agreement lacks a DVD element, Comcast's reach is
dramatically greater than that of the HD Channel on which Bubble
aired, and there's a good chance that Comcast/IFC's films will be seen by a much larger audience than Soderbergh's film.Because VOD is very hard to pirate, and because Comcast could theoretically pick and choose the markets in which these films are offered, it's hoped that the Comcast/IFC approach will be less threatening to supporters of traditional distribution than the Bubble experiment. IFC actually quietly test the system with a day-date release for C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America this month, and the film, despite being available via VOD to Cablevision subscribers, has done record business in IFC theaters - this, too, should suggest to studios and theater owners that the approach is not necessarily a death knell for exhibition. Among the two dozen or so films IFC and Comcast will release are I Am a Sex Addict, Three Times (by Taiwanese master Hou Hsiao-hsien, whose work is virtually impossible to see in the US), and The Russian Dolls, which stars Amelie's Audrey Tautou).
Look, the fact is that fans of independent film want to see these movies - to some degree, this is going to work. Day-and-date releasing is not going away, and it's time for theater owners and studios to stop whining and, instead, figure out how they can get involved, and use the approach to their advantage. Times change. Deal with it.
Landmark, Cuban not so in love with Sony's projector
Filed under: Deals », Tech Stuff », Mark Cuban »
Just a day after Sony's Howard Stringer bragged at CES about bagging Landmark as
the first customer for Sony's high res 4K projector, Landmark announced (also at CES) the indie chain is ditching the
Sony 4K projector in favor of Barco's 2K projectors. Apparently nobody told Stringer. Cinematech reports that in an
email to them in December, Landmark's Mark Cuban said Landmark had installed a couple of Sony's projectors and was
"battle testing" them. Guess that didn't work out so well. Landmark's announcement leaves Sony in a bit
of a lurch, with zero - count 'em, zero - customers for it's projector, which has been plauged with technical and
delivery issues.
New Orleans arthouse theater back in February
Filed under: Exhibition »
New Orleans is still in terrible shape, but at least residents will get to see
independent films again soon. The news that Canal Place Cinema, a Landmark
theater, will reopen on Feb. 10 was buried in a Times-Picayune article
about the Southeastern Film Critics Association. Canal Place Cinema is located on the outskirts of the French Quarter
and took a beating earlier this year due to Hurricane Katrina. While a number of movie theaters in the greater New Orleans area have reopened in the past couple of months, none showed independent or foreign-language films. Even The Prytania, the only single-screen theater in the area, shows big-budget films like King Kong. For example, New Orleans-area residents were eager to see Capote, which they saw advertised in national TV commercials, but the AMC-owned open theaters chose not to offer the film. Many of the 2005 films being given awards or lauded in critics top-ten lists have been unavailable to New Orleanians. Moviegoers have had to drive to Baton Rouge to see "smaller" films, which is a complete reversal from my LSU days when we drove from Baton Rouge to New Orleans to see foreign films. Once Canal Place Cinema opens again, movie-loving New Orleanians will have a lot of catching up to do.
Wagner admits doubts about simultaneous release
Filed under: Tech Stuff », Distribution », Exhibition », Home Entertainment », Mark Cuban »
Laura M. Holson
contributed a piece to the New York Times yesterday about the changing face of distribution and, fittingly,
she saved Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner's revolutionary alliance with Steven Soderbergh for last. The moguls and the
director are working together to simultaneously launch a series of films, starting with Bubble, on DVD, in
theaters, and on cable; as Holson writes, "What the three men are proposing is a radical - and, to theater owners
and existing distributors, not particularly welcome - model of how movies could be distributed one day." It's not
at all surprising that Cuban and Wagner's competitors would alternately find the proposal foolhardy and terrifying
– the kicker is that Holson gets Wagner to agree. "I know if I went to [a non-Landmark] theater and said,
'Let's sell the movie at the same time on DVD and in the theater,' they would say 'no'. I don't think there is a right
answer yet. We are experimenting. If we are just dead wrong, we are not going to do it anymore." This seems like a
radical change in faith for Wagner – what's causing the drop in confidence? Has the home office finally faced the
fact that whilst Bubble is a very interesting film, it's not a very commercial film – and thus, is
probably not the best subject for a simultaneous release experiment?The New Odd Couple: Ford and Mark Cuban
Filed under: Deals », Newsstand », Movie Marketing »
Mark
Cuban's Landmark Theatres have signed a two-year deal with Ford Motor
Company (the Mercury division) to "present preshow 'making of'
featurettes, and interviews with directors," as well as possible free
screenings. While this move already has some advertising-wary filmgoers
calling for boycotts, I'm not convinced that it's a disaster for
audiences.Obviously, everyone who has had to sit through hours of pre-preview ads is pretty cynical about any contracts between theaters and potential advertisers, no matter what they seem to promise - and with good reason. It might be a little early yet, though, to totally condemn this move. Under the current system, I pay $15 for a ticket and sit through 10 minutes of ads before the movie I've paid for even starts. That's crappy for me all the way around. But if I had to sit through a Mercury add or two in exchange for seeing a movie for free, or watching an interview with Wong Kar-Wai before 2046, I'd do it in a second. The way this contract sounds, it's almost as if Ford is buying the right to advertise their products to us - giving us something we want in exchange for our time. Personally, I think that sounds like a much better deal for audiences. What do you guys think?
Landmark, Cuban not so in love with those Sony projectors
Just a day after Sony Chairman Howard Stringer bragged at CES about bagging Landmark as
the first customer for its high res 4K projectors, Landmark ditched Sony, opting to go with Barco's 2K projectors
instead. Landmark announced the switch Friday at CES - apparently no one had told Stringer about the move before
his speech. Landmark had previously installed a couple of Sony projectors and was "battle testing them",
according to an email from Landmark's Mark Cuban to Cinematech back in December. I guess the battle testing didn't work
out so well - Sony's 4K projectors have been plauged with delivery issues and technical problems and now they
have no customers to brag about.
Spin-ematical: New on DVD for 11/10
Fun with Math: The Huge Box Office Numbers for 'Precious'
Girls on Film: Domestic Violence and Media
'Spider-Man 4' Villain Rumor: Rachel McAdams as Black Cat
Original A-Team Making Cameos in New Movie?
