In Partnership
The one thing I learned when publishing magazines is that your distributors, in all their forms, are your partners. Produce a good magazine and it will sell. Likewise, the same is true for a movie. But all this requires marketing on a day to day basis. A case in point, would be our last United States theatrical screening at the Chatham Orpheum theatre in September. It was a partnership between their theatre and Justice Is Mind. We both had one goal, sell as many tickets as possible and generate press. Not only did we have a great turnout and positive press, we also established a great post screening working relationship.
I’m delighted to announce that the Chatham Orpheum Post Production Services delivered our first DCP of Justice Is Mind last week! Some of you may be wondering what a DCP is. To quote Wikipedia, “A Digital Cinema Package (DCP) is a collection of digital files used to store and convey Digital cinema (DC) audio, image, and data streams.” While we always had our theatrical DVDs, now we have another theatrical option with DCP.
While I have yet to come across a theatre that can’t play from a DVD, it’s great that we now have a DCP option as the majority of theatres across the United States have converted to a digital format. I don’t profess to be an expert on this tech, but theatres do like to have this option. That being said, when Justice Is Mind was released in 2013 better than ½ the theatres we screened in still had not converted to digital. In the end, this just gives us another option. My special thanks to the Chatham Orpheum for their great work! To learn more about their DCP services please visit their website or email them at this address.
If the cyber-attack on Sony and subsequent pull of The Interview from the major chains demonstrated anything, it is that theatres are your partners and communication is key. While VOD is of course important, I still believe in the release model of theatrical distribution first followed by VOD. I think trying to marginalize theatres is a mistake. I read this past week about a film that got into Sundance, didn’t receive a distribution deal they thought was worth anything and is now is trying to fund a theatrical release by renting theatres and “then fans can pay what they want to see the film”. Aside from not agreeing with four walling (renting) for a variety of reasons, a pay what you want is a horrible precedent to set. In all our theatrical screenings, audiences paid whatever the general ticket price was for that theatre and market.
In the sequel to Justice Is Mind a congressional hearing is convened in 2026 to address a new development in mind reading by Reincar Scientific.
Margins in this business are squeezed enough for everyone. Do you admit someone to watch a movie in a theatre for $1 when the person behind them was going to pay $10? As my business partner said the other day there is an issue with perception in value. Yes, for VOD, the $1.99 rental is pretty standard. But the economics of that rate for a theatrical screening (via paying what you want) just won’t cover costs. Because what this all comes down to is how do investors get paid back when margins are so thin. It’s just simple economics of cost and revenue.
As I hit the 100 page mark of the sequel to Justice Is Mind this weekend, I truly wonder what the marketplace will be like by the time that film is released.
Act III.
In line with First World, the Diplomat reported that China leads the space race.
Theater Online
Watch Justice Is Mind for free on Viewster!
Who would have thought that just over a year after our world premiere we would be part of worldwide online contest, have a theatrical screening, go live on one of the world’s largest VOD platforms and have an international premiere in just over a month on an ocean liner? What this tells me is that all films are not created equal in terms of “following the book of distribution” and that sometimes things just take time to build. But to say I am thankful to the cast, crew, theaters, reporters and distributors that have worked with us would be a vast understatement. And then there are the audiences that have supported Justice Is Mind since the beginning. From a social post to attending a screening, without an audience a project will goes nowhere.
On Thursday, September 11, Justice Is Mind went live on Viewster’s Online Film Festival. Click this link to watch for FREE. In addition you can vote, comment and participate with social media for the opportunity to win a free trip for two to London! For those of you that will share our link socially, Viewster asks that you include the hashtag #VOFF. Please hashtag #JUSTICEISMIND as well! Our official press release can be found at this link.
Justice Is Mind on the marquee at the Chatham Orpheum Theater!
And this coming Thursday, September 18, Justice Is Mind will have its Cape Cod Premiere at the Chatham Orpheum Theater. While this will be our 19th screening, for me personally, I’m really looking forward to seeing some of the “Justice family” again. Indeed, I was quoted about that in the Cape Cod Times this past week in a great article of support for the screening. I’ve been involved in so many productions and events over the years but, for some reason, Justice is special. The reporter asked me about this and my response was pretty straight forward, all of us involved were on a collective mission to see the project all the way to the end. I know I’ve set the bar high for my next film, but that’s what this industry is all about raising the bar. Speaking of bar, they have one at the Chatham Orpheum. I will most certainly be having a drink…or two!
I also wanted to extend a thank you to the Cape Cod Chronicle and the Worcester Herald for their coverage of our September 18 screening. Supportive media are a driving component to building audiences.
Justice Is Mind now on Amazon Prime and Amazon Instant Video!
But it was this morning that Justice Is Mind went live on its first major VOD platform through Kinonation. I’m pleased to announce that Justice is available on Amazon Prime and Instant Video. Now in addition to Viewster’s 18 million plus, we are part of a platform with Amazon that not only delivers 20 million plus through Amazon Prime, but another countless millions through Amazon Instant Video. For anyone that has purchased anything through Amazon, or sells on Amazon, we are all aware of the power of this platform. Like Viewster, Amazon is algorithm based. The more views, comments (good or bad), likes, shares, etc. helps a film succeed. I can only speak from experience working with them on First World. A special thanks to Roger Jackson and his team at Kinonation. Filmmakers, check them out. They are great to work with.
Next stop…The Chatham Orpheum Theater!
The Ashton Times 