indieWIRE Examines the State of the Indie Distribution Business

There's a great article on indieWIRE that takes a look at the state of the the indie film business on the eve of Toronto. What do you think? How will we be seeing new independent and international movies in the coming years?

Telluride Panel Tackles Independent Film Distribution and Criticism

Over on the Spout Blog, Karina Longworth covers Snip Snip: Are Cutbacks in Film Distribution and Criticism Affecting Quality Filmmaking?, a panel at the Telluride Film Festival featuring Annette Insdorf (Columbia University), Michael Barker (Sony Classics), Danny Boyle (SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE), Scott Foundas (LA Weekly), Jonathan Sehring (IFC Films), Paul Schrader (ADAM RESURRECTED) and Anne Thompson (Variety). What do you think?

Independent Distribution Loses Another Outlet.

Red Envelope Entertainment, the acquisition and and distribution wing of Netflix has closed its doors. As blockbusters make more money and indies get more and more marginalized, going direct to DVD or to Cable TV, we hate to see indie distributors disappear, thus making our cinematic choices that much more limited.

Red Envelope Entertainment had released some pretty significant Chlotrudis films in its short life, including Chlotrudis Best Documentary winners from the past two years PROTAGONIST and THIS FILM IS NOT YET RATED. Just recently Red Envelope provided U.S. distribution for two Chlotrudis co-presentations, LOVE SONGS and WATER LILIES. Hopefully another company will turn up to take its place.

While discussing the difficulties of indie and foreign-language film distribution, a film that is sure to be of interest to Chlotrudis members has just been released directly to DVD in the States. HELP ME EROS the Taiwanese film directed by and starring Lee Kang-Sheng, muse and lead actor for beloved Chlotrudis director Tsai Ming-Liang, was released this week on DVD without receiving an official theatrical release. While most Chlotrudis members would probably prefer to see HELP ME EROS on the big screen, better on DVD than not at all!

A Couple of Tidbits

A couple of little news stories came out recently. Earlier this year Jessica Yu won Best Documentary for her film PROTAGONIST, which was also nominated in the Best Movie category, but she already has another film in the can, this one a narrative comedy called PING PONG PLAYA. Some of us caught this one in Toronto last year, while still more of us hopefully got a peek at the IFFB this spring. Now the rest of you can enjoy this because IFC has bought the U.S. rights and plan to give the film a limited release this fall.

Outfest 2008 announced its award winners last night, and XXY, their international winner is a must see according to Bruce. The best documentary award goes to SEX POSITIVE, which Jason gave a good review to when it played the IFFB. The oustanding U.S. dramatic feature went to Tom Gustafson's WERE THE WORLD MINE, recounting an all-boys production of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream.' Scot enjoyed WERE THE WORLD MINE, but I found it to be pretty disappointing, with a pretty bland and uninteresting protagonist. Just goes to show, your mileage may vary!

FOUR-EYED MONSTERS, YouTube, and Spout

Posted on behalf of Gil...

Just wanted to pass along some interesting news that I came across on YouTube. As you probably know, the filmmakers of FOUR-EYED MONSTERS have been extremely resourceful in promoting their independent film on the web. Last year, they even worked with IFFB in screening their film at the Somerville Theatre for a few weeks.

Now, the filmmakers have decided to work with Spout.com to post their whole 70-minute film on YouTube for free for one week only. At the beginning of the film, they explain that they will receive $1 for every person that signs up with Spout.com which is a social networking site for film fans. Signing up doesn't cost anything and only takes a few seconds. At the moment, they have raised $3100.

When coming across this on YouTube, I got excited for two reasons. First, I had missed the film at the Somerville so I'm glad that I had a chance to see this film. After watching it, I can see why they've developed a following and I hope that the filmmakers make another film. Second, if the FOUR-EYED MONSTERS filmmakers prove to have success in bringing new subscribers to Spout, it could provide an ideal alternative for indie filmmakers to fund their films.

So check out spout.com/foureyedmonsters and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Michael adds...

After Gil sent me this piece, I checked out Spout.com. It's pretty cool, I signed up, and made the FOUR-EYED MONSTERS another $1! So easy. Support Independent Film, and make me your friend if you join!

McDonald and Page Score in Berlin

Canadian filmmaker Bruce McDonald's latest film THE TRACEY FRAGMENTS scored a distribution deal at the Berlin Film Festival this week. This experimental film stars busy Chlotrudis-winner Ellen Page, who is nominated this year for her compelling performance in HARD CANDY. To tell his story of a girl struggling with puberty, McDonald takes the film title literally by using fragments of images, often many at a time, to visually represent what Tracey is experiencing. McDonald film work has been little seen in America (HIGHWAY 61, DANCE ME OUTSIDE, HARD CORE LOGO, PICTURE CLAIRE), but Chlotrudis members will definitely know him for some of his television work ("Twitch City," "DeGrassi: the Next Generation," "Queer as Folk").

THE TRACEY FRAGMENTS has been picked up by Canada's Odeon Films for distribution in Canada and Germany. Here's hoping it makes an appearance south of the border. With Page getting some attention with HARD CANDY, and the recent Sundance premiere of AN AMERICAN CRIME, in which she co-stars with Catherine Keener, perhaps THE TRACEY FRAGMENTS has a chance of getting U.S. distribution. THE TRACEY FRAGMENTS is based on a novel by Maureen Medved who also wrote the screenplay.