1000 True Fans

Apparently that's all it takes. As we move towards our Calvin Marshall world premiere, Malcolm Gladwell, Facebook and all the DIY tools have practically forced their way into our game plan. We never even asked for it.

It's easy for me to be cynical about this. At what point will there be backlash for this kind of self-promotion? Look at how fast myspace jumped the shark? At what point will people abandon Facebook because they don't want to be bothered with another movie or cause that's fighting for their attention?

I have to admit, though, it's unbelievably cool to do some of these things, so we're embracing it. At least most of it. And, over the next year we'll be looking for even more innovative ways to stand out and make people aware of our movie.

A lot of things are in the works, but for now, if you'd like to support our cause and stay up to date, please become a Calvin fan on Facebook by clicking the link on the upper right.

You can also spread the word about the initial teaser we just posted and rate it on Youtube

One of things I wanted to do in this blog was demystify the filmmaking process. I hoped it would be a place where both fans of Calvin and aspiring filmmakers could peak behind the curtain. With that goal in mind, we'll be posting some cool behind the scenes footage in the coming weeks.

Thanks for the support everyone.

Calvin Teaser

Calvin Marshall Teaser from Broken Sky Films on Vimeo.

Teaser

People always complain about movie trailers giving away too much of the story. On the flip side, distributors argue that if you don't give away the entire movie, people are less likely to go see it.

Both perspectives make sense to me in a way, but ideally a trailer gets people on the hook without giving too much story away or misrepresenting the movie.

We have a traditional trailer cut for Calvin Marshall that we're liking, but we're not yet ready to show it -- at least not until we have a firmer handle on our release plan. Our thought is if a trailer is online too long before someone can go see the movie or put the dvd in their netflix queue, then it has a way of wearing out its welcome.

So, we've decided (in lieu of the trailer) to release a teaser leading up to the premiere.

Our teaser gives the "feel" of the movie away with little exposition revealed. The montage is 1:18 and set to a piece of score by our composer John Askew.

The teaser accomplishes two things; first and foremost, it gives people a little glimpse into Calvin's world and the characters that populate it. Secondly, it gives people a taste of the overall tone, which is at times ironic and funny, but more often melancholic and sincere.

In addition to the teaser introducing our trifecta - Calvin, Little and Tori - we also call attention to some supporting cast. This device allows us to show shots of actors in a montage without having to give away too much story information. We couldn't fit in everyone and it's an unorthodox move perhaps, but this was an idea we liked so we're trying it out.

Hope you enjoy it. You can check it out at our website where new information and other surprises will appear leading up to our initial screenings.

World Premiere - Austin Film Festival 2009

Austin's a great city to premiere Calvin Marshall because, at least from an outsider's perspective, it seems to unabashedly embrace both sports and independent film. You don't find this everywhere.

http://www.brokenskyfilms.com/

It's Official!

CALVIN MARSHALL will have it's world premiere in October.

It's been over 19 months since we wrapped shooting. It would've been nice to premiere earlier this year, but something about this fall feels right.

We could've moved faster if we had the resources and hired a few more people. An accountant and a post production supervisor would have been great. But sometimes you only move as fast as the creative process and the budget allows. It was probably good for us to go through each step carefully, even if it took longer in the end.

Down the home stretch we were lucky to have a few pros in our corner -- Cece Hall and Mark Goldblatt. They were generous with their time and weighed in on editorial and helped us make some difficult decisions before locking picture.

After locking, we started from scratch on the sound mix. John Askew's rich score continued to evolve and our needle drop choices got better. Our post sound team (led by David Raines) created a complex layered mix that added unexpected depths and subtleties. We are all thrilled with the results.

More information around our October screening coming soon. We might screen at a few additional festivals before the movie is distributed in March of 2010. There will also be some special word of mouth screenings leading up to the release.

The distribution details are coming together but it will all depend on how much P&A we have. I'm expecting a strategic theatrical release and then VOD, DVD and DIGITAL following quickly after. This release plan could change a little, but for right now this is what we expect.

Everything Takes Longer Than You Expect Part 2

Hurry up and wait. It's been a reality every step of the way.

Lately we've had some good momentum and see light at the end of the tunnel. We will have an announcement soon.

In the mean time here's an interview I did with the Austin Film Festival last week.

http://tinyurl.com/garyAFF

Everything Takes Longer Than You Expect

We discovered this when our original 2005 start date pushed indefinitely. (Filming didn't begin until late 2007)

We learned this in post-production when locking picture took more than a year. (Not 6 months)

And now we're learning these lessons again in the ever-changing landscape of distribution.

We were anticipating premiering and releasing "Calvin Marshall" in 2009 during spring-training. (now)

The reason we're not is because we've been focussed on two critical goals since the very beginning.

1. Maximum exposure for the finished film.

2. Profit to our investors.

Every decision we make is executed with these two things in mind.

We want our world premiere to occur no more than two months before our theatrical release. This way, publicity dollars spent on the premiere will have an impact on our theatrical campaign.

Using the same logic, when the film is pulled from theaters, the DVD, VOD, CABLE and DIGITAL releases will follow quickly and with some momentum.

Keep in mind, all of this must be orchestrated months and months ahead of time.

With all that said, we will have some firm things to announce in the near future. We're looking forward to releasing the trailer and announcing the details around our world premiere.