May 10, 2005
Before I move onto more interesting discussions of future works, let me provide a recap of where we're at with Deadroom (based on our meeting the other night). We're not necessarily counting on getting into any more festivals, although we're not discounting it either; we continue to receive invitations to submit with fees waived (from all across the globe now), which doesn't really give us an edge, or even much room to hope - but at least it's not costing us anything.
As far as distribution goes, we have two options:
a.) Try to secure home video distribution from a somewhat reputable company who may be able to market it on its potential art/indie/cult appeal.
b.) Release the (fully loaded) DVD ourselves.
We're not counting on the former, and I don't think any of us are interested in attempting the latter - mainly because we can't afford it. And to be honest, I'm somewhat uncomfortable with the idea of having the movie available on a commercial basis. Nor, though, do I want its availability completely unrestricted - we're not going to throw a copy up on our website, by any means. We came up with a handful of intriguing ideas; some of which are viable, some of which will never come to pass (my suggestion that we imitate the prohibitive release of the Cremaster Cycle and sell DVDs for $500 apiece is one such concept), and most of which leave a lot of opportunity for digital bootlegging - a concept none of us are necessarily opposed to.
I'm not condoning piracy here, but simply taking into consideration all of our options. Obviously, none of us care about making a cent off this film; if we did, well - we wouldn't have made this film in the first place. There's certainly an audience for it - our festival screenings have told us that much - but I think it's small enough that an unconventional release would not only be more interesting, it would just make more sense.
If a distributor does decide they want to pick it up, though, that's fantastic - all we ask is that we retain some say over the cover art and the extra features.
Posted by David Lowery at May 10, 2005 04:37 PM
Comments
BitTorrent it :)
Posted by: Stu Willis at May 10, 2005 07:45 PM
i have to agree..throw a creative commons license on it. my buddy runs legaltorrents.com, always a nice start ;)
Posted by: brad at May 11, 2005 02:08 AM