“There were no good old days”

How To Meet Girls & Release Independent Cinema in New Zealand

Some people* have been asking me the following;

Why is the acclaimed local comedy HOW TO MEET GIRLS FROM A DISTANCE going out on 14 screens and not 40 screens? And why do a limited release in today’s market when the digital era apparently was supposed to solve the issue of prohibitive releasing costs (ie 35mm prints & shipping etc).

And secondly how do I meet girls (or boys)?

The low budget feature film HOW TO MEET GIRLS FROM A DISTANCE is having a limited nationwide release on November 1st. It is going out on 14 screens in Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Te Awamutu, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin. You can get all the times from our friends at FLICKS.co.nz.

To get you up to speed about the film, we need to quickly cover the story so far with some handy bullet points.

• The initiative gets the green light and is awarded a fund from the New Zealand Film Commission and NZ On Air to give away $100,000 to a filmmaking team to create a low budget feature film.

• Entrants simply had to design a poster and supply a synopsis. The public got involved and added their voice to what they’d like to see made. A short list was produced and eventually the team called Traces of Nut won the competition with their peeping tom rom com HOW TO MEET GIRLS FROM A DISTANCE.

• The entire process was covered by an entertaining web-series that is a must for anyone who is considering making a lowbudget feature. You can see that here. http://www.makemymovie.co.nz/webisodes/

• The entire film was written and completed within a 6mth period, breaking all sorts of records (and possibly laws) in the process.

• The film was accepted into the NZ Film Festival, where it received rapturous acclaim from audiences who loved its oddball low-fi charms. It sold out of numerous screenings with others being added to the festival schedule.

• The film was quickly snapped up for Australia & NZ by Madman Entertainment.

• The film is due for release to 14 theatres on Nov 1.

Phew. Okay that’s the story so far.

The reason why the film is not going out on multiple screens everywhere is because myself along with Michael Eldred from Madman believe that there is nothing more damaging to a small indie than going out too wide and putting everything into the first weekend.

That’s what The Avengers and every other studio film does. It’s the way of the industry today, heavily front-loaded. Hit em hard and hit em fast. This tactic works wonders if you have a multi-million dollar package & marketing spend + awareness through the roof. But for a lil battler of an indie, all you are doing is hobbling the film by splitting your audience over multiple screens. Go out on too many screens And they’ll seem empty and lifeless. The film loses and so do the exhibitors who enjoy screens being maximised, otherwise they’ll drop it off their schedule pronto.

If you don’t have a big marketing spend, then you need to focus on the things you do have. Nothing helps the little guy like positive word-of-mouth and you need time for that to kick in. Time you sure don’t have when you are on 50+ screens. We’d prefer to have less screens that are busier than many more that have tumbleweeds in em.

Others don’t agree. They think digital delivery means lock up as many screens as you can, 10 audience members here and there, it all adds up. Boxoffice is everything right? We’re not arguing with that. It’s called show business for a reason. We just believe that the collective experience is one of the few things that is separating the cinema experience from the home-video one which is improving every single day.

Especially in terms of a comedy. There is nothing better than feeling the audience click into a films charms and go along for the ride. It beats the home-cinema experience every single time…. even with the odd prick txting or rustling their chip packet nearby.

The chances of getting that communal experience is much greater with a focused release in theatres where the exhibitors know they have a exclusive (or close-to) run of your title. We feel it’s a win, win.

That’s if people turn up. And they should turn up as it’s a great local movie to see with a crowd.

Did I say the acclaimed comedy HOW TO MEET GIRLS FROM A DISTANCE opens on 14 screens Nov 1 in NZ?

And its Facebook page is here: https://www.facebook.com/HowtoMeetGirlsFromaDistance?fref=ts And its website is here : http://www.howtomeetgirlsfromadistance.co.nz/ And follow on twitter here : @HTMGFAD_movie

So thank you for taking the time to read something that probably has zero appeal to you and you’ve simply been reading this far to find out the secret to meeting girls (or boys).

Well as the esteemed dating & sex guru Carl Stewart might say in an acclaimed lil indie comedy.. “if you throw enough darts, you’re bound to hit the bullseye one day”.

Thank you,

Ant TIMPSON Executive Producer MAKE MY MOVIE & HOW TO MEET GIRLS FROM A DISTANCE

(*)_ No one asked, just a pathetically obvious ruse to make this seem like an informal conversation between close friends and not a mass post to a cold hard database of faceless potential $10 bills._

Vietnamese karaoke at the grimy red blossom. Sus sus sudiooooo did I suck.

More creepy stuff from The ABCs of Death. Countdown to World Premiere has begun.

Raglan

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