With all the bad news re the indie film world — like here, here, and here — it’s rather a head-turning experience to see some good news. But that’s the thrust this LA Times article:
Hollywood’s commitment to independently financed movies has declined as much as the stock market. Now, a distributor wants to take advantage of the retrenchment — the fatalities include Warner Independent Pictures, Yari Film Group, Picturehouse, Paramount Vantage, New Line Cinema and ThinkFilm — by launching a specialty film label.Today, Anchor Bay Entertainment, better known as a purveyor of straight-to-video horror and exercise titles, will introduce its first release as a newly formed theatrical distributor, a tiny art film called “The Education of Charlie Banks.”
The 2-year-old movie, which was directed by Limp Bizkit rocker Fred Durst and whose most recognizable star is “The Squid and the Whale’s” Jesse Eisenberg, isn’t likely to make a splash in its limited theatrical release. But Anchor Bay’s parent company, Overture Films, which is backed by cable TV magnate John Malone’s Liberty Media Corp., believes it can fill a void for independent pictures at the multiplex, particularly at a time when many film festival movies can’t find a theatrical distributor.
“There’s a ton of product out there with recognizable talent that isn’t getting bought these days,” said Chris McGurk, chief executive of Anchor Bay and Overture. Added Bill Clark, Anchor Bay’s president, “While everybody else is cutting back, we are aggressively investing in growth.”
But even with ‘good’ news, there’s a catch:
Whereas Overture might spend $15 million in theatrical prints and advertising costs in a national release, Anchor Bay intends to spend a tenth of that, hitting only a couple of key cities in some cases.“The idea with Anchor Bay titles is to start in 25 markets or so, with no guarantees that it will get to 100 screens,” McGurk said. Moreover, he plans to rush the movies onto the DVD shelves of stores like Target and Wal-Mart within weeks, rather than the typical months, of their appearance in theaters to get a sales lift from the theatrical advertising campaign.
“In some ways, the theatrical release is just setting up the DVD release,” McGurk said.
In other words: tail (DVDs) wags dog (theatrical release).
Still anybody who’s willing to put up money and generate indie product, more power to them.
Looks like a good business model to me. The market for DVD (and whatever comes after) is just getting stronger. What’s the average ratio of viewers watching a movie at home vs going to theater these days? I can’t speak for everyone but I see most of my movies while sitting on my own comfortable couch. Hollywood can’t afford to keep up with the demand by making movies that cost in excess of 150 million dollars each. There’s room in the market for a clever distributor/producer that offers decent quality “popcorn” movies to a large hungry audience.
Mike, you are absolutely correct.
As J. Paul Getty wrote, “The man who comes up with a means for doing or producing almost anything better, faster or more economically has his future and his fortune at his fingertips.”