December 12, 2007

• “HATCHET” on DVD - Dec 18th

  The release of a film’s DVD is pretty much the close of a project’s journey. 

  Finishing the shoot just kicks off the first of many stages in the promotion machine and gatherings with the cast.   There’ s always stuff leading up to: the anticipated open, the premiere and finally the DVD. 

  So I’m closing the almost 3 year long chapter on ”HATCHET” with the DVD signing this Sunday, Dec 16 at 2pm at The Dark Delicacies Bookstore (4213 W. Burbank Blvd.Burbank, CA 91505). 

  The DVD will be out everywhere on Dec 18th – so check it out on Netflicks, Blockbuster, Amazon, Best Buy (comes with a Hatchet Keychain) etc.  This is the unrated version that originally scored us an NC-17 rating with the MPAA for basically showing a  monster chasing kids around a swamp while other movies like “Saw IV” got an R-rating even though it depicts a guy being fed his own private parts.   Weird set of standards.

  The film did very well in major cities like NY and LA – where we were actually the number one film that weekend in those theaters. 

  However, we opened too wide in the first weekend — in almost 80 theaters. 

  So while we were pulling in $10,000 per theater in the major cities, the dozen theaters in places like Texas sat totally empty because we had no promotion.  Thus, those empty seats diluted our per screen average that weekend to about $1,500 per screen – not very  impressive by any means. 

  Also, an early cut of the film got leaked onto the internet that weekend and was being downloaded like crazy– like a few thousand times an hour.  Stop the ripping, people! 

  A better way in hindsight would’ve been to open in a handful of theaters, even just one, and allowing word of mouth to catch on in addition to having a high per screen average to intrigue the audience and press.  But $1,500 per screen just doesn’t raise any eyebrows.  It was a first theatrical release for the distributors, lesson learned I suppose. 

  But now it’ll be on video shelves forever to hopefully become a cult hit.  A funny tidbit to close out “Hatchet” — the distribution company ran a contest where the winner received an all expense-paid trip out to LA to have dinner with the cast and director.  Long story short… the winner was a ‘sweepstakes-a-holic’.  Meaning that she just enters tons of drawings/competitions to win prizes and trips.  She hadn’t even seen the film!  It was a peculiar dinner to say the very least. 

  More power to her for bucking the system and scoring a free trip but would’ve made any horror-fan boy/girl’s evening to win.  Oh, and she also won a seat to the World Series of Poker two years ago but busted out early (she wasn’t a poker player).  Again!  Some poker fanboy/girl (me!) would’ve loved to have won that and make a real run at the final table.

  But with every project that comes to an end, a new one (hopefully) begins.  Enter: The Gene Generation.  The comicbook series entitled: ‘DNA Hacker Chronicles’ will kickoff in January — to strengthen the audience base for the movie.  An interesting marketing strategy.  And interestingly enough, what’s increasing the chances of distribution is the current Writer’s Guild Strike.  Hardly anything’s being made right now and there’s a shortage of movies and ours is already done! 

  Here’s a new sneak peek:  

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