Without A Box

The Golden Globes. Yeah, I forgot about em. I was at work.

The Superbowl. I'll probably forget about that too.

The Oscars. I really don't care.

The Superbowl, well, that has to do with me not keeping up with any sporting even that didn't involve cards, pool, or free form fighting this past year. As far as awards. I'm at the point where I don't really care what movie wins an award, because I've got my brain wrapped around making and marketing my own. However I am quite happy that Jennifer Hudson won. And it's about damn time Eddie Murphy received something as well as Forest Whitaker. So good for them. And Sacha Baron Cohen, yes I am happy you won too. But I'm still envious that you get to bang Isla Fisher with frequency. So congrats and screw you.

I didn't care to tune in, cuz I'd rather be working. I'm glad for the winners, but I don't find myself taking nights off for award shows or TV events anymore. Unless there is some sort of segment on Indie Self distribution, I most likely will not be tuning in to the Oscars. Especially if I'm working, either at the day job or my real job.

I find myself lately surrounded by budget sheets and scrap pieces of paper covered in scribbles of numbers and prices and costs and sales figures. I'm trying to take a note from a wise piece of advice Lance Weiller (The Last Broadcast) said in an article on DIY Distribution. "Don't lose that same empowerment that you felt when you picked up the camera and shot the film in the first place."

So very true. It doesn't end when the movie is in final cut. That is honestly only the beginning. And since that final edit last year, it's been a bumpy road that hasn't really alloted me the chance to get going. But I've got my second wind back, and I'm ready to get going on distribution.

I'm aiming for a DVD release date of March, but in reality it may be more like April. This is also going to coincide with Festival Screenings as well as separate theatrical screenings. Any place I can show this movie I will and at the same time let people know that they can own it on DVD. This is also going to coincide with some fundraising for the sequel. I'm going full steam ahead on MONSTER COPS the movie. The series will come after. I fully garuntee an interesting and fun fundraising and marketing ride. Get the bail money ready, cuz I've got a plan.

I've got 5 packages to send out. Each with a DVD screener/press kit/promo kit. I already did one video about the basic DVD screener creation and what that entails, but I'm documenting the creation of the full kit and promo materials. I hope to have that up in a few weeks.

I really don't know what I would do without WITHOUTABOX. If you're an indie filmmaker and you're not utilizing Withoutabox.com, than you are just plain missing out. It's a festival data base and a one stop shop for entering festivals online. No need to fill out any paper work, now you can find the fest or fests you want, submit your info and press kit details, have your entry form and applications filled out automatically online, pay all of your entry fees online, and all you have to do is mail your DVD screener in. Entering fests have been so much easier since Withoutabox came along a few years back. It's also a huge help that you get discounts on many of these fest fees.

And they've really grown too. Almost every fest on the planet has signed up with them, making it easier to enter fests in one shot. Now they also provide DVD on demand delivery. They will burn and send in your DVD everytime you enter a fest online. Soon they will be much like Indieflix or Customflix where indies can distribute there DVD's on demand. They've even started something called AUDIENCE. It's pretty much MYSPACE for Filmmakers. Got a movie to promote, you can start your own Audience Page and upload pics, info, and trailers. Check out THE MIDNIGHT SPECIALS AUDIENCE PAGE. Many films have already used Audience to build buzz about their movie.

I'll tell ya though it's getting hectic having to keep up with all these promo pages. Audience, Myspace, Indieloop, etc. But it's worth it everytime I see how many new hits there are on monstercops.com. How the hell are we so popular in Germany? Everytime I check the stats, there's 20 new hits from Germany. I don't think I've even sent a screener out that far. Whatever, as long as they spend as much time as they do on the site getting to know the movie, I'm cool with it.

As posted on the WTW Blog, there will be some major changes to monstercops.com and whethertheweather.com. Got some major work to do.