The indie film movement

This is yet another non-requested opinion, and this time I am going to rant about the independent film movement...

The Oscars gave an interesting insight and while the media keeps pounding on how boring it was because nobody has even seen the films that were up for awards.

The only film that made more than 100 million

dollars was the indie hit JUNO. Juno also won Best Picture at the independent spirit awards (where Chris Eska's August Evening won the John Cassavetes Award. Much congrats to his team!)

The others made less than $65 million (in theatres).

What's interesting is that these meaningful movies that are quite unique and thought-provoking get shunned by the public but shine at all the award shows.

The truly sad part is that the big studios are making these movies only as side projects, and when they make them, they make them with a very modest budget compared to the big blockbusters.

I guess that's the independent filmmakers job. Our job is to illuminate the world to our truly unique vision and perspective.

Our passion for telling a story is almost tangible. We don't see it as a job, we see it as our duty.

I truly salute everyone that is pushing the limits...

As we set to the task of delving into our next not-yet-named-feature, we are all incredibly excited about the whole independent movement.

Some movies are fun, but there are others that are unforgettable...

:-)

Opinion: The future of distribution

HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray
What is to be the future format for watching movies?

As I'm sure you must have not heard by now... The HD war is over, and the winner is Blu-Ray!

Hmmm the bad thing is nobody cared...

And that got me thinking into the future for distribution, obviously being an independent filmmaker I'm affected by this.

Well let's quickly talk about the past and the present state of distributing feature films.

Ever since its introduction the feature film has been enjoyed the most at a movie theatre. It is easy to get sucked into a great story told by a huge screen and loud speakers...

A movie could last months or even years in theatres... No one could take the movies home, so it was natural that movies would last for months in theatres...

Later on with the advent of Home Video (VHS) Hollywood became very nervous of this newfound technology. They thought people would never go to the movies again.

Video rental stores devoured the film business, but later found out people still went to see the latest movies... And that was only because for a movie to come out on VHS, you would have to wait more than 8 months to even a year until it came out for rental (and forget about buying a film, since it would cost 80 to 100 dollars to purchase a VHS copy!)

DVD came along and shook the film business again, only this time it was for the better, economically at least.

Almost 80% of Hollywood's profits are from DVD's today. For a big budget movie that is only going to stay at the local theatre for two months (at the most) it will barely break even... After the 2 months they would release the film on DVD and really rake in the profits.

You see DVD's are cheap to produce and now people could buy their favorite film on high quality AND receive bonus features for a super low bargain prices (there are DVD's at the dollar store!!!).

So everyone wins...

So along comes Blu-Ray HD, and is promising to replace the DVD... Don't get me wrong, the quality is jawdropping, but I am not paying 30-40 bucks for quality...

I honestly think that Blu-Ray is not competing against HD-DVD, it's real competitor will be online download video rentals and purchase sites... (iTunes, Jaman, are great examples)

With the advent of high-quality screens on phones such as the iPhone, the new nokia phones, and other smartphones this will also be an important factor in the consumption of media...

These next 2 years will be very interesting to see where everything is going...

Staying Independent

It is very exciting to see this as an independent filmmaker because of the wealth of opportunities this creates.

I can't wait for the revolution...

_____________________________________

References:
http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/16/toshiba-pulling-the-plug-on-hd-dvd-already/

http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/15/wal-mart-to-officially-discontinue-hd-dvd-sales-by-june/

Hector's Dad passes away (Updated)

Hector Hernandez's Dad passed away yesterday afternoon.
We are deeply saddened and it is in these times when I am at lost with words.

But please let's show Hector, Jaqueline and his family know that they are not alone, in this difficult time.

You can post your support here in the comments, or you can send him a personal note at this email hh @ digitalworkstudios dot com.

Update:

Beloved husband, father, and grandfather, Elisandro P. Hernandez, age 71, passed peacefully from this life into the presence of God on Wednesday, February 6, 2008. He was surrounded by those who loved him. Chano leaves a legacy of hard work and dedication to his family. He is survived by his wife of 41 years, Cruz C. Hernandez; children, Henry (Diane), Greg (Adriana), Hector (Jacqueline), Javier (Angelica), Jaime (Sarah), and Imelda; 9 grandchildren: Ashley & Saul, Jacqueline & Jeniffer, Diego & Sofia, Armando & Mario, and Gilbert; numerous other family members and a host of friends. The family would like to express its deepest appreciation to all those who kept the family in prayer.

Visitation will be held at Castillo Funeral Home on Sunday, Feb. 10^th at 10:00 am to 7:00 pm with a Rosary recital to follow. Mass will be held on Monday, 10:00 a.m. followed by a gravesite service at San Fernando Cemetery #2.

Happy Ash Wednesday!

Well today is Ash Wednesday. jajajaja

I guess today would be a great day to let everyone know the details about the distribution of Capitulo Unus and of our future.

Well, Ash will be distributed by Laguna Productions and they will be our main distributors in the United States and would be our intermediary for the rest of the world... We are working on distributing to the rest of the galaxy, but it doesn't seem this is going to happen anytime soon...

Until then, the plan would include distributing the film, starting with the U.S. on pay-per-view/video on demand, etc... And later on to follow with a full release to DVD and would be available to retailers everywhere.

We had several options in distributing Capitulo Unus, and Laguna, apart from giving us a great deal, we liked the way they work the DVD market.

They focus primarily on the Hispanic market, but are really strong and cemented in the retailers that matter (including WalMart, Best buy, Blockbuster, among others)

As of now we don't have a release date, but of course we will post it here first! ALSO, thanks to everyone for the amazing amount of support.

ALSO, on the "future project", let's just say that it is in the works. jajajaja

What I CAN say is that we have to grow out of our comfort zone. We have done the best we could with very, very... very limited resources.

Now it's time for the next step.

:)