The Starbox Blog

The Hanged Man Now on Facebook

2008-09-04T13:22:00.000-07:00

The Hanged Man and Circus Road Films

2008-08-26T19:52:00.000-07:00

Neil, Adam, and I are pleased to announce that we have signed a contract with Circus Road Films.

I think we've e-mailed most everyone who's still following ... but if we haven't contacted you, please drop me a line and I'll give you the details.

Glenn

Industry Screening - March 6

2008-03-10T07:59:00.000-07:00

I've just returned from our industry screening at Universal Studios in L.A.

We had a full house, and the movie was very well received. We are in communication with several distributors, and hope to have good news very soon.

Milling around Universal prior to the screening.

From Left: David Raines (Sound Mixer), Glenn Hopper
(Writer/Producer), Kerith Hopper (Production Coordinator),
Neil Weiss (Director/Producer), Joseph Carillo (Composer)

American Film Market

2007-11-12T15:55:00.001-08:00

Just back from the American Film Market in Santa Monica, where Neil and I met with 25 sales agents and distributors in three days.

It was a frantic few days, but well worth the trip.

Face-to-face meetings are invaluable, and it's great to have all the buyers in one place.

We are expecting to be considering offers by the end of this year.

We'll keep you posted.

Photos from the AFM

From left: Glenn, Neil, and Doug doing some last minute,
poolside research on a potential buyer between meetings.

The AFM takes place annually
in two hotels in Santa Monica.
All of the rooms are converted
to offices where sales agents
meet with buyers from all
over the world.

Neil and Glenn outside the American Film Market.

IndieMemphis a Success

2007-10-23T17:12:00.000-07:00

Just back from Memphis, where Neil and I were invited to host a panel on fundraising for independent filmmakers. We were joined on the panel by Bob Compton (venture capitalist and producer of the documentary Two Million Minutes). The panel was moderated by Les Edwards of IndieMemphis.

We met a lot of great filmmakers in Memphis (including John Sayles), and had a very good time at the festival, where we were also invited to show a rough cut of our film.

We were also only the second movie in IndieMemphis history to sell out -- A few people even sat in the aisles, and another 50 were turned away at the door!

I'm hoping to get pics back from the festival, but in the interim, here are a couple that were taken of the panel and the preview.

From Left: Neil Weiss, Glenn Hopper, and Bob Compton
host a panel on fundraising for independent filmmakersat IndieMemphis.

Glenn & Neil address the crowd before The Hanged Man preview.

The Hanged Man Tickets On Sale Now

2007-10-17T08:49:00.000-07:00

Tickets for the Memphis screening of The Hanged Man are now available on-line through Malco Theatres.

Buy tickets now.

New Hanged Man Gear

2007-10-11T14:38:00.000-07:00

We now have new Hanged Man gear available here.

IndieMemphis

2007-10-11T07:38:00.001-07:00

The IndieMemphis Festival Program is now available for download from their Web site.

2007 IndieMemphis Festival Guide.

The Hanged Man Movie Poster

2007-10-10T07:20:00.000-07:00

click for larger image

Poster and logo designed by Tom Martin.

Special Preview of The Hanged Man

2007-10-08T19:00:00.000-07:00

The Hanged Man has been invited to preview our film at this year's IndieMemphis Film Festival on Saturday, Oct. 20 at 6:25 p.m. at the Studio on the Square in Memphis, TN.

For more information on the screening, check out the IndieMemphis Web site.

The show is expected to sell out, so get your tickets early to guarantee seating. Tickets are available on line from IndieMemphis or from Malco Theaters in Memphis.

Download a PDF schedule here.

For more information about The Hanged Man, please see our Web site.

Hanged Man Logo

2007-09-13T10:08:00.000-07:00

We've been working with designer Tom Martin on our marketing package. Tom has completed development on our new logo for the film, and is working on our poster and DVD packaging. Stay tuned for more images on that front.

Our new logo will soon be featured on movie merchandise -- just in time for our World Premiere in October.

Score

2007-09-13T10:05:00.001-07:00

While in Memphis, we also sat down with Robby Grant at his home studio in Memphis and reviewed composition.

We're making great strides and nearing completion on that front, as well.

Post Production Update for Sept. 13

2007-09-13T09:50:00.000-07:00

Good news on the post-production front -- We now have ALL of our ADR complete. If you can't bring Mohamad to the mountain ... you go to Memphis to record your last actor's dialogue.

Neil and I met Ralph Hatley (the sheriff) at Young Avenue Sound in Memphis, where Kevin Cubbins (seated in photo above) helped us record his audio.

We are now within weeks of having a final mix on our film, which is great news, and prepares us for our World Premiere next month. Stay tuned for exciting details on our premiere and additional screenings in the coming months.

We are making some final tweaks to the video and finalizing our sound design and lining everything up to be on the mix stage in LA by the end of the month.

Soundtrack Sneak Peak

2007-07-17T21:08:00.000-07:00

As we move forward on post production sound, here is a sneak peak at some of the tracks we're using for the film from our composer, Robby Grant.

Stay tuned for more updates in the coming weeks.

Click here for the sounds of The Hanged Man.

Glenn

Now we're getting somewhere

2007-07-16T11:13:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update on our post production process.

Our foley is now complete, and this morning I just listened to the first two reels of original composition from Robby Grant.

We're finally going to be able to get our cast back in to do their ADR work on August 2 in Los Angeles.

So ... with the timing of everything coming in, it looks like what we optimistically planned for our 2006 festival strategy will be rolling right over to the 2007 film festival season.

Hopefully things will heat up around here in the coming months. We'll keep you posted.

Glenn

Post Sound Update for May 31

2007-05-31T06:28:00.001-07:00

The end is nigh ...

The end of post production, that is!

Our post sound department is nearing completion of the final phase of The Hanged Man. We will be reviewing our temp score this weekend with Jessica Harrison, our music supervisor, and handing everything over to our composer next week.

The first couple of reels of foley are complete, and the sound engineers are moving forward with anticipated completion by the end of June.

Sarah Payan, our ADR/Dialogue Editor, will complete all the dialogue editing/clean-up within the next week, and we'll be pulling the actors in this month for some ADR (Additional Dialogue Recording).

All of these post sound components will come together in time for our final mix in July -- in time for us to kick-off sales/distribution/festival strategy this summer.

Stay tuned for some upcoming marketing updates and more news on post production activities.

As always, feel free to call, e-mail, or comment here with questions.

Thanks,
Glenn

Post Production Update

2007-05-04T07:14:00.000-07:00

The Hanged Man Updated for May 2007

We now have picture lock on The Hanged Man and have output the movie with timecode for post production sound to get started. Our music supervisor had identified all the needed underscore, our sound engineers have come up with a theme and have begun their work. ADR/Dialogue is moving forward, and we're looking good for completing the film this summer (earlier rather than later!).

We have also started working on DVD labels, movie posters, and the logo for the film.

As we emerge from the radio silence of post, stay tuned for more updates to this blog and in other venues in the coming months.

RegisterFly Causes Web Problems

2007-03-12T06:41:00.000-07:00

Along with millions of other Web sites around the world, The Hanged Man Movie Web site has been up and down over the past week or so.

The site is fine, but Register Fly, the company we used to register our domain names, is currently imploding and creating havoc across the Web.

We are working on transferring the domain names to a new company, but until we do, you may not be able to access our Web sites.

To learn more, go to www.registerflies.com

Effected domain names:

We'll keep you posted.

Pick-Up Shots

2007-02-19T07:50:00.000-08:00

We completed the long anticipated pick-up shots for The Hanged Man on Saturday, February 17 on a sound stage in Los Angeles.

As we moved through post on The Hanged Man, we realized we needed a few more shots to increase tension within the film and to provide some backstory and clarification on some of our characters.

Time and budget didn't permit us to fly the whole crew back out to South Carolina to shoot on location, so we recreated the barn and other settings on a soundstage for these shots. If you can't bring Mohamad to the mountain ...

Thanks to a lot of hard work from production designer Austin Formato and several volunteers, we had some great looking set design that will add considerable value to the film once these new scenes are edited in.

Without revealing too much of what we shot, here are some pictures from the day:

Flash at home.

Jerry at home.

Recreating the loft.

Our brilliant production
designer, Austin Formato.

Doug transferring HD files during production.

"King Cobras Do" Release

2007-02-02T07:43:00.000-08:00

Our composer, Robby Grant's new CD, King Cobras Do, is available now.

Man and Vending Machine
Grant sings, plays, writes songs,
builds Web sites and satisfies his urge to create

February 2, 2007

On the surface, there's nothing really remarkable about Robby Grant. A quiet, unassuming 33-year-old, he's a husband, a father of two, a homeowner and has a job with a big title ("senior solutions architect") with local advertising company archer>malmo. But Grant is also one of Memphis' more interesting singer-songwriters -- and has been for more than a decade.

Though he's probably best known as a member of now-defunct rock band Big Ass Truck, he's quietly built an impressive catalog as a solo artist, mostly recording under the name Vending Machine. Last month, Grant released his fifth album, King Cobras Do. A charmed collision of styles and sounds, its 12 tracks refract everything from '50s doo-wop to early '80s Australian pop through his own skewed kaleidoscope. Grant will mark the release of the disc -- and the launch of his new label, Shoulder Tap -- with a show at the Hi-Tone on Saturday.

Full Article
My God, it's full of stars! From the makers of "The Hanged Man," an original motion picture.

Post Sound

2007-01-23T05:18:00.000-08:00

Quick update on post production -

We locked picture on January 15th and have moved into post sound. Neil is currently working with our post sound crew to finalize the remaining schedule so that we can complete "The Hanged Man" in the next couple of months.

Neil has begun work with our post sound team of sound engineers, Dialogue Editor / ADR Supervisor, VFX, Foley Supervisor / Editor, and Composer to coordinate everyone's efforts and ensure we stay on timeline and within budget.

We have received quite a few questions from supporters, investors, friends and family about what exactly we're doing now, as post all happens in magic dark rooms with nothing flashy to show until the end product.

I was going to type up an overview of the various activities taking place right now, but a quick trip over to wikipedia and lo and behold, there's a pretty good overview of post production there.

So ... here's what we're doing now:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_production

Post Production Update

2007-01-04T07:12:00.000-08:00

I know it's been a long time since we updated the blog. We are moving forward with post production daily; it's just hard to find anything exciting to say about things like "after reviewing TJ's performance in shot two of scene 24A, we replaced take two with take six because while his eyeline was slightly off, the performance was better and continued the tone we established in scene 23."

Other exciting debates have centered around font choices for the opening credit sequence and which exact frame to cut to create maximum suspense.

We are also going to be shooting a few pick-up shots, which we should be able to do in a single weekend, and will handle in LA ~ so no one will have to fly back out to South Carolina to work on location.

We are a couple of weeks behind schedule on post, but will still have everything to our sound guys and composer by mid-February for them to begin their work.

We have a few more festivals to submit to in the next couple of months and are trying to iron out our festival strategy now. Next ones on our list are probably Tribeca and Toronto. There are some smaller, regional festivals coming up (e.g. LA and Atlanta), but we're not sure if it would be in our best interest to hit these yet.

That's it from this end.

Guys, you all have my e-mail. If you have any questions, please drop me a line.

I'll report back soon,
Glenn

New Vending Machine CD

2006-11-27T07:36:00.000-08:00

Our composer, Robby Grant, will be releasing a new CD called King Cobras Do on January 16, 2007.

It is available now exclusively from the Vending Machine Web site at: www.chocolateguitars.com.

Preview the first track off the new album here.

See also:

AFM Update

2006-11-09T05:37:00.000-08:00

Just returned from the American Film Market (AFM) in Santa Monica, where we met with 16 distributors about "The Hanged Man" in two days.

The market was VERY productive for us. Many of our meetings were brief "meet and greet" sessions, where we exchanged business cards and gave a high level overview of the film. But six of our meetings were substantial 20-30 minute detailed discussions with distributors. These meetings will position us well when the final cut of the film is complete and we are ready to begin discussions with these distributors.

While we are still in post production on "The Hanged Man," it proved very beneficial for us to get some face time with the distributors that we will be contacting in a couple of months for potential sale of the film.

While at the AFM, we also had an opportunity to attend a couple of seminars - one on "Who backs independent film and why" and another on "writing for the marketplace." These seminars were led by great panels that included Tyger Williams, Ted Elliott, and Doug Atchison.

We also had opportunity to screen several films that were being showcased at the market.

About the AFM

The AFM is the largest film market in the world, linking distributors and buyers from around the globe, and is where roughly 1/3 of all non-studio films are bought and sold each year. Reports from this year's festival cite a higher number of attendees, but lower number of buyers this year.

From Variety.com

AFM Had Fewer Buyers

No wonder AFM 2006 seemed on the slow side: There was growth in the number of sellers but a marginal drop in buyers.

AFM organizers said Monday that the number of attendees rose to 8,208 this year, up 2% from last year's 8,014, and that it remains on course to achieve the record
8,400 previously forecast. Data spans all categories including exhibitors, buyers, industry badges, press and guests.

Supply-side growth saw a record 435 companies from 36 countries with a 2% higher participant total of 3,888. Number of films screening rose 10% from 534 to 592.

But the number of buyers slipped from 1,585 to 1,573, and the number of distribs they represent was down from 685 to 677 -- both decreases of 1%.

Biggest growth areas on the demand side came from East European and Latin American regions.

The Hanged Man Street Team

2006-11-02T05:47:00.000-08:00

Want to joing The Hanged Man Street Team?

Want to know what it is?

Send an e-mail to glenn at box of stars dot com if interested or to find out more information.

Please include your city in the e-mail.

Brief Update

2006-10-21T10:57:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to send out a brief update to our investors and supporters.

We haven't fallen off the planet. We are in full-speed post production mode. I am headed back to LA the first week in November to attend the American Film Market and talk to a couple of distributors.

The rough "writer's cut" has been sent to both Sundance and Slamdance for consideration in their 2007 festivals, which are coming up in January.

We're hoping to have the editor's cut of the film complete by the time I get to LA, then the director (Neil) will have some time with it to hammer out the director's cut, hopefully by Thanksgiving. Then the film goes into post sound and score, which we'll have complete by the end of the year.

We're not making any commitments to distributors until we hear back from the festivals -- and we have a couple more to submit to in the coming months (South by Southwest, Tribecca, Cannes, and a couple of others that will run later in 2007.

We're also going to be releasing another trailer in late November, so stay tuned for that.

In the mean time, our current trailers have been getting pretty good traffic on Youtube (about 4k hits betwee the two. If you haven't already, please tell your friends to check out our teaser at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaXSni5KzMc

If you have any specific questions, please drop me an e-mail and I'll get back with you asap.

Stay tuned for details and pics from the AFM.

In the interim, don't forget to check out our official Web site at TheHangedManMovie.com.

Take care,
Glenn

I'm off to take a nap.

Jonestown Documentary

2006-10-21T10:55:00.000-07:00

Similarly ...

Head Trauma

2006-10-04T18:10:00.000-07:00

Since we entered pre-production on "The Hanged Man" back in June we pretty much stopped discussing other indie filmmakers and their projects on this blog. However, there are a lot of people out there who are doing some great work and deserve mention here.

While we plow through post production on our project, I'd like to take some time to direct you to some other great things that are going on in the indie film community. I've been following Lance Weiler and his film "Head Trauma" for about a year now, and this guy is an indie film stud.

If you haven't heard of him yet, then you can thank me later for turning you on to this indie film genius.

A couple of videos on Head Trauma posted below for your entertainment and edification:

The Hanged Man Web Site

2006-10-03T16:44:00.000-07:00

The Hanged Man Movie

Indie is the New Hollywood

2006-09-29T12:29:00.000-07:00

Was going to craft a clever essay expounding on this, but alas I've run out of time and article freshness is wearing off.

Regardless, this is an interesting read.

And long-time readers of this blog know I've frequently said:

"Hollywood is just regurgitating material that they've already done, and I think the public is rather fatigued with it so they're looking for other things," Spheeris said. "The studios have taken the safe road for too long, but when you're making a $100 million movie you have to take the safe road because you have so much at risk."

Hollywood is talking ...

2006-09-07T06:33:00.000-07:00

about the Hanged Man.

From the Hollywood is Talking blog ...

Sneak Peak at the Hanged Man

Indie film company Starbox Pictures this week launched the official movie web site for their upcoming supernatural thriller "The Hanged Man" at www.thehangedmanmovie.com. The group also released a new teaser for the film, which can be viewed on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaXSni5KzMc.

The Hanged Man is the offbeat genre-bending tale of a group of social misfits who meet in an abandoned barn to commit suicide after being lured into a pact by a Godot-like leader.

Produced on a budget of just over $100,000, the film was shot in 14 days on location in South Carolina. It stars an ensemble cast of small screen regulars, including Cliff Weissman, Brandon Gibson, and Shanola Hampton. The film is also the feature debut for screenwriter Glenn Hopper and director Neil H. Weiss.

Extended Teaser now on YouTube

2006-09-04T19:19:00.000-07:00

Greenville Journal Article

2006-09-02T08:54:00.000-07:00

Another article about "The Hanged Man."

Unfortunately, The Greenville Journal doesn't publish their content online, so I've scanned into PDF format.

New Web Site

2006-08-28T05:40:00.000-07:00

This time, we're serious.

Many apologies to one of our Box of Stars supporters who e-mailed to question "the new direction of the film since we last spoke."

The link to the new Web site last week was a ruse ... a hoax ... nay ... a red herring to divert your attention whilst we put the final touches on:

The Official Hanged Man Movie Web Site

Caught on Film: A Growing Unease in Hollywood

2006-08-23T08:19:00.000-07:00

From the NY Times ...

Films like the Peter Jackson “King Kong” were considered disappointments, despite bringing in $547 million at the worldwide box office. And like many of her industry peers facing similar oversight, she regarded the scrutiny of the studio’s quarterly returns as, at times, oppressive. So much so that Ms. Snider quit her job in February to become chief executive of DreamWorks, now a division of Paramount Pictures, to work with the director Steven Spielberg on far fewer projects.

Full Article

Memphis Music

2006-08-22T07:03:00.000-07:00

From Memphis Daily News ...

In Jerry Schilling's new book, "Me and a Guy Named Elvis: My Lifelong Friendship with Elvis Presley," Memphis music is as much a central character as Schilling himself, the youngest member of Elvis' famed Memphis Mafia.
The book, packed with stories of Schilling's 23-year friendship with Elvis, was released nationwide last Thursday.
"I owe so much to Memphis music, because it has been the soundtrack to my life," Schilling said by phone from a hotel room in New York City last week, in the midst of a whirlwind publicity blitz surrounding the book.
He's definitely not the only one who feels that way. While Memphis music has been the soundtrack to his own extraordinary life, it's also the literal soundtrack to no less than four separate local projects at the moment.

Among projects highlighted in the article: a cable TV show, The Hanged Man, and two major Hollywood films, one in wide-release now and the other to come soon.

Full Article

True Lies

2006-08-21T19:54:00.000-07:00

True Lies
hosted by BrightCove

Courtesy of Daren Dukes, our producer and Web developer extraordinaire.

New Web Site's Up ...

2006-08-18T18:49:00.000-07:00

Check it ...

Here.

Old School

2006-08-17T18:06:00.000-07:00

Check out this blast from the past video of composer Robby Grant's band Big Ass Truck from "back in the day" ...

Robbyn Leigh: On a 'role'

2006-08-14T19:04:00.000-07:00

Robbyn Leigh, who plays the character Spaceshot in The Hanged Man was recently interviewed by Trevia English of the Gadsden Times.

The article is available here (registration required) and is also included below.

On a 'role'

By Trevia English, Times Staff Writer
Published August 11, 2006

Robbyn Leigh had three major dreams in her life. First, earn any acting role. Check. Then, earn a paying role to prove that she could do it for a living. Check. And finally, showcase her skills in a major motion picture. Check.

Leigh, a 32-year-old Gadsden native, said that she's always wanted to be an actress, but being from such a small town limited her potential to explore.

"I always knew from the time I was a kid that this was what I wanted to do, but being from Gadsden, I didn't know how to express it so no one knew how to encourage it in me," said Leigh. "Even from my perspective, it seemed so far-fetched that I was really embarrassed to say it."

Leigh's parents, Bruce and Becky Parnell, who still live in Gadsden along with their son and two daughters, said she was the last child they expected to see on the big screen.

"Robbyn was extremely shy as a child," said Becky. "She did cheerleading and other activities in school, but she wasn't the one looking for the limelight. She's the one that I didn't think would ever leave Gadsden and she ended up being the only one who left."

After graduating from Gaston High School in 1991, Leigh briefly attended the University of Alabama at Birmingham before moving to New Orleans to broaden her horizons. She enrolled at the University of New Orleans and joined a small theater group, thus, a career was born.

"I was into theater in college, then I got involved with some short plays in New Orleans," said Leigh. "But when I got involved with a modern dance group and we did some dance plays, I said right then, `You know what, I have to do this professionally.'"

New Orleans is a historic district for music, dance and even food, but the theater and drama scene is a bit different. Los Angeles, however, is the place most serious actors need to be, so Leigh and her husband Greg decided to head west.

"New Orleans is very central to the arts, but at the same time, it's very isolated with the musicians and the artists," said Leigh. "There are many more actors doing their own thing. I guess you could say that moving to LA is selling out."

Her husband, who is originally from the San Francisco area, wasn't thrilled about moving back to California, but he knew how valuable the training and experience would be for Leigh.

After a short visit to LA, they returned home to research acting coaches, then relocated to LA within the month.

"The first thing I did was get involved in a serious acting program. In my acting classes in college, we'd sampled around with a technique called Meisner that was really interesting," said Leigh. "I started looking at teachers and I found this guy in LA who was Samford Meisner's director of curriculum at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York for over 20 years."

Leigh enrolled and completed the two-year program and even went into the graduate program for six months before earning her first role as a classically trained performer.

"I had heard that he was the last of the real deal acting coaches still teaching Meisner that had actually worked with Meisner," added Leigh. "That was my first move and probably the thing that I am most proud of."

Leigh has appeared in several plays and even executive produced the short film "Leah," in which she plays the title character.

"Leah" is being prepped for this year's film festivals while Leigh continues to work on her biggest project to date.

She is starring in her first Screen Actor's Guild feature, "The Hanged Man," which is being prepared for the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.

"The Hanged Man," which also features Adam Hatley (NBC's "Passions") and Cliff Weissman (CBS' "Without a Trace"), is psychological thriller in which seven strangers, who had only corresponded over the Internet, meet in an abandoned house for what is supposed to be their last day on Earth. Supernatural events cause the group to evaluate their lives and the circumstances that brought them to the house.

The movie, filmed partly in Travelers Rest, S.C., is now in its editing stage and producers hope to have it ready for a theatrical release by summer 2007.

"All of the other actors are working in TV or movies right now so it's a really great cast. We stayed in cabins in the mountains, and the set was very remote," said Leigh. "We were always isolated so it was a very intense and unique experience."

Hanged Man Street Team

2006-08-09T05:47:00.000-07:00

Marketing Update

2006-08-09T05:20:00.000-07:00

On the surface, it may appear Starbox Pictures has wrapped production and gone on hiatus in the South of France or some far away tropical island.

Sadly, this is far from the truth.

The most common question we hear these days is "Are you done yet?"

The answer is no.

Next month, the answer will still be no.

The month after ... nu-uh.

The month after that - still no.

The next month?

Nope.

The month after that?

Getting close ... but no.

While post production is a long behind-the-scenes process, we have moved very quickly on several marketing projects that are out in the public today. Our teaser has now been viewed by almost 2,000 people on our Web sites and on sites like YouTube, Google Video, VeOh, iFilm, V-Social, and a dozen others.

In the next couple of weeks, we will have our official movie Web site up and running, as well as another trailer.

We also have several guerilla and viral marketing projects coming up very soon. Rest assured, you will know when these are launched.

The Executive Producing Triumverate of Hopper, Weiss, and Hatley will meet for the monthly conclave in L.A. this weekend.

We will not know what they did or talked about during this double secret meeting.

They won't tell us.

Sadly, we spectators will have to sit on the sidelines whilst the filmmakers huddle, plan and edit ... eagerly anticipating every morsel they toss our way.

Timely Tale of Tarot

2006-08-03T05:25:00.000-07:00

Looks like Starbox is riding this wave with some heavy hitters ...

Tarot Cards Deal Out Movie Chills and Thrills

From PR Web Newswire
The tarot has long been a staple of Hollywood's supernatural thrillers and mystical who-done-its. The cards are up to no good once again in Woody Allen's "Scoop" and in William H. Macy's current star vehicle "Edmond." But professional intuitive and tarot expert Paul Quinn says the cards are simply misunderstood.

Chicago, IL (PRWEB) July 31, 2006 -- They warned James Bond of foul play in “Live and Let Die,” haunted the dreams of a priest in “Exorcist III,” and foretold toothy canine encounters in “The Wolf Man.” This summer they turn up as calling cards for a serial killer in Woody Allen’s “Scoop,” and spell catastrophe for William H. Macy in “Edmond.” Yes, the tarot, that bedeviling deck of cards continues its legacy as Hollywood’s favorite prop and plot device for all things eerie. But according to Paul Quinn, author of the forthcoming book, “Intuitive Conversations with Life: Tarot for Insight, Guidance and Growth,” the cards’ creepy image is undeserved.

“There are seventy-eight cards in the tarot deck, and it’s the few scary-looking ones that get all the exposure,” says Quinn. He notes that in promotional posters for “Scoop,” actor Hugh Jackman holds a Death card depicting a black helmeted skeleton charging forward with a giant scythe. “Taken at face value the Death card screams of danger and demise -- a perfect movie visual,” he says. “But in the true tarot tradition it symbolizes not physical death but the letting go of anything that gets in the way of spiritual growth.”

In “Scoop,” a card called The Hanged Man is found alongside the body of a murder victim. With its formidable name and unsettling image -- a man hung by his foot, arms bent behind him -- the card’s niche in Hollywood horror and suspense films seems assured. But from Quinn’s perspective, the card is far from frightening. “The Hanged Man represents experiences that require us to surrender control and develop humility and patience,” says Quinn. “There are times we all feel ‘hung up’ by circumstances, as if our hands were tied behind our backs. But the images in the tarot are symbolic in intent, not literal.”

Asked to identify a movie that presents the tarot in a less sensational way, Quinn cites the 1998 film “The Red Violin.” In that film, tarot cards predict events befalling the owners of a violin across the span of three hundred years and several continents. “Though the deeper meanings of the cards weren’t explored, they were presented in a poetic, intuitive way,” he says, “without the atmosphere of pending doom you see in other movies.”

Upcoming indie thriller "The Hanged Man" uses tarot in a different way. Though the film gets its title from the 12th card, tarot cards and images are not used as plot devices, but as thematic drivers for the film. Writer Glenn Hopper believes using the image and journey represented by the major arcana of the tarot deck is a more powerful and accurate representation of tarot. "The story told in tarot is universal," Hopper said. "And for a filmmaker, one that presents a great opportunity to apply to contemporary society."

And the timing couldn't be better. Despite the cards’ predominantly dark role in filmdom, their popularity among the public has never been greater. Stuart Kaplan is founder and owner of U.S. Games Systems, which claims 75-80% of the tarot card market. “In 1970 there were three tarot decks available,” says Kaplan. “Since then, sixteen-hundred have been produced.”

Quinn believes movies and television may play a significant role in the increased interest in the tarot. “People see the tarot in movies and in shows like ‘Charmed’ or ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer,’ and even though it’s shown in a dark context, it captures their imagination. They want to know what these mysterious looking cards are all about.”

A Chicago-based reader and teacher of the tarot, Quinn says most of his students come to the first class with equal amounts of fear and fascination. “I make it my mission to take the terror out of the tarot, but not the mystery,” he says. Indeed, the original intent of these cards just may be an esoteric mystery reminiscent of ‘The Da Vinci Code.’

When the tarot first appeared, in15th century Italy, it was enjoyed exclusively as an aristocratic gambling game. But according to Quinn, esoteric scholars believe the decks may have been devised to conceal and transmit mystical concepts about spiritual transformation in dangerous defiance of Church teachings. Heresies hidden within a frivolous deck of playing cards. Adds Quinn, “Now that would be a good movie.”

Recently listed by Chicago Magazine as a “top talent,” Paul Quinn is a professional intuitive with an international clientele, and is author of the forthcoming book Intuitive Conversations with Life: Tarot for Insight, Guidance and Growth.

(From wire and staff reports.)

The Hanged Man Movie Teaser

2006-07-19T07:35:00.000-07:00


What's left to fear when you're ready to die? More than you think.

More Production Stills

2006-07-10T16:36:00.000-07:00

Hanged Man Shooting Photos

2006-07-10T16:31:00.000-07:00

Photos taken during filming of "The Hanged Man"

2006-07-10T16:28:00.000-07:00

More Production Stills

2006-07-10T16:10:00.000-07:00

Production Stills (SoCo)

2006-07-10T16:08:00.000-07:00

Production Pics (2)

2006-06-30T12:22:00.000-07:00

Week 1 Pics

2006-06-30T12:19:00.000-07:00

Pics - June 29, 2006

2006-06-30T11:57:00.000-07:00

Set Pics

2006-06-30T11:51:00.000-07:00

Brandon teaches the crew Italian.

Jay Mack at the wheel.

Pics from the Set

2006-06-30T11:48:00.000-07:00

Adam struggles with our insanely slow internet connection.

Ralph preparing for a big scene.

Between takes.

Some Photos

2006-06-30T10:34:00.000-07:00

So far, Doug's the only one who's put up any pics ...

And he hasn't put up very many. But here are a few shots from the set ... more to come.

Click Here

Another Article

2006-06-30T09:46:00.000-07:00

From "Link" Magazine ...

Making a movie has been a lifelong dream for Glenn Hopper and his cousin Adam Hatley, and now they're making it happen. After a year of scriptwriting, fund-raising and hiring a director, actors and crew out of L.A., they're currently filming the ensemble supernatural thriller "The Hanged Man" in Travelers Rest.

Full Article

More Press Coverage

2006-06-30T09:38:00.000-07:00

From the Post and Courier.

Being directed by Neil Weiss, the script for "The Hanged Man" was penned by Simpsonville's Glenn Hopper. Hampton has the featured role of X-Factor, a therapist who plans to plumb the pysches of an unusual group of chatroom "friends," a group which plans to meet each other for the first time face-to-face in a barn - and discuss a joint suicide.

"We all meet in a chatroom, and have become almost family in a way, even though no one really knows each other. Some sort of desperation is driving each of the six individuals to meet at a bar with an elaborate plan to commit suicide. She wants to get into the minds of these people. The only thing that would be considered cultlike about it is that they have this poison they may take. But there is no shared belief system. All of these people are very different. They argue online and reveal very different characteristics and worldviews. It's a personal journey for each of them."

Hampton says she was very impressed by the screenplay, which she describes as risky, "but a good risk."

"It's edgy, searching work, the kind actors crave.

"Acting is a passion of mine, and you have to go out with that passion. For all young people who have that burning desire to really be in this world in any capacity, my advice is simply, 'Do it.' The world is bigger and you can go out there. It's OK. You can make it. Then you can come home and make a movie.

Greenville News Article

2006-06-23T06:49:00.000-07:00

Here.

Commercial Appeal Mention

2006-06-23T06:46:00.000-07:00

Here.

As if Robby Grant wasn't already busy enough fronting two popular local bands, Mouserocket and Vending Machine, this summer he'll add another line to his musical resume when he scores the film "The Hanged Man." The Starbox Pictures production began shooting in Travelers Rest, S.C., June 19. The film explores the darker undercurrents of contemporary American life through the eyes of a group of social misfits who meet in an Internet chat room.

Produced and written by Memphis native Glenn Hopper, the film stars fellow Memphians Brandon Gibson, a comedian who started performing at Sir Laffs-a-Lot almost 20 years ago when he was only 14, and father/son duo Adam and Ralph Hatley, a retired cop, former radio personality, and current frequenter of Memphis indie films and theater.

Also, look for a new Vending Machine record in the fall.

Latest Press

2006-06-13T15:13:00.000-07:00

From Jon Sparks' blog.

Local talent in S.C. film

Ralph Hatley, who has appeared in "Rookie Bookie," "Divine Manipulation of the Threads" and several other productions, has some family involved in a South Carolina production.

Glenn Hopper and Adam Hatley (Ralph's nephew and son) have written and are producing “The Hanged Man”, a feature film. They have raised a $75,000 budget and begin shooting in South Carolina late next week through 7/3. Adam and Ralph have principal roles in the film. It was written by Glenn (a former Memphian as well). Shooting will last four weeks. Most of the people both in front of the camera and behind the camera are “Hollywood” people, from Paramount who are on seasonal hiatus who have agreed to lend both their talents and connections to the success of this independent film.

Full Story

Update for June

2006-05-30T19:45:00.000-07:00

Greetings, all.

I know this update is long overdue, but there have been some very big changes that have kept us focused on the actual pre-production of the movie and not so focused on sharing all the developments with everyone.

Lots to cover, so I'll be as brief as possible with each ...

New Title

We have changed the name of the movie for the third and *HOPEFULLY* final time. The film formerly known as Dark Matter, and formerly, formerly known as Suicide Squad, is now entitled "The Hanged Man."

This title change reflects the new direction of the script, which is now firmly set in the "psychological thriller" genre.

The Hanged Man is a Tarot reference, which is much better describe by Wikipedia than I could summarize here.

The Hanged Man Details

New Cast Members

We've also added Ralph Hatley to our cast. Ralph plays the role of Sheriff Parker (our antagonist) in the film, and is a great addition. Ralph is a retired police officer and Director of Campus Safety at Rhodes College in Memphis, TN. Ralph, inspired by two of his acting sons, became an actor himself later in life, and has made quite a name for himself in the independent film and theater world.

More on Ralph.

Ralph's Web Site.

We lost one of our female leads in the film due to the production location change, but have replaced her with the equally beautiful and talented Robbyn Leigh (headshot and resume to be posted at www.boxofstars.com soon).

New Location

We have also decided to move location from the beautiful but barren Southern California to the uniquely beautiful (and hot) location of Traveler's Rest, South Carolina. (At least we can keep those monogrammed S.C. towels we ordered.) We have secured an excellent location for principal photography, and are geared up to begin production in less than three weeks! Which brings me to ...

Production Date Change

We begin principal photography on Monday, June 19, and plan to wrap on July 4. I personally plan to stay awake for the entire two plus weeks.

Investor Update

We have raised our target budget and still have a couple of shares left. If you are interested in increasing your investment, please contact invest@boxofstars.com ASAP, as the shares will be gone within the next two weeks.

As a reminder, shares are $2,000 each, and are available in quantities as low as 1/4 share ($500).

Crew Update

I am VERY excited to announce that we have secured Patti Lee as our Director of Photography. Patti was most recently the Director of Photography for the Bernie Mac Show on Fox Television. She is a brilliant and talented DP, and we are so thankful to have her on board.

We've also secured the most organized, energetic, and talented individual we could have possibly hoped for to serve as our grossly underpaid Line Producer. Daren Dukes (www.darendukes.com) is working his magic on our budget, crew, and technical requirements every day. Thank you for all your hard work, Daren!

Marketing Update

We're in a period of radio silence to some extent on promotion of the film. This is for two reasons: 1) We've completed the fundraising portion of our marketing push (which was a great success, ultimately landing us coverage in a Wall Street Journal article and helped us raise a full 1/4 of our production budget! And 2) There just aren't enough hours in the day to focus on Marketing and gear up for production in our new location with less than three weeks until we start filming!

But, now that we are closer to beginning production, we are starting to receive greater response from media outlets. Adam was recently highlighted in a local publication in Santa Clarita, and I was recently interviewed by the Greenville News (article to appear the week of June 11).

We are also in the early stages of putting together a viral marketing campaign that we hope all of you (100+ on this e-mail distro) will help us spread the word on when we're ready to launch our campaign.

Everything Else

In addition to the exciting parts of moviemaking, we're wrapped up with things like contracts, SAG negotiations, finalizing craft services, booking air travel, securing set design and props, etc., etc.

Hope this letter finds you all well and as excited about this project as we are.

Thank you all for your continued support,

Glenn & Adam

If you would like to be removed from this mailing list, please send an e-mail to support@boxofstars.com with the word REMOVE in the Subject line.

New Title - AGAIN

2006-05-13T06:23:00.000-07:00

There's no way around it. Our previous title was trumped by Val Kilmer and Meryl Streep.

Their film based on actual events, surrounding a Chinese university student who responds violently when his chances for a Nobel Prize are dashed by school politics is due out later this year, and also happens to be called "Dark Matter."

No worries ... based on final script revisions and the current direction of the film, the new title works much better. Let's just hope this one sticks.

Our new title is ...

Phaseology: Phase II - Radio Silence

2006-04-12T17:24:00.000-07:00

As we near completion of the fundraising phase of our project, we are circling the wagons, re-trenching and preparing for Phase III of our marketing plan.

Phase I was to pour everything out there as we completed the script, assembled our cast, crewed up, fought in the trenches to raise funding for our project, and basically just beat on our chests and shouted at the world, "I have a story to tell, and you WILL hear it!"

So ... listen ... I'm not one to brag, but we hit Phase I out of the park. We kicked off our fundraising effort in earnest in October 2005. In a few short months, we went from non-existent on the Web to the top 700,000 Web sites on Alexa, were featured in the Wall Street Journal, were featured for a full week on a popular Internet one deal/day site and raised $40,000 through our Internet marketing campaign.

We didn't hit the $50,000 goal we set out to, but in the course of raising money, we've also worked out quite a few deals on several areas of production ... and we're fortunate enough to be in a position to be able to finance the remainder of our budget ourselves.

In Phase I, we threw out everything we could about ourselves, our project, our lives, the inner workings and behind-the-scenes activities of our pre-pre-production movie endeavors.

Now that we are gearing up for production, we are going to enact Phase II of our marketing plan: Radio Silence. We'll continue to maintain our Web sites, blogs, and MySpace sites. The content, however, will be reduced and we'll release very little about the progress of our film until we enter Phase III of our marketing campaign.*

As we enter official pre-production in May, we will also be developing Round 2 of our marketing campaign. This will be a much more methodical, measured release of information about our film, and will include a viral strategy that we will ask all of you to help us with when the time is right.

I don't want to divulge any more of our plans at this juncture, except to note that many of the posts on this blog and our MySpace sites will vanish into the ether of cyber space, never to be seen again.

Hold on to your seats for Phase III. It's about to get wild in here!

~~~~
* Investor Note: You will all still receive regular updates, which will actually increase as we head into production, but our public listings will be virtually non-existant.

The Buzz is Building

2006-04-03T14:17:00.000-07:00

Fresh on the heels of Adam's interview in Elite Magazine, news of our little dog and pony show has been picked up by Hollywood is Talking, a blog for folks who make entertaining art and the people who follow and watch it.

As we get closer and closer to production, we are getting more media interest in Dark Matter. These two nods within a week are hopefully the beginning of a trend that will continue now through festival season.

Hybrid Distribution

2006-03-30T12:18:00.000-08:00

There are now more avenues than ever for independent filmmakers to distribute their product.

This article lists some of the ways indie filmmakers are finding alternate distribution channels to show their work.

Welcome, Upstate Film Society Members

2006-03-29T17:02:00.000-08:00

If you've found your way over here from the Upstate Film Society notice that went out today, welcome to the Starbox Pictures blog.

On this site, we chronicle our pre-production efforts, fundraising, and general progress on our film "Dark Matter" (formerly "Suicide Squad").

You can learn more about our movie here.

To get a feel for who we are, what we stand for, and our general "anti-Big Hollywood" stance, please peruse the posts here.

We have a pretty cool mix of regular film fans who frequently post over here. Otherwise, it's just myself and my business partner, Adam Hatley, rambling about film.

Thanks again for stopping by.

If you have any questions about investing or making a donation to our project, please e-mail invest@boxofstars.com, or you can e-mail me directly at glenn@boxofstars.com.

Warm regards,
Glenn Hopper

Tribeca Line-up

2006-03-21T16:55:00.000-08:00

I have a hard time determining Tribeca's identity.

They mostly rerun stuff from other festivals.

Lots of documentaries, too.

What are they looking for? What is this festivals' identity?

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Tribeca's Rocking This Year

New Beginning

2006-03-21T05:51:00.000-08:00

So ... we've spent the better part of the past year assembling a cast and crew marketing a film project we knew was under a working title.

We figured we'd push full speed ahead under the title in case nothing better came along. Now, on draft 8 of the script, something better has come along.

As we near final revision of the script and production dates near, the whole project is really starting to gel. We're starting to pick up more and more press coverage, the story is crystal clear, our final fundraising push is near complete, cast and crew contracts are being prepared and signed.

We are nothing if not flexible at Starbox ...

So it is with excitement that we offer a sneak preview of our new title to all 7 readers of this blog.

Over the next month we will transition our branding of our film from "Suicide Squad" to the new title ...

(See below)

Dark Matter

2006-03-21T05:44:00.000-08:00

The visible universe is but a light froth on the dark ocean of existence; its true essence unseen and undetected.

It is the glue that binds galaxies together.

Aristotle called it the unmoved mover.

Theologians call it, the Hand of God.

Physicists call it ...

Dark Matter

New Cast Member

2006-03-21T05:36:00.000-08:00

Starbox is pleased to welcome Ralph Hatley as Sheriff Parker. Parker's role has expanded significantly over the past several re-writes of the script to a more menacing and pivotal character to the overall movie plot.

As the character expanded, we knew we had to call in the big guns.

This was a job for

The mighty Ralph Hatley.

Memphis Buzz Article

2006-03-20T22:40:00.000-08:00

Thank you Memphis Buzz for mentioning our little dog and pony show!

Memphis Buzz Article

Also, thank you Old School Pictures for linking us from your site.

Easier Rider

2006-03-19T04:33:00.000-08:00

I present -- the final nail in Abbie Hoffman's coffin:

Not exactly a counter culture move.

Indie Film

2006-03-14T07:33:00.000-08:00

With the advent of digital and HD technology, the tools required to make quality films are more in the reach of independent filmmakers -- leading to an explosion of independent, privately financed films in recent years.

But the tools are only part of the equation. Low cost HD cameras and digital editing software may provide the means to inexpensively put a finished product on the screen, but they alone do not justify the reason for doing so. It doesn't matter how sharp the video, how crisp the sound, or how well edited a picture is if it doesn't have the requisite quality to begin with. All the software and equipment in the world won't make up for a lack of quality. Whether you spend $10,000 or $100 million on a film, without quality writing and performances, the film will fall flat.

Hollywood studios can and do often counter shoddy scripts with million dollar ad campaigns, explosive CGI, and big name actors. Small, independent film production companies don't have this luxury. And thankfully so! In order to compete with the Hollywood machine, low budget filmmakers have to create exceptional products that create their own buzz -- without relying on extensive marketing, product placement, and name recognition of big stars.

The general definition of independent film is a film that is produced without financing or distribution from a major movie studio. However, this definition has grown a bit too broad, as many independent films receive millions of dollars from Hollywood names (e.g. Singleton's $3.5 million "Hustle and Flow"), and while they are not financed by a major studio, they have a significant leg-up over Joe Film School's production.

The dream for most ultra-low budget filmmakers is to create a product that is unique enough to get accepted into the big film festivals, create a buzz in the industry, and land a distribution deal, following the Blair Witch model to international acclaim. The beauty of these films, if properly done, is that they are not crippled by teams of writers who try to force the picture into a neat and orderly Hollywood mold. Independent filmmakers take risks that the big studios are scared to touch. Hollywood executives seldom greenlight a risky picture because with typical Hollywood budgets, a single flop means a studio loses millions of dollars and the executive who approved it is out on the street.

Rather than comfortably remaking and rehashing old scripts (King Kong, The Longest Yard, etc.), independent filmmakers take on controversial subject matter, questionable heroes, and risky situations. When done well (Pi, American History X, Trainspotting, just to name a few) it is a thing of beauty. There is no published list of poorly done ultra low budget films -- those films are never heard of or scene.

Quality starts with a stellar script. If the script falls flat, nothing else matters. Beyond the script, all components of the film must look absolutely professional. Whether shot on film or video, the photography must be perfect. Blair Witch may have gotten away with amateur camera work and a faux documentary feel, but that was the exception, not the rule. Likewise, lighting and sound must be impeccable as well.

Seasoned improv actors may be able to pull off unscripted "Curb Your Enthusiasm" performances, but this is a big risk for filmmakers, and hardly one worth betting the farm on. Better to have a locked script with rehearsed actors who know their characters and lines inside and out before the camera starts to roll. While ultra-low budget filmmakers can't rely on big names to draw in ticket buyers, this is not an excuse to accept amateur acting. While Kevin Smith may have pulled this off with his films, in most cases, the audience won't be as forgiving. Even unpaid actors should be capable and knowledgeable of the craft.

Most ultra-low budget films have little or no money budgeted for advertising or distribution. They must stand on their merits alone. Time and time again, we see that indie films can go toe-to-toe with major Hollywood productions, but not just because they are "independent" or different.

Jenny Got Her Gun

2006-03-02T20:11:00.000-08:00

Starbox Pictures has purchased our first asset.

Ain't she pretty.

$60 on eBay buys you a nice blank-firing .357.

Which gives me a new fund raising idea ...

Cute Li'l Guys ...

2006-03-01T18:43:00.000-08:00

Beyond the Multiplex

The nominees for best foreign language film and best documentary feature are ... a quirky mixed bag. And we handicap them all for you here.

By Andrew O'Hehir
Salon

Mar. 02, 2006 | This year's foreign-language Oscar category is dominated, at least in terms of media coverage, by a late-blooming controversy over a film most Academy members undoubtedly haven't seen. Meanwhile, the documentary feature category is widely seen as a foregone conclusion, given the immense popularity of a film about flightless Antarctic waterfowl that was proclaimed as an example of Christian family values by someone who probably hadn't seen it.

Anybody who thinks these events are extraordinary hasn't been paying attention. The Hollywood establishment's efforts to honor documentaries and foreign films, while undeniably well-meaning, have developed an increasingly buffoonish character over the years. For one thing, there's a kind of taxonomic confusion involved: It's a little like asking a Major League Baseball umpire to officiate a championship chess match, or asking those two sheepherdin' cowpokes from "Brokeback Mountain" to collect botanical specimens.

It's easy to make fun of Academy voters as geriatric, aesthetically unadventurous and susceptible to a certain variety of "message movie." But beneath that partially accurate stereotype lies the fact that America's mainstream film industry is permanently and totally committed to a certain vision of what movies are: large-scale entertainments, whether didactic or romantic or comic or some combination thereof, designed to seduce and manipulate a broad popular audience. There's still a lingering awareness that other possible models exist, but when awards time rolls around, all those possibilities get rolled into two qualities: pretty and earnest.

Full Article

Why Not Carl Lewis?

2006-02-27T05:19:00.000-08:00

Why didn't we consider Carl Lewis for this project?

Night Shooting

2006-02-25T12:55:00.000-08:00

As our film Suicide Squad will be shot mostly at night, we've been wondering the same thing ...

Question

I would like to know your procedure when facing a night exterior: what do you use to (if you do) justify the sources? What gear and angles do you prefer? What gels are your favorites for moonlight and no-light? How do you match the exposure between close up's and open shots.?

I've found myself lately solving all these situations with the same old style moonlight with high soft sources, with CTB's or Moonlights, some fog... and I'm getting a bit bored with using always the same scheme. I'll be shooting a short soon and I'll be in the middle of a deep forest, no moonlight, no houses near, no light at all to justify sources, so, I'm a bit clueless with how to achieve good results.

Answer from Oliver Stapleton at IMDB's Ask-A-Filmmaker

The man-in-a-coffin is always a problem and completely undoes the whole notion of source lighting. I have never had to shoot someone in a closed coffin but if I did I think I would approach it as a non-source very dark overall ambient light. This would be achieved by creating a soft overall light (which might involve some cheating by taking bits off the coffin), underexposing it and printing it dark, and probably cool in tone or blueish depending on the context.

I did a big forest job for A Midsummer Night's Dream but that was comedy/fantasy so it was appropriate to light it with magical light, which was chiefly in the form of direct light punching in beams through the trees.

The trouble with a forest if you opt for no moonlight is that trees and particularly leaves have a tendency to go very dark. It is a situation in which your eye can really fool you into thinking it is much brighter than it is. Trust the spotmeter in this situation: if it says “E” then increase the light level! Balloons can be very handy in the forest as long as there is enough space in the canopy. You have to be really careful in accepting forest locations otherwise you can get into big trouble with the lighting. A road nearby is almost essential for a crane to provide beams (with fog if that is what you want) and if you are not after the beamy look, then you need enough space to float balloons out of the top of frame without them overlighting whatever they are closest to.

I think your boredom may stem from the idea of the blueish back ¾ light on a crane which is employed so often. I hardly ever use this in cities as I think it looks so unrealistic. I go for sources such as street lights, buildings etc. When you are in the desert or the country then you can always go for a dark soft look (used very effectively in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon). An effective way of doing this is to light soft put “print” hard either through a DI process or through bleach by-pass.

Colour choices are very personal: adding some green is sometimes effective, going very blue tends to be more of a TV look so I would opt for “grey” but it’s very much a matter of context.

The convention for very dark is that you need something bright, even very small, to make the dark look dark. This is true in some ways as the screen often looks “milky” if there is absolutely nothing on it that is above midtone. But this is just a starting point: the main thing is to do what interests you and get a result that you and the Director like.

Redford Reflects on Sundance

2006-02-23T20:11:00.000-08:00

By JAKE COYLE, AP Entertainment Writer
Thu Feb 23, 1:34 PM ET

"It's gotten to the point now — almost to a breaking point — where there's a fever that has taken over the festival that creates an enormous amount of chaos and excitement and tension," the 68-year-old actor said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. "It's gotten a little bit harder on me."

Though the festival has become a larger spectacle over the years, Redford has long refrained from criticism about the changed nature of Sundance.

He created the independent film festival in 1981 to bring attention to small-budget films and new talent. Redford named the festival, held annually in the snowy mountains of Utah, after his breakthrough role in 1969's "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid."

"The festival that we do is the same one as we did the first year," he said. "We program it exactly the same every year, which is for new voices and more experimental films."

The difference now, Redford said, is everything surrounding it.

"Once the merchants come, then the celebrities come. Once they come, the paparazzi come. Once they come, fashion comes. So suddenly you've got a party ... where Paris Hilton's there and all the attention goes there and she's got nothing to do with anything."

"You've basically got two festivals going," he said. "You've got the festival we programmed, which stays the same, and then the other one."

The big-screen life of the festival, Redford said, continues to thrive. He felt "very good" about this year's crop of films, which included the Hispanic teen drama "Quinceanera" and " Iraq in Fragments," a documentary about the lives of Iraqis under U.S. occupation.

"Quinceanera" won both the festival's jury prize and audience award; "Iraq in Fragments" won three prizes including documentary film editing, directing and cinematography awards.

___

On the Net:

http://festival.sundance.org/2006

Film ... or something like it

2006-02-20T18:05:00.000-08:00

We're about 99% sure we're going HD with Suicide Squad, but really hate to lose that film look.

As we research, we think we may not have to.

We're working with our DP and editor to settle on a general aesthetic for our film.

The film is shot entirely at night, which will give us a lot of cool (but difficult) visuals to work with with shadows, light, etc.

And the subject matter is edgy enough that we don't want to take the gritty punch out of it with that super clean HD look ...

Introducing "Joes Filters."

Thank you, David Chung for the link to the Ken Stone Index and the article.

Internet Savvy Indie Filmmakers use Web to finance film

2006-02-18T20:56:00.000-08:00

LOS ANGELES, CALIF. -- From the bastion of cybergeeks in the mid-90s to the creation of a new global community today, the Internet has changed the way we shop, socialize, follow the news, and even voice our worldviews.

For independent filmmakers Adam Hatley and Glenn Hopper, the Internet has been a boon – allowing them to reach out to an audience that they otherwise might have never found. With an aggressive Internet marketing campaign, Starbox Pictures has raised $26,000 to finance their film, and help spread the word to thousands of Internet movie fans before even starting production of their movie.

Starbox Pictures has raised nearly half of their production budget through an aggressive Internet marketing campaign that features a fundraising site, half a dozen blogs and MySpace sites, a CafePress store, a public message board, a week-long campaign on a popular daily deal Web site, and banner advertising on sites around the globe.

From the formation of their production company, Starbox Pictures, last year to pre-production of the duo's first feature length film, “Suicide Squad,” the pair knew the Internet would be a pivotal part of their marketing and fundraising campaigns.

“Our film is based on relationships that formed on the Internet, so it made sense to use this medium as a tool to promote our efforts,” Hatley said. “But even if our film was about rabid bears in the wilds of Siberia, we'd have still gone to the Internet as our first source for spreading the word,” he added.

“We've spent so much time and effort developing a strong Web presence,” Hopper said. “You see all the models like Blair Witch or Alex Tew (of www.milliondollarhomepage.com), and you realize that you can do things on the Internet that you'd have never been able to do even ten years ago.”

The greatest struggle for independent filmmakers is finding financial backing for their projects, but Hopper is quick to note that the vast majority of funds raised to finance Suicide Squad have come from the Internet.

“Adam and I don't have deep pockets ourselves, and financing an independent film project is a difficult pitch, even to family members,” Hopper said. “But through some creative marketing efforts, we've been able to reach a huge audience, and attract a significant number of investors in our project.”

Starbox Pictures' fundraising campaign has garnered the indie filmmakers a great deal of attention and press. The filmmakers' campaign was recently covered in a Wall Street Journal article, and throughout the blogosphere on marketing and film sites.

One recent marketing campaign helped Hatley and Hopper secure a new co-executive producer, who invested $10,000 in the project after several weeks of negotiation exclusively through e-mail.
“I still haven't talked to him in person or on the phone,” said Hopper. “He was completely comfortable handling everything via e-mail.”

The investor, who has asked to remain a silent partner until the film's release, learned about the project and the investment opportunity through an advertising campaign on www.onedealoneday.com, a popular Internet deal site. Hopper said they also locked two other Associate Producers through the campaign as well.

Hopper said the Web sites are just one facet of their campaign. “We've tried all sorts of viral marketing, from getting our links and ads posted on blogs and MySpace sites to creating humorous chain letters to help spread the word about their film.

“We knew we had to get out on the Web early. There is so much crossover from the Internet to movies, that we knew we had to start our campaign as soon as the project got off the ground. The Web was something that wasn't going to be an afterthought for us – it was going to be fully integrated into everything we did,”said Hopper

While the script for Suicide Squad was still in draft form, Hatley and Hopper put up a fundraising Web site at www.boxofstars.com. The duo wanted to offer sponsors a unique way to promote their own Web sites, while helping finance the pair's film.

“We wanted to create an active, animated site that was visually appealing and would catch on with potential supporters,” Hopper said. “And we wanted something that people could easily associate with our production company.”

Starbox Pictures' wide reaching Internet campaign has multiple benefits, says Hopper. “For now, it's helping us raise money to finance our project, but once we come out of production in May of this year, we'll already have a base of supporters to help us market our finished product.”

As the filmmakers' Web site trends toward 10,000 unique visitors per month, and investors continue to pour in, it appears the team's strategy is working.

February Production Update

2006-02-13T03:30:00.000-08:00

We just sent out our February Production Update to Starbox investors, supporters, wellwishers, and gawkers. It is copied below for your reading displeasure. If you would like to be added to our mailing list, please send an e-mail to support@boxofstars.com, and we'll gladly spam ... err ... inform you of our goings on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Greetings Starbox Pictures Supporters,

We didn't put out an update for January because were waiting for some big
news on our fundraising and screenplay before flooding your inbox with
movie spam. We've tried to capture all the latest news in this update.
If you have additional questions, as always feel free to e-mail Adam or
me at any time.

In this Issue

* What Can You Do to Help?
* Script Update
* Fundraising Update
* Production Update
* Marketing PR/Report
* Web Update
* Copyright Note

What Can You Do to Help?

Many of you have been asking lately, what can I do to help?

We are moving along in both the creative and business side of
production, and are putting all the pieces in place to get “Suicide
Squad” off the ground in May. We're still fundraising in earnest and
spreading the word about our project. The area we need the greatest
assistance in right now is in marketing. We're pushing a viral marketing
campaign primarily through Blogger and MySpace, but we are only two
people. The way this campaign will really take off is if we get more
evangelists for our cause.

You can help this by telling your friends about us, about our film, and
about our Web sites. Forward them this update, send them the link to
www.boxofstars.com, tell them about our blogs or MySpace sites.

Adam's put together a small teaser, which is available on all our Web
sites, and on Google Video and iFilm. Some of our potential editors are
also putting together teasers for us. Look for these in the coming weeks.

Also, if you know of anyone else who might like to invest in our
project, spread the word to them as well.

Note: There are about 150 of you on this mailing list. If each of you told
10 people about our project and Web sites, we'd have a chain letter.
And we know how much everyone like chain letters!

Script Update

I just completed draft 6 of the Suicide Squad script. This may not be
the final yet, but should be pretty close. Many of you have offered some
great tips and advice regarding the script, many of which have been
included in this version.

Fundraising Update

For those of you who've been watching the fundraising thermometer on our
blog, you've probably noticed a big spike in the past week. Our Internet
marketing campaign brought in $11,000 and leads on several other
potential investors.

We've also picked up a new Co-Executive Producer, who has asked to
remain a silent partner until the film is completed.

We are offering some additional perks for any of you who've currently
invested at the Associate Producer level, who would like to upgrade to
Co-Executive level. E-mail me for more details.

We now have $26,000 in the Suicide Squad bank account; and with our
commitments to date, we are looking to have over $40,000 raised by the
end of the month.

Production Update

Production is slated to begin in May, and last 15 days. This will give
us almost three months for post, and allow us to complete the film in
time for festival entry.

We've decided to shoot in HD, and have narrowed down our list of
potential DP's. We're hoping to make a final decision in the next two
weeks. We've also narrowed down our list of editors, which we also hope
to finalize in the coming weeks. Stay tuned for more details on both of
these positions.

We've locked sound, craft services, and other miscellaneous crew. We'll
send a full crew list when we're completely crewed up.

Marketing PR/Report

We've slowed our press releases in recent weeks as our focus has been
more on personal communications with potential investors than on mass
communications. However, Adam has a big interview coming out in April in
a local Santa Clarita magazine. The interview focuses primarily on his
work on Suicide Squad.

E-mail Adam for more details.

Now that Draft 6 of the movie is complete and we're nearing our
fundraising goal, I am going to re-focus my efforts on marketing and
public relations, and start shotgunning press releases again.

We've locked a publicist who's willing to work pro bono after reading
our script. Her name is JoAnna Levenglick, and she's a New York-based
producer with great leads in the business. We also have a lead on a
Chicago publicist and are searching for an LA-based publicist as well.

If you have media contacts and want to help in this area, please let us
know.

Web Update

Our official movie site at www.boxofstars.com is steadily growing. We're
averaging about 150 unique visitors to the site per day. Our mention in
the Wall Street Journal and www.1deal1day.com campaign have definitely
helped our traffic, as we are drawing in about twice as many hits per day
as we were a month ago.

You can help with this, too, by spreading the word about our sites.

Copyright Note

We have some concerns about our working title “Suicide Squad,” as DC
Comics has copyrighted the name for their comic books. We are currently
researching copyright laws to see if the title is still available for a
feature film in a completely different genre. Our current legal counsel
is not a copyright specialist. If any of you know a tame copyright
lawyer, please let us know. We need to have this nailed down soon so
that we can change the title if needed.

Also, in the event we have to change the title, we'll be looking for
some creative suggestions for a new name. If you have any ideas, please
let us know.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That pretty much covers everything from a creative and business
standpoint. Thank you all for your continued support.

Regards,
Glenn & Adam
Starbox Pictures

As always, you can track our activities on the Web at:

* www.boxofstars.com
* http://starboxproductions.blogspot.com
* http://suicidesquad.blogspot.com
* www.myspace.com/starboxpictures
* www.cafepress.com/starbox

Vomit wrapped in a turd

2006-02-11T12:04:00.000-08:00

Big Hollywood continues to impress. I can't imagine how difficult it must be to fend off originality day after day after day. Seriously, it's got to be harder to eschew creative thought than to foster it.

Latest exhibit: "Are We Done Yet?"

See, Ice Cube was going to star in the re-make of the 1948 classic "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House," which is fondly recalled by your great aunt Millie and pretty much no one else (Blandings, was obviously a re-make of the 1986 comedy "The Money Pit", exhibiting Hollywood's creative use of a time travel machine stolen from the Nazis in World War II, which is not so fondly recalled by great aunt Millie.)

But intellectual assault vehicle "Are We There Yet?" has raked in close to $100 million
worldwide, and big Hollywood is anxious to keep the crap train rolling on that one.

Shuffle the plot slightly, shift a few characters' names and ... voila! An unnecessary re-make becomes an unnecessary sequel in one foul swoop. Genius!

Hopefully we'll see more of this to enrich our lives:

" Mean-spirited "family" comedy with inane script and lack of decent performances.**"
-- Angela Baldassarre,
SYMPATICO.CA

"Doesn't even have the wit to be energetic, funny or humane en route to being inane, irritating, and corrosive."
-- Walter Chaw,
FILM FREAK CENTRAL

"Lacks the courage of its grape-juice-, mud-, and vomit-spattered convictions."
-- Mark Holcomb,
VILLAGE VOICE

Sundance Distribution Deals

2006-02-11T05:49:00.000-08:00

A roundup from zap2it.com:

Sundance Dust Set tles to Reveal Distribution Deals

By Andrew Rodgers

PARK CITY, Utah (Zap2it.com) -- The dust from the latest Sundance Film Festival hasn't quite settled, so it's still too soon to tally up all the distribution deals and count someone as a winner. That said, with the Academy Awards preparing to capture everyone's attention for the next few weeks, it's a good time to take stock of the films that did sell at this year's Sundance, and make note of the films which seem likely to seal a deal.

For starters, the 2006 Sundance film that landed the biggest distribution deal to date is the independent comedy "Little Miss Sunshine," directed by Michael Arndt and starring Greg Kinnear, Steve Carell and Toni Collette. Fox Searchlight made a significant play for the title in the hours immediately following the film's World Premiere and Variety reports the film sold for $10 million. In contrast, consider that Fox Searchlight paid approximately $3 million for "Napoleon Dynamite" in 2004. This deal also marks the first time a distributor has paid double-digits for a single film at Sundance since Miramax notoriously bought "Happy, Texas" in 1999 for $10 million.

The other early sale was the new Michel Gondry movie, "The Science of Sleep." Starring Gael Garcia Bernal and Charlotte Gainsbourg, this visually stunning film was purchased for a reported $6 million by Warner Independent. IFC Films also stepped up to the plate with a pair of film buys: the popular Documentary Competition title "Worldplay" for an estimated $1 million and "Factotun," a Spectrum film, for an undisclosed sum.

Comedian-turned-filmmaker Bob (aka Bobcat) Goldthwait also scored with his independent laugher "Stay," about a woman who is haunted by an impulsive sexual encounter from her past. Roadside Attractions & Samuel Goldwyn Films purchased the North American rights while Gaumont picked up the foreign rights. Meanwhile, other indie distributors who jumped into the fray include Miramax, which purchased "The Night Listener," starring Robin Williams and Toni Collette; and ThinkFilm and Lionsgate, which each picked up a Dramatic Competition title: "Half-Nelson" (ThinkFilm) and "Right at Your Door" (Lionsgate).

A couple of smaller distributors also made a play for the domestic market. Films Philos purchased the Spectrum film "Man Push Cart," while Bauer Martinez purchased "The Darwin Awards" and Arrival Pictures acquired "La Tragedia de Macario." Also, a number of films picked up pieces of their foreign distribution, including "The Foot Fist Way" (Momentum bought UK rights), "TV Junkie" (Katapult purchased all rights except North America), "This Film Is Not Yet Rated" (BBW purchased UK broadcast rights) and "God Grew Tired of Us" (TF1 International bought rights to all non-English language territories).

What does this mean for all the films on the bubble or films that captured tremendous critical acclaim? Only that the next few weeks will be spent feverishly going from studio to studio to see who can offer the best deal. So, stay tuned for pending deals for films such as: "The Illusionist," "Iraq in Fragments," "Come Early Morning," "The Hawk Is Dying," "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints," "Wristcutters: A Love Story," "Black Gold," "13 Tzameti" and "The Trials of Darryl Hunt."

Low Rent Writing

2006-02-05T17:16:00.000-08:00

From the onset of development of the Suicide Squad script, we knew we were going to produce this thing ourselves, and we knew we weren't going to have much of a budget.

The first thought we had was to isolate the characters in a faraway place (ultimately settling on a barn in the middle of nowhere) and putting them in a life-and-death situation (characters all signed a suicide pact), and focusing more on the actors more than any special effects or stunts.

The end result of the first draft was a two-hour a group therapy session.

We knew we had a lot of work, but had developed our characters enough to build on.

So we started layering in action, drama, and suspense.

The end result is draft 6 of Suicide Squad, which is just a couple of weeks from completion.

We've learned a lot along the way, and we are geared up to start production in May.

We moved from an elaborate soundtrack with artists from Johnny Cash to Elliot Smith, before realizing we had a talented musician within our network of close friends, and we ultimately signed Robby Grant of Vending Machine to score the film for us.

We wanted to keep the film as inexpensive as possible, but to get the highest quality director and cast and crew we could afford. We've managed to secure a cast of professional working actors (check their IMDB entries and reels over there -->

And we're starting to secure a great crew.

Not to mention a new co-executive producer, who's bringing significant capital resources to the project. With our current commitments, we're hoping to lock funding by the end of the month, so that we can finally focus on the production of the film.

We know we have a very short timeline. Our goal is to get our film ready for festival submission by mid-August. If anyone knows a really fast, really good editor who's willing to work for peanuts and bottle caps (and points), send him or her our way!

We've been discussing film in general quite extensively over here in recent weeks, but as we move closer to production, we will obviously focus more on the making of Suicide Squad.

Thanks, everyone, for your continued support, and look forward to some big news in the coming weeks.

Don't forget to stop by Box of Stars to help support our project. Star owners can promote their own Web sites or blogs, and support our film at the same time.

Weekly Making the Movie Blog Rip-Off

2006-01-29T16:10:00.000-08:00

So, I've been in a bit of a frenzied final draft/fundraising/heavy drinking panic state for the past couple of weeks.

The good news is the writing, fundraising, and drinking have all been going exceptionally well.

On the down side, I've had no time to read any industry news and have not followed Sundance as well as I'd like, will not tune into the SAG awards, and have no idea what's going on outside of my very tiny bubble.

Thank God for the Making the Movie blog. J. Ott and the crew over there do a great job summarizing and linking to the need-to-know information for aspiring indie filmmakers.

So, today I'm cribbing a link that I should have caught on who's buying films at Sundance this year from yesterday's New York Times and posting a link to their post production blog, which I will inevitably "borrow" copy from as well.

Digital Movies

2006-01-28T09:45:00.000-08:00

This bodes well for our plan to shoot Suicide Squad completely on cell phone cameras.

~~~~~

Note to first time viewers and investors: Tongue planted firmly in cheek for the above statement. ;^)

Be Like Aaron

2006-01-27T05:17:00.000-08:00

Become an Associate Producer

Starbox Productions is seeking Associate Producers for our upcoming independent film, Suicide Squad, starring Cliff Weissman (CSI, CBS) and Shanola Hampton (Related, WB).

Associate Producers will be issued points (shares) on the film's profits for all distribution deals, and will be credited in the production.

Written by Glenn Hopper, Dark Matter, is is an allegorical tale of the true coming of age of Generation X through crisis and transformation of our base desires, ego, and place in society. It's about facing your end and finding a new beginning.

Sign on to be a part of the next great independent film breakthrough. Impress your friends and neighbors with your name in the credits of this upcoming independent blockbuster.

Details

Associate Producer credit
.25 Points (shares)
Producers will be sent contracts outlining details of the investment. E-mail invest@boxofstars.com for more information.
Product Price: $500 ($2,000 for full share)

Cast Information

To learn more about Starbox Productions and "Dark Matter," check out these Web sites:

http://darkmattermovie.blogspot.com - Cast and movie info.
http://starboxproductions.blogspot.com - Production Company info.
http://www.boxofstars.com - Fundraising site

Rain in the Mountains

2006-01-25T09:15:00.000-08:00

One of our daily reads here at Starbox Pictures is the independent film site www.makingthemovie.info, which chronicles the making of Foxhall Films' latest feature, as well as movie and industry news and reviews and a lot of great advice for independent filmmakers.

More about their film:

Rain in the Mountains
Rain in the Mountains is about Eric Smallhouse, a Native American man who, thanks to the words of a Dead Man spirit he encounters when taking a new road home, believes it is his destiny to lead his people back to the old ways. The problem is, he was raised off the reservation and doesn't know the old ways. But he's not the kind of guy who will let that stop him. Against his wife Lindsay's objections, he teaches his 12-year-old son, Todd, various 'authentic' activities, failing miserably and learning the hard way that things weren't any easier back before the white man brought electricity. In the process, he discovers that some old ways, such as love of family, are still attainable today. Of course, before he can apply that lesson, he must realize that the Dead Man is a trickster spirit and that the U.S. government doesn't take lightly to people blowing up dams.
The script won a six-figure grant from NYU; it has a light comedic touch and strong, universal characters that will appeal to anyone who wants to honor the past without forgoing modern convenience.

Check out Foxhall Films Website for more info.

"Bubble" Sparks Debate on Cinema's Future

2006-01-25T09:09:00.000-08:00

From the LA Times

Hollywood is abuzz over "Bubble."It's not that Steven Soderbergh's new art house movie is expected to break any box office records when it opens Friday. A low-budget murder mystery set in a doll factory and made with non-actors, it's hardly blockbuster material.
But because it's the first feature by an Oscar-winning director ("Traffic") to be released in theaters, on cable television and on DVD in a four-day span, "Bubble" is forcing everyone in town to wrestle with this question: Is the great American tradition of going out to the movies on its way out?

Not really sure what this means for the movie industry. The Theater/DVD/Cable paradigm is pretty strong.

See the Full Article and judge for yourself.

Vending Machine Video

2006-01-21T18:57:00.000-08:00

Robby Grant of Vending Machine will compose the "Suicide Squad" soundtrack.

Click the image to see the Kids Move Alone Video.

Indies Shine

2006-01-21T13:33:00.000-08:00

Sundance promises return to smaller-scale indie fare
By Anne Thompson
The Hollywood Reporter

The 2006 Sundance Film Festival, which gets under way Thursday, is returning to smaller-scale indie fare, its programmers have promised. But demand for indie product couldn't be greater, so that approach isn't scaring away any of the distributors who are descending on Park City with cash in hand in search of the next big commercial thing.

Full Article

Something Stinks in Here

2006-01-21T12:33:00.000-08:00

Frequenters of this blog know of our abhorrence of remakes of movies (Psycho, The Exorcist, The Longest Yard, etc.) and TV Shows (S.W.A.T., Dukes of Hazzard, CHiPs, etc.).

Since we've about exhausted our own words on the subject, I was glad to see John August supply a pretty good explanation for why studios are suckers for these rehashed leftovers.

John's thoughts are inline with a recent article by A.O. Scott of the New York Times, who commented on the flattening of the bell curve by Big Hollywood, who's shown their scared to take risks on new, untested ideas -- which leads to a movie slate of superfluous sequels and rotten remakes.

In the end, the viewing public pays ... or doesn't ... as the case may be.

Thank God for independent filmmakers and their original ideas.

It Can Be Done

2006-01-19T10:45:00.000-08:00

This is the first movie I've seen that makes it look like "Suicide Squad" has a bloated budget.

Roger Ingraham, the film's director, dropped out of high school, wrote a script and, at age 19, shot Moonshine using several dozen volunteer actors and crew. Total price: $9,200, including the cost of a Panasonic camera, a PowerBook G4 and website hosting.

We're using HD and professional actors, sound, lighting, studio rance, etc., which adds to the budget ... still ... in the next production meeting, Moonshine will be a point of conversation.

Marketing Blitz

2006-01-14T22:27:00.000-08:00

Following on the heels of our Wall Street Journal coverage, we've landed a great deal with popular Internet sales site OneDealOneDay.com.

All next week, we will be offering investment opportunities and movie merchandise on the site, which is consistently in the top 100k sites on Alexa.

Hopefully, this will be a win-win for both of us -- we'll be featured on a popular Web site, and 1D1D will get a handful of unique product offerings for their visitors.

More Press Coverage

2006-01-12T17:58:00.000-08:00

Our fund raising idea was included in an article in the Wall Street Journal today.

That's like being famous, right?

"At www.boxofstars.com two filmmakers are selling digital "stars" -- orbs of light of various hues and size that bounce about the home page and link to other sites -- to raise $50,000 and finance their picture."

Full Article

Napoleon is DYNAMITE ...

2006-01-12T12:13:00.000-08:00

according to the Idaho state legislature, who have initiated a resolution to recognize and commend Jared and Jerusha Hess for their cinematic talents by which they have increased the nation's awareness of Idaho.

Most noteably:

14 WHEREAS, tater tots figure prominently in this film thus promoting Idaho's
15 most famous export; and
16 WHEREAS, the friendship between Napoleon
and Pedro has furthered
17 multiethnic relationships; and
18 WHEREAS,
Uncle Rico's football skills are a testament to Idaho athletics;
19 and
20 WHEREAS, Napoleon's bicycle and Kip's skateboard promote better air qual-
21 ity and carpooling as alternatives to fuel-dependent methods of
transporta-
22 tion;

Full Text of the Resolution

It's not an independent film ...

2006-01-03T12:41:00.000-08:00

without Don Cheadle or William H. Macey.

A recent Hollywood Reporter article reports,

"Traditionally, indie features provided opportunities for emerging artists to work with low budgets for next to nothing. But in the mid-1990s, an influx of bankable actors invaded the scene, willing to work for scale wages on labors of love to prove their credibility or revive sagging careers. Many filmmakers now contend that getting an indie film made or seen today without stars is harder than ever before."

Makes it a little tougher for true independent artists. But truly small independent filmmakers such as those of us here at Starbox are nothing if not optimistic. We look to standouts like Blair Witch, Pi, and Napoleon Dynamite to support our model.

We're putting our distribution hopes in the festival circuit ... and in the quality of our product.

Full Article

Studios stumble through a tough year

2006-01-02T19:11:00.000-08:00

By Anne Thompson
Reuters

"Just when Hollywood thinks it has figured out the winning formula -- build costly tentpoles and cram them down the throats of the masses with millions of ad dollars -- it's way past time to come up with a new approach. The studios don't have a simple solution for what's happening. The summer slump was supposed to be counteracted by the year-end studio juggernauts " Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" and Peter Jackson's "King Kong." But 2005 box office still declined from that of 2004 by more than 5%."

Full Article

~~~
From the producer:
I know I've posted a series of anti-studio rants in recent weeks, but this is just as reflective of the realization of same by the media at large. All signs point to change in the very near future. The big Hollywood model hasn't found a way to adapt to the onslaught of new challengers from multiple media sources. The viewing audience has more options and is more educated than ever before. Movies now have to compete with Internet and cellular programming, cable on-demand, countless electronic games, and - yes, even blogging.

This is not to mention traditional threats from sporting, music, and theatrical events.

You've got to give viewers a reason to see your movie because it's easier than ever to find alternate entertainment.

The Collective 2005 Awards

2005-12-21T06:36:00.000-08:00

Our friends across the pond at The Collective have released their 2005 movie awards. Among the winners:

The Sylvester StalloneWHY? Award
Marvel Comics movies – That grating sound you hear is the rear end of their particular barrel being ravaged. After Daredevil, who needed Elektra? And after the genius of The Incredibles, how can they justify the dire Fantastic Four?

Definitely worth a read.

Golden Globes Eye on Indies

2005-12-19T17:55:00.000-08:00

True to form, Globes embrace indie films
Big-budget movies such as ‘Munich,’ ‘King Kong’ denied best movie nods

Big-money films left out
This (year's Golden Globe nominated) collection of mostly independent movies leaves out several costly Hollywood productions, including such franchises as “Star Wars” and “Harry Potter,” Peter Jackson’s acclaimed remake of “King Kong,” the political thriller “Syriana,” and Steven Spielberg’s “Munich,” which deals with the revenge killings that followed after the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics. Also missing are the musical “Rent” and such summer comedy smashes as “Wedding Crashers” and “The 40-Year-Old Virgin.”

Full Story