New Blog Posts

We hope you have enjoyed our recent blogs, such as a distribution roundup from SXSW 2013, some suggestions on incentives to make your film an attractive buy and how to help audiences find your film by using a Language List.

New Initiative supporting The Film Collaborative From independent games publisher and film distributor, Devolver Digital, comes the Devolver Double Debut Bundle. In cooperation with Humble Bundle and VHX, the Devolver Double Debut Bundle is a package that includes five games both classic and new and the new documentary Good Game profiling the professional gaming lives of the world-renown Evil Geniuses clan. Proceeds from the pay-what-you-want bundle benefit the Brandon Boyer Kicks Cancer’s Ass fund as well as The Film Collaborative. You may remember, we are a registered 501c3 non-profit dedicated to helping creators preserve their rights in order to be the main beneficiary of their work. We plan to use our portion of the proceeds to fund the next edition of our book Selling Your Film Without Selling Your Soul which will be given away totally free upon its publication. If you’ve ever benefited from our advice or writing, now is the opportunity to give us support in expanding even more of your knowledge! Also, your funding will help Brandon Boyer, chairman of Independent Games Foundation (IGF), to help with his astronomical medical bills for cancer treatment. You can find the Bundle here. It is available only until March 16, 2014 We recently wrote a blog post to follow up on Devolver Digital and see what they have learned over their first year in business trying to mix the gamer audience with independent films. Check out the post here.

The New Black was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Documentary—Theatrical Congratulations to the filmmakers! THE NEW BLACK tells the story of how the African-American community is grappling with the gay rights issue in light of the recent gay marriage movement and the fight over civil rights. The film documents activists, families and clergy on both sides of the campaign. Watch the trailer here. TFC is handling Festivals Distribution. Click here for a list of upcoming screenings.

Pivot and Univision Acquire TV Rights to Sundance doc Cesar’s Last Fast Cesar’s Last Fast is a multi-platform feature documentary film about the private sacrifice and spiritual conviction behind Cesar Chavez’s struggle for the humane treatment of America’s farm workers, and the impact Chavez’s legacy has on today’s generation of organizers fighting for farm worker rights. The film is built around powerful, never-before-seen footage of Chavez’s 1988 “Fast for Life,” a 36-day act of penance for not having done enough to stop growers from spraying pesticides on farm workers. The story of this water-only fast is the film’s dramatic arc into which the filmmakers interweave the historic events that defined the life mission of America’s most inspiring Latino leader and the struggles confronting today’s farm workers. TFC is handling Festival Distribution.

The Immortalists World Premieres at SXSW Two eccentric scientists struggle to create eternal youth with medical breakthroughs in a world they call “blind to the tragedy of old age.” Bill Andrews is a lab biologist and famed longdistance runner racing against the ultimate clock. Aubrey de Grey is a genius theoretical biologist who conducts his research with a beer in hand. They differ in style and substance, but are united in their common crusade: cure aging or die trying. They publicly brawl with the titans of biology who argue that curing aging is neither possible nor desirable. As Andrews and de Grey battle their own aging and suffer the losses of loved ones, their journeys toward life without end ultimately become personal. Watch the trailer here. TFC is handling Festival Distribution.

A Fierce Green Fire on American Masters. Premiering nationally Tuesday, April 22, 2014, 9-10 p.m. on PBS (check local listings) Written, directed and produced by Academy Award-nominee Mark Kitchell (Berkeley in the Sixties), A FIERCE GREEN FIRE spans 50 years of grassroots and global activism from the 1960s-2009 and connects the major causes of environmentalism, from conservation to climate change. Narrated by Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, Ashley Judd, Van Jones and Isabel Allende, the film premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and has won acclaim worldwide. Watch the trailer here.

I am Divine on DVD (April 8) & Digital (April 1) I AM DIVINE is the story of Divine, aka Harris Glenn Milstead, from his humble beginnings as an overweight, teased Baltimore youth to internationally recognized drag superstar through his collaboration with filmmaker John Waters. Spitting in the face of the status quos of body image, gender identity, sexuality, and preconceived notions of beauty, Divine was the ultimate outsider turned underground royalty. With a completely committed in-your-face style, he blurred the line between performer and personality, and revolutionized pop culture. I AM DIVINE is a definitive biographical portrait that charts the legendary icon’s rise to infamy and emotional complexities. Watch the trailer here.

Theatrical Release of Interior. Leather Bar at IFC CENTER, New York City In order to avoid an X rating, 40 minutes of gay S&M footage was rumored to be cut and destroyed from the 1980 film, “Cruising.” Inspired by the mythology of this controversial film, filmmakers James Franco and Travis Mathews collaborate to imagine their own lost footage. Amid the backdrop of a frenzied film set, actor Val Lauren reluctantly agrees to take the lead in the film. Val is repeatedly forced to negotiate his boundaries during scenes on and “off camera,” as unsimulated gay sex happens around him. The film itself is constructed as a play with boundaries remaining queer in subject and form. As much a film about filmmaking as it is about an exploration of sexual and creative freedom, INTERIOR. LEATHER BAR. defies easy categorization. Watch the trailer here.

Upcoming releases through our
Direct Digital Distribution Programs

	United in Anger Currently in iTunes pre-sale; Digital release March 18 TFC is very excited to announce the digital release of this important film that we have championed in our Festival Distribution program. UNITED IN ANGER: A HISTORY OF ACT UP is a unique feature-length documentary that combines startling archival footage that puts the audience on the ground with the activists and the remarkably insightful interviews from the ACT UP Oral History Project to explore ACT UP (the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) from a grassroots perspective—how a small group of men and women of all races and classes, came together to change the world and save each other’s lives. Watch the trailer here.
	Money & Life Currently in iTunes pre-sale; iTunes release March 18 MONEY & LIFE is an essay-style documentary that asks a provocative question: can we see the economic crisis not as a disaster, but as a tremendous opportunity? The film connects the dots on our current economic pains and offers a new story of money based on an emerging paradigm of planetary well-being that understands all of life as profoundly interconnected. Watch the trailer here.
	Submerge Released on Digital March 1 SUBMERGE is a modern love story that asks the question “how do you find love in a world of instant gratification?” Jordan (Lily Hall), a 20-year-old athletic lesbian university student has added another extracurricular activity to her over-scheduled life: seducing her tutor, Angie (Christina Hallett) while doing research work for Angie’s professor partner Cameron (Andrew Curry). Set to a propulsive pop beat, the film captures the university experience, where everything seems possible but the plethora of choices becomes its own kind of burden. Watch the (very sexy) trailer here.
	Don’t Shout Too Loud Currently in iTunes pre-sale; Digital release April 15 Leading up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, media organizations reported that 40,000 sex workers would be trafficked into South Africa. The prediction was a gross overestimation based on unsubstantiated evidence. So why was it made and what was the effect? DON’T SHOUT TOO LOUD offers the harsh and unsettling theory that special interest groups are manipulating public policy in order to promote their agendas by inflating the scope of human trafficking. In doing so, they cause public panic and resources to be directed away from those who require the most help. Watch the trailer here.
	The Famous Joe Project Currently in iTunes pre-sale; Digital release March 15 THE FAMOUS JOE PROJECT, based on the filmmaker’s 2007 Slamdance short, is now a feature film about a young gay man who records everything he does on a hand-held flip camera. Watch the trailer here.

TIDBITS: News You May Have Missed

• London consultancy SampoMedia is back with the results of another study. Are younger audiences rejecting the theatrical experience because of the competition for their time and their limited money?
• The importance of closed captioning and subtitles when distributing via Video on Demand outlets. Don't forget to budget for these items if you are self financing your film release.
• If you are using Youtube to distribute short video content and build audience, here are the top 10 YouTube SEO myths that actually don't help increase your videos' rankings in search results.