A few months ago, Kevin Smith announced that RED STATE, his new horror movie, would premiere at Sundance, but he was refusing to do press for the movie. So, for press to gain access to tickets at the festival, they had to request tickets two days in advance for the slim chance of receiving a seat. For someone who said he wasn't saving seats for press in his movie, when Red State premiered, my (Jonesy's) twitter was overrun with tweets from bloggers who had secured a ticket. Interesting...
The real story of the day wasn't the movie (though many reviews are up at /Film, The Wrap and HitFlix), but it was the events that transpired after. Apparently, Kevin Smith was going to auction off for a distributor. However, he prompted to by the movie from himself for $20 and said it would be self-released under Smodcast Pictures.“Selling my film would be like having a baby and then selling it to somebody else to raise,” Smith said. “I can’t speak for the movie by myself. I’m not the only one. I’m just the writer/director."
Before its release, Smith is planning a "Red State USA Tour" where Smith, personally, will travel across the US promoting the film and participating in a Q&A after every screening. You can view tour dates here. Smith claims he will not spend any money on conventional advertising, and just promote through the tour. Also, tickets for these shows are rumored to be anywhere from $50-$100.
Smith also announced, at a seemingly perfect opportunity, that Red State is his second-to-last film. After his last project, entitled HIT SOMEBODY, Smith will focus on producing.
For someone who is anti-press, Smith sure knows how to stir the blogger-sphere and get people talking. I've heard more about the Red State before and after than almost anything else about Sundance. Whether you agree with Smith's angle of distribution or even if you agree with his views on studio involvement and advertising, the man knows what he's doing. He got everyone talking about it, interest is stirred, and I'm sure it will pay off in the long run.
Red State is set to release October 17, 2011.
No comments:
Post a Comment