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Left pane: Hunter S. Thompson; Top Right: Hunter S. Thompson; Bottom Right: Benicio Del Toro, Hunter S. Thompson, Johnny Depp

Good afternoon finger lickers! One of my heroes Hunter S. Thompson sadly died just over two years ago. At the time I remember re-reading Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and thinking, “this man was pure genius.” I had a similar thought during a flight to the states where I read the book in just under 8 hours and on a Spanish holiday where I first discovered his work. What never changes for me when it comes to Hunter’s writing is the speed at which I can read and the extent to which I become engrossed. It is important to note that my fervor for the man is not because of his widely publicised glorification of psychedelic drug use, a component of his writing and life that I believe has receive too much attention. I attribute the longevity of my attraction to his work largely to his infectious prose and a fascination with the man’s life. So, it was with much excitement that I read, this morning, a report of a new documentary about his glory years.

Gonzo, the hyperactive first-person and ultra-subjective writing style for which he became famous, has been borrowed as the title of Alex Gibney’s documentary which focuses on the high point of Thompson’s career 1965 - 1975. According to spout.com, Alex Gibney has stated his documentary is a critique of the present day media’s obsession with “phony” objectivity. A cause I think we can all appreciate. Gibney hot off the back of his Best Documentary win at the Oscars for Taxi to the Darkside, a documentary focusing largely on American torture practices in Afghanistan and an innocent taxi driver who was tortured and killed in 2002, last week spoke and screened his new film at True/False film festival in Columbia, Missouri.

The film is reported to contain as yet unseen home movies, audio recordings and unpublished manuscripts. While I am very very keen to see the flick I hope that it does not give us too much of an insight into the “real” Hunter S. Thompson because one of the most endearing facets of the man, for me, was his enigmatic and perhaps mythical persona. Think of him fondly; read his work; watch the flick.

K

[digg=http://digg.com/movies/Cinequest_Film_Festival_Uploads_100_films_to_Jaman]California based film festival Cinequest opens its doors today in San Jose. The festival will present an impressive 250 films before its over on March 9th. Of those 250, 100 films have been chosen for online distribution through Jaman. The festival this year will be honoring the likes of Danny Glover (The Royal Tenenbaums), Bobby Moresco (Academy-Award® winning writer, Million Dollar Baby and Crash) and Michael Arndt (Academy-Award® winner Best Original Screenplay, Little Miss Sunshine). As well as showcasing those films that don’t fit the Hollywood mould.

Jaman, an online film rental site, is showcasing the trailers for 100 of the films on their website and are generously (or not so generously) giving away three films of your choice for free. While I applaud the film festival for embracing the internet as a new form of online distribution… three films… really? I can see the business model. Get film fans onto the site by offering the festival a platform etc. But three films? Come on Jaman you can do better than that! Also I wonder what percentage of the online rental price the filmmakers are getting, I suspected 0% which is an utter crime. I may be wrong and Jaman are offering the filmmakers a cut but I suspect, like so many others, Jaman are getting the full whack and the filmmaker is just grateful that his or her work is being seen… criminal. Anywho, check out the Cinequest website and Jaman’s festival selection pages for more information and to watch the trailers - there’s some gooduns!

That’s it from me,

K

[digg=http://www.digg.com/movies/Sundance_Distribution_Issues_George_A_Romero]With reference to my last post about the lack of distribution deals going around at Sundance, this seems to be a problem that even veteran filmmakers are noticing. George A. Romero, horror legend and creator of the infamous Dawn of the Dead (1978) is attending the festival for the first time to screen his latest film Diary of the Dead. Interviewed on video, Romero speaks to Spout.com about his work and the festival. Right at the end of his interview he touches on the issues I’ve been talking about. While greater accessibility to cheaper equipment is meaning lots more great independent films are being made, there still seems to be no solid distribution model for this type of work.

Check out their video interview at MySpace.

[digg=http://www.digg.com/movies/Sundance_Deals_and_Distribution]Spout.com blogger, Karina Longworth, who’s currently at Sundance 2008 has written an interesting piece about the lack of deals being made so far at this year’s festival. Karina, speculates about a number of reasons for the relatively low number of distribution deals. Firstly, she references the mainstream press who are apparently suggesting that the buyers haven’t found that magic they have in previous years. Which is of course suitably vague and journalist speak for “we haven’t got a damn clue”.

Next, she discusses a comment by Sony’s Tom Bernard where he states that, we, the bloggers are to blame for taking the mystique out of the film buying and distribution process. According to Bernard the immediacy of blogging means that the press coverage of a film is happening too quickly and therefore they lose control of the media machine.

Finally, Karina suggests that possible the solution could be as simple as the fiftieth anniversary of Sundance has a pretty weak offering of dramatic feature-length flicks. Whether this is the case, is not for me to judge, I haven’t seen any of the films in question. Maybe next year, with a shiny Finger Lickin’ press pass around my neck. But, what these sluggish sales do make me wonder about is the value of a festival like Sundance to the filmmaker. Sure, it gets you some first rate press and sure it gets a very select audience into a cinema for 120minutes to watch your film. But where’s the real benefit? Where’s that golden ticket, the distribution deal that everyone is looking for? Has the time come where festivals like Sundance aren’t delivering the goods? It’s all well and good being able to put “Official Selection Sundance Film Festival” at the opening of your trailer but if only those three hundred ticket holders attending the festival get to see the film… where’s the real benefit to you, the filmmaker?

Distribution is key. The more I learn about alternative, exciting and innovative methods of getting your film seen and turning those views into earnings the more I believe that while there’s a place for the festival route, you need to think bigger.

Read Karina’s blog post here.