Friday, September 2, 2011

Red State Gets Nationwide One Night Only Screenings on September 25th






This is one of the most interesting distribution models I've ever seen.  First tour your own film, then go direct to VOD and now a one-night-only screening across the U.S. and a Q&A using Twitter!
Welcome to a new age ladies and gentlemen.  Get prepared for others to follow in Kevin Smith's tracks.

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On the heels of the chart topping, Academy-qualifying run at Quentin Tarrantino's New Beverly Cinema, SModcast Pictures announced today, the next phase of it's unprecedented release strategy for Kevin Smith's controversial thriller Red State

On Sunday, September 25, Red State will screen at select theatres nationwide through a unique partnership with the Emerging Pictures theatre network, announced David Dinerstein, whose D Squared Films is overseeing the films distribution for SModcast.

"Red State will be made available as a 'One-Night-Only' event which mirrors the format of SModcast's record breaking Red State USA Tour from earlier this year. For this screening event, Smith's trademark post show Q&A will be digitally streamed live from Tarantino's New Beverly into all of the participating theatres, allowing audience members to interact directly with Smith utilizing Twitter. Smith will be joined on stage by a special guest who will moderate the Q&A," saidDinerstein.

Written and directed by Kevin Smith and produced by Kevin SmithRed State stars 2011 Academy Award winner for Best Actress Melissa Leo, Golden Globe winner John Goodman, andMichael Parks. The film debuted at this year's Sundance Film Festival to much notoriety whenSmith ended studio bidding by buying his own film for $20 and declaring he would be self-distributing the film theatrically. Smith has since toured the film around the country to enthusiastic audiences, grossing $1,065,429 to date at the North American box office from only 22 single show engagements and its Academy-qualifying run.

SModcast released the film on March 5 when it embarked on the 15 city Red State USA Tour. SModcast spent less than $500 in paid advertising to support the tour, which kicked off at the legendary Radio City Music Hall and grossed $162,000 during one show. The film quietly topped the per screen average charts for three weekends, making it the highest per screen average film of the year and the 9th highest per screen average film of all time.

Red State also had the highest per-theater-average of any film in release for the past two weekends, averaging of $25,800 and $10,000 per theater, respectively.

Following Smith's original mandate to maximize the potential audience while minimizing the excessive marketing costs normally associated with distribution, he and his team have devised a unique distribution plan that will make the film available on multiple platforms simultaneously, including today's debut of the film on Video-On-Demand (VOD) from Lionsgate. Lionsgate has previously announced that the DVD and and Blu-ray is set to be released on October 18 to coincide with the 17th anniversary of Smith's debut film Clerks.

Red State tells the story of a group of teens in Middle America who receive an online invitation for sex, but soon encounter fundamentalists with a much more sinister agenda.

Additional information about Red State is available at CoopersDell.com

Red State comes to theaters September 25th, 2011 and stars Melissa LeoJohn Goodman,Michael AngaranoKyle GallnerStephen RootNicholas BraunKevin PollakAnna Gunn. The film is directed by Kevin Smith.
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Thursday, September 1, 2011

Red State available via VOD today

Kevin Smith's controversial RED STATE is available everywhere today (September 1st) via sites like iTunes, YouTube, Vudu, Amazon, Blockbuster and Best Buy's Cinema Now.

 This is an interesting distribution model for a film by such a popular director and with Academy Award Winner Melissa Leo (The Fighter) and John Goodman (Rosanne) starring.

 I heard Smith had some trouble with theatrical distribution and did a small tour with the film leading up to this release.  I've heard great things but I think it's just not a conventional film for the theatrical model and I understand why Smith went this rout.

 If it does well enough, it might show the studio system and the theater's that bend to their every whim that people will watch a film regardless of how violent or off color it is.

Let me know your thoughts on this.

Go to the Official Red State website!