Precious Metalhead #20 – Ani Done, Release Plans, RHCP

Burning on in to the Finish Line

Ok.  I can’t believe it, but by next week we will be done animating this thing.  It’s about time, after uncounted roadblocks and challenges.  Now I know why most indie movies don’t get this far, and fewer indie animation studios try to make a feature.  Following the last animation tweak, there is plenty of compositing and editing to do, then we need to re-render the whole thing over again in 2K (movie-size) resolution.  But… the heavy lifting is done.

Our awesome animation team (Matt, Matt, Matt, Jaime, Petr, Diego, Rae) have brought this one home and are now moving over to create a funny set of bloopers for the trailers and extras.  From here on out you’ll mainly hear me kvetch about how large the 2K renders are (dozens of Terabytes) and how slow they are, but I’ll try to not be a whiner.

We are also finishing the sound work, we now have sound effects for the whole movie.  This is perceptually half the experience.  For example I know the viewers who saw our preview at PorcFest will look forward to seeing the fight scenes with actual impact sounds!  Now that the picture timing is locked, the score (music) can wrap up as well.

They say that a movie is never done, it only escapes.  But I think this one is finally going to escape.  Thanks crew!

Release Plans – Welcome Area 23a

And we move on to distribution – getting the movie out to the world via theaters, overseas, all media worldwide.   The first step is US Theaters and Festivals.  This stage usually is lucky to break even but sets the level of buzz for the movie through the rest of its lifecycle.  And, what we’re going for is for it to “break out” into a larger run, and we’re working hard to pave the ground for a breakout.

We have engaged Kirt and the fine folks at Area 23a to help us plan and execute this all-important stage.  They have great experience and energy and it will be fun process over the next months to get this onto the market.  Tentatively we are considering the following:

• Several important and exciting event-oriented screenings this fall and winter.
• Winning as many Festivals as we can.  Right now we have our eyes on AFIFest in November and SlamDance in January.  Now that we (almost) have a completed print, we can compete effectively.  As opposed to shot film, we’ve found that unfinished animation is just too sketchy looking for most judges to properly consider.
• The full theater release will be in January – once the either-way-disappointment of election is over, and once the theater-dominating holiday movies run their course.  While we could release earlier in the season, these holiday films are an immovable block that would prevent Silver Circle from breaking out if it gets legs in the market.  I know you would rather watch Silver Circle than Santa Clause 19, but that’s not how theaters work.
• Following an amazing run in theaters and festivals, we’ll start selling Silver Circle on DVDs, Bluray, online, cable and to overseas theaters.

There are three factors that will really make all the difference in making this go far and wide.   First, we are working hard to convince some important people in the silver movement to help financially enhance our release budget.  This will make a huge and important impact and we are cautiously optimistic.  We are right on target, and silver is again on the march price-wise.   Second, major media attention – which we know we have to earn.  Third, Fed interference, if they are silly enough to interfere, would be the biggest godsend and validation of the movie – these campaigns always backfire and generate buzz.  Here’s hoping.

Atlas Shrugged, Digital Domain

Much of our audience is also looking forward to seeing Atlas Shrugged come out on October 12.  We are too, and are scheming ways to link up with this release.  We’ll be in New York that weekend for New York Comic Con and LibertyFest.

And, I’m sad to see Digital Domain, one of my favorite visual effects companies, go in for Chapter 11.  You’ve seen and loved their work in many movies.  In fact some of their work is so good that you don’t see it, blending in so well with the rest of a live action movie.  They will ride on once reorganized.  It’s a tough industry.  It’s a good reminder for us to stay small and focused and not grow outside of our britches.

New Blogger – Meet Barry Donegan

We have sadly said goodbye to Wes Messamore at Silver Underground, our movie blog  - and we welcome Barry Donegan to fill his place.  He has best introduced himself already on the blog and has hit the ground running!

You’ll notice that he is vocalist for a Punk band, .   Somehow we are becoming the vibrant underground warehouse for Liberty Punks everywhere.  I’m too old to sport a mohawk (dash-dot-dash is not cool) myself, but it’s an interesting development that I applaud!  I mean, I’m sitting here listening to Minor Threat as I write.  There is a strong history there, personally and culturally, and I look forward to following this strand to see where it goes.

Comic

Our new comic is about to come out!   Clayton Henry has delivered an amazing front cover to us and we have some really cool proofs back from the printer.  It’s amazing to see the piece as a book and we will soon be selling them to everyone.

It’s likely we’ll have them for sale at New York Comic Con next month, along with several other surprises.

Song of the Month – Fight Like a Brave by Red Hot Chili Peppers

This month I’ve asked our trusty silver dealer, Dave Silva, to come up with a song.  Like me, he survived the scene in the 1980′s, and has many stories to tell.  I wish I were there in California back then to see Black Flag when they were just starting out on the boardwalk.  I’ll let him tell his story here:

Thank you for your great Silver Circle site and blog.  Can’t wait to see the Silver Circle film!  My submission for the “Precious MetalHead” blog is: The Red Hot Chili Pepper’s “Fight Like a Brave”

While the RHCPeppers unique brand of punk/funk might may be a stretch musically for your blog, they do compensate by having the balls to stand on the hood of a moving vehicle with a bullhorn shouting, “Fight Like a Brave, Don’t be a Slave”. When the RHCPeppers say fight like a brave, to me that means standing up to corruption, lies, and bullying by simply confronting them and saying, “I know what you did, and now it’s time to stop!” That takes more guts than swinging your fist, and if you stand your ground, you might be pleasantly surprised as the tyrant squirms in response, because bullies are usually secret cowards.

Another reason this song is important to me is because I grew up in a paved suburb of Orange County, Ca, where as a kid you had to be a football player or a surfer to get a hot date. As a punk/surfer, the whole scene felt too homogenous for me, so I left and starting hanging out in L.A./Hollywood. There I saw a free outdoor concert at the UCLA campus with the Red Hot Chili Peppers in the 1980′s.

Twenty thousand of us kids didn’t wait long before Flea the bass player jumped off a 20 foot amp in only his underwear, and a red mohawk. The whole band came out rocking, weaing only their tighty whiteys, The crowd went nuts, and some plants and shrubberies were harmed as the mosh pit grew and grew, until some Administrator said, “This is the last song” and 20,000 of us screamed in unison, “NO!”, and the Peppers played until they cut the power. Now this was fun. The band and the crowd were as big or bigger freaks than me with uncorked mojo and not only were they were getting hot chicks, they were also asking important questions like, “Do you want to fight like a brave, or be a slave?”

Almost There

Thanks for sticking with us through this journey – see you in the theatres!

Pasha.