Theatrical Launch Paul Devlin Chronicles the Challenging Journey of His Film Blast! to the Big Screen

LINE ITEMS THEATRICAL LAUNCH PAUL DEVLIN CHRONICLES THE CHALLENGING JOURNEY OF HIS FILM BLAST! TO THE BIG SCREEN.

A big theatrical premiere. Showing your of traditional science content by, for example, ens of popular celebrity-style events. They film before an appreciative audience. Reviews, examining scientists’ private lives and their had lots of money and used it effectively to press, interviews, people standing in line to see spiritual beliefs. identify and attract an enthusiastic market for your movie. Box office. These have been con- Then again, maybe I was fooling myself science content. sidered the big payoffs for filmmakers. Today and BLAST! really wasn’t that good after Perhaps BLAST! could somehow tap into however, as long-standing paradigms collapse, all. But how then to account for all the sales that interest to fuel a theatrical opening in the conventional wisdom of a theatrical run for overseas? New York? It was time to outline a strategy: an independent film, and especially for a docu- BLAST! was rejected by all the big festivals mentary, is very much in question. and broadcasters in the U.S., even seemingly • Convince the World Science Festival to I discovered there’s no shortage of conflict- natural fits like Silverdocs, with its proxim- program BLAST! as part of a premiere event ing opinions and emotions when it comes to ity to NASA and association with Discovery before a week run at the IFC Center. whether or not a non-fiction feature film- Channel. National Geographic, NOVA and • Convince the IFC Center that program- maker should try a theatrical release these many others passed as well. Beginning with ming BLAST! and becoming an official venue days. I heard both “You’re crazy. It’s a big mis- that kind of response, a theatrical release of the World Science Festival would bring a take. The model doesn’t work anymore. Don’t seemed unlikely. substantial audience to the theater. do it!” and “You can’t stop now, before you’ve On the other hand, I was confident of the • Convince the big-money science funder, crossed the finish line. You have no choice. strength of the movie. It seemed unfair to The John Templeton Foundation, to pay for You must do it!” give up and let BLAST! fade into obscurity the whole thing. I wanted my latest movie, BLAST!, to have in my home country. As the rejections kept its moment in the spotlight with a theatri- coming, I realized that the only way to gain That was a lot of convincing. The entire plan cal run. But I have to admit that some of my attention for BLAST! in the U.S. might be a was a house of cards. But it was worth a shot. most difficult days as a filmmaker have been do-it-yourself theatrical run. when premiering my movies SlamNation and The World Science Power Trip theatrically in New York. Did I The Strategy Festival really want to go through that again, especial- New York City is the natural place to pre- The World Science Festival seemed the best ly when everyone was telling me how much miere a documentary theatrically. There is a place to start. Science, right? Should be a harder it had become? sympathetic, potentially enthusiastic audi- perfect fit. No-brainer. But they said, “Thank We hype BLAST! as “Astrophysics — In- ence. Documentaries in theaters are not so you for your recent note about BLAST! I diana Jones style!” I follow my astrophysicist rare in New York — a quick look at Time Out watched it and enjoyed it very much. How- brother, Mark Devlin, PhD, as he journeys to New York reveals several docs opening almost ever, we feel it is unfortunately not right for a five continents from the Arctic to the Ant- every week in search of that all-important World Science Festival program in 2009. We arctic to launch a revolutionary telescope on New York Times review. Some weeks it seems are committed to screening, wherever pos- a NASA high-altitude balloon in order to re- there are more non-fiction than fiction films. sible, U.S. premieres….” veal a hidden universe. New York has the added advantage of being I almost fell off my seat. Where have I heard Although I did not pursue a science educa- my hometown — I have a built-in community that before? Really, “premiere-itis” — even tion myself, I grew up in a science family. My and know the terrain. But BLAST! had no dis- in the science world? The movie had played access to this story through my brother gave tributor and had already been turned down by months before at The Imagine Film Festival, me an extraordinary opportunity to present Film Forum, where two of my previous films, which was also in New York. Was that the the real life of scientists, which I knew had SlamNation and Power Trip, had played. Could problem? They didn’t specify in their reply: “I not been seen before. I wanted to make sci- I take this movie out on my own and do it in a know it’s a disappointment, but I’m afraid the ence not just accessible, but fun and exciting, way that was not just a vanity project, wasting World Science Festival will not be screening the way I had experienced it growing up. my time and money? your film as part of the Festival in 2009… I believe I succeeded. BLAST! has been A plan began to materialize: The World Sci- I also want to reiterate in the clearest way very well received internationally, with many ence Festival (WSF) was coming to New York possible that you must refrain from implying presales, broadcasts and prestigious screenings City in June 2009. The festival was founded in or otherwise stating that you are affiliated as an Official Project of the UNESCO-spon- 2008 by physicist Brian Greene, best-selling with WSF to the IFC Center or anyone else.” sored International Year of Astronomy, 2009. science author and NOVA television personal- Wow, that hurt. It seemed that my house of However early on the movie had trouble in ity, along with his wife Tracy Day, formerly of cards had already crumbled…. the U.S., perhaps because the science content ABC News and very media-connected. Okay, new plan. We were not part of the was a tough sell in a mainstream culture that The festival’s first year had been an out- World Science Festival, but we would still seems to have developed an anti-intellectual rageous success, with a total audience of program during the same dates. The WSF streak in recent years. Or maybe it was be- 120,000 over several days. There were sold- would have more than 40 events at venues cause we had broken many of the conventions out shows and lines around the block for doz- across the city for five days and our strategy

92 FILMMAKER WINTER 2010

0092-099_Blast.indd92-099_Blast.indd 9292 66/10/13/10/13 33:27:27 PMPM would be to hand out promotional material at every one of them. It was our best opportunity to draw in a big science audience. Now we would have to convince IFC Center and the Templeton Foundation that it could work.

The John Templeton Foundation The John Templeton Foundation provides substantial financial support for science outreach programs that address humanity’s “Big Questions.” One of the foundation’s main missions is to encourage dialogue that recon- ciles religious beliefs and scientific pursuit. A primary character in BLAST! is not only a brilliant astrophysicist but also a devout Christian. Barth Netterfield is vocal about his interest in confirming his belief in God by understanding the universe better. BBLAST!LAST!. We figured this element in BLAST! should be of great interest to Templeton. We had al- he was very busy. I started to despair of ever still standing: We could take advantage of the ready engaged the foundation for months, hop- getting an answer from him. World Science Festival dates, but would not ing that a successful grant proposal would help After a couple months of patience and have the benefit of being officially endorsed. fund our ambitious national outreach strategy. gentle persistence, the answer came: “hi, We would have the prestige of an IFC Cen- They were not eager to fund such an ex- paul. sorry i haven’t gotten back to you sooner. ter premiere event, but would have to four- tensive plan. However, they were enthusias- i think we’d like to do the june 11 screening wall the full week at Cinema Village. We had tic about the film and indicated they might with you, although we wouldn’t have room created the conditions that we had promised support a more focused outreach effort. We for a one-week run. should we move forward Templeton in our proposal, but the funding were invited to submit a full proposal that on this? John” Finally some good news! Or had not yet materialized. sought “money to bring in panelists to lead a was it? One night does not cut it in New Which meant I would have to find the discussion…(after [a] viewing [of ] the film) York. You need at least a weeklong engage- money elsewhere to confirm commitments at a key strategic venue.” ment to qualify for reviews. Without that we for the theater and a publicist and to cover That strategic venue could be the IFC did not have a theatrical run. material costs. No guarantee that the Tem- Center. So we got to work on a more modest Okay, new plan yet again. We had to find pleton Foundation would come through to but very carefully constructed proposal that another theater to run BLAST! for a full week reimburse these costs. Should I go for it, or asked for $64,000 to fund a premiere screen- after the IFC Center premiere event. Quickly back out while I still had the chance? ing followed by a panel discussion of promi- — it was getting to be short notice. nent authors and scientists on the intersection Our first choice was Cinema Village, a The Decision of religious faith and scientific pursuit. venerable movie house with a remarkable his- My strategy to construct a theatrical run of Of course, the proposal would also cover the tory of showcasing indies. Cinema Village is my movie BLAST! had been achieved, sort cost of hiring a publicist and other expenses one of the few theaters left that runs films by of. Proceeding with the release in New York associated with the weeklong run necessary to independent filmmakers who are self-dis- made a lot of sense, if someone else paid for guarantee reviews in the print media. tributing and literally walk in the door with it. If not, I would have to come up with se- A big problem was that their funding cycle a DVD. They were perfectly located, strad- rious funds to pay for the expensive theater went beyond the World Science Festival dates. dling the East and West Villages, in the midst rental, an experienced publicist, and then ads, We would have to submit as early as possible. of NYU and within walking distance of many materials, postcards, posters, etc. Better count So we stepped up the pace and made a huge in- World Science Festival venues. on $25,000 bare bones. Was it worth it? vestment of time and effort on that document. They were also available on the dates we I started seeking advice, and found there We already had to remove the World Sci- wanted. Would they program it? “I have dis- was plenty of it: “Theatrical doesn’t work ence Festival from our proposal, but what cussed BLAST! with our film booker and we the way it used to, especially for documen- about the IFC Center? can offer you Theater #1 for a fee. One week taries….” run at 5 shows a day. Theater 2 is booked Thom Powers, documentary programmer The IFC Center through the summer.” at the Toronto Film Festival and curator of John Vanco, who programs the IFC Center, Well, at least they didn’t reject the movie. But the Stranger Than Fiction documentary se- seemed intrigued by the opportunity present- they wouldn’t exactly program it either. They ries at the IFC Center, was happy to hear ed by the World Science Festival dates. But would allow us to rent the theater for a hefty that we had finalized the IFC Center date. the screener DVD of BLAST! had been in his price. We would have to four-wall BLAST! But he discouraged four-walling a theater for

PHOTO BY: MARK HALPERN possession for weeks with no word. No doubt So, my original plan emerged tattered but a full-week run. His view was representative

FILMMAKER WINTER 2010 93

0092-099_Blast.indd92-099_Blast.indd 9393 66/10/13/10/13 33:27:27 PMPM for it, shooting on five continents. The journey began with getting stranded in Arctic Sweden, being delayed four weeks and culminating in a 38-hour shoot to capture the chronically- postponed telescope-balloon launch and sub- sequent disaster. After more grueling shoots in desolate locations, getting to Antarctica to finish the movie took four months of bureau- cratic hell. The movie often seemed doomed, especially with all the catastrophic failures that continually plagued the experiment. Moreover the complicated postproduction required deciphering 200 hours of science footage. It was the toughest edit of my career and took more than a year. Now, after all these hardships and ob- stacles, the one thing that was going to stop BLAST! dead in its tracks was… my fear of an empty theater? Then there was some wonderful news. My brother Mark finally published the science re- BLAST! BALLOONS AT THE WORLD SCIENCE FESTIVAL. sults from BLAST! in Nature, the most prestigious science journal in the world. It turns of many industry people I spoke to: “It’s a big Others pointed out the success stories, out they made a major astronomical discovery, expense that won’t return. You can’t expect those niche films that seemed unlikely to verifying where half the light in the universe much box office for this kind of film. The generate much box office but in fact drew comes from. As Nature put it, Mark’s tele- New York Times will give you a marginal- huge crowds. Gary Hustwit’s Helvetica is scope had revealed a “hidden universe.” The ized, three-paragraph review, and there’s no about a font, of all things. Who would have results generated worldwide press attention guarantee it will be a good one. The risk is guessed that it would be one of IFC Center’s — and we had the movie that documented not worth it since those print reviews don’t most successful films, held over for months? the entire process. How could we not release necessarily translate into ancillary market Examined Life by Astra Taylor is a talking- it now, especially when there was still a chance sales anymore. Much better instead to invest head movie about philosophers philosophiz- that the Templeton Foundation would come your resources in an online, Internet outreach ing. She tapped into the philosophy niche in through and fund the whole thing? How campaign that can actually tap into your core a big way, selling out many shows of her nine- lame would we feel if that happened after we audience and make some sales.” day run at IFC Center. had jumped ship? I could not argue with that point of Maybe BLAST! could be that kind of suc- Taking advantage of the momentum, my view. The conventional wisdom seemed to cessful niche film. Nobody had yet tapped into brother found some financing from the Uni- have changed since my previous film, Power the science crowd the way we planned to. versity of Pennsylvania, which was starting Trip, opened theatrically in 2003. Doug Block, however, was one fellow to recognize the promotional value of the For one thing, print media is being eclipsed New York filmmaker who echoed Powers’s movie. Then we worked out a family loan and by the Internet. A publicist I spoke to crystal- advice. Even though his movie 51 Birch Street the balance was going to be on me. Thank- lized the transitional zeitgeist: “One of our had been a remarkable success in theaters, fully I have a decent-paying day job at CBS filmmakers was disappointed that his article he was ambivalent toward theatrical runs for Sports and few personal expenses. appeared on the Time magazine Web site but small films: “There is nothing more depressing So it was going to be a little less risky any- not in the print version of the magazine. Un- than a film screening for an empty theater. My way. We contacted Cinema Village and con- til I pointed out that the print version has 4 film Home Page received good reviews across firmed the dates for the week run. We would million subscribers, but the Web site gets 7 the board, including from the Times, and still be scraping by, but we were going ahead. million visitors.” nobody showed up. For some films it’s just too Maybe low-budget theatrical release was hard to fill the seats to make it worth it.” The Outreach becoming irrelevant along with print. Perhaps That resonated with me and my producer I decided to ignore the seemingly sage ad- instead I should take Thom’s advice and focus Claire Missanelli. We had experienced much vice from many of my colleagues that I should on the still-to-be charted territory of online angst when the box office for Power Trip stick to a new-millennium style (and less cost- publicity. However, almost all the filmmakers dropped off. Imagining going through that ly) online campaign to get the word out. The I spoke to saw it very differently: “You’ve in- sort of exposure and potential humiliation fact is the New York Times and Variety are not vested four years of your life in this project! It’s again made my face turn red. Maybe I should going to cover your online campaign, but if your baby! If you have the chance, how can just make my life simple and skip it. you do it right, they will cover your New York you not do it? If you don’t, you’ll regret it.” Soon, however, the irony crept in. BLAST! theatrical premiere. Those were some powerful sentiments. was a brutal film to make. I traveled the world That’s how BLAST! was going to make its

94 FILMMAKER WINTER 2010

0092-099_Blast.indd92-099_Blast.indd 9494 66/10/13/10/13 33:27:27 PMPM mark in the U.S: Leap over the timid tradi- States. But we also needed to fill the seats lo- We started populating our calendar with tional gatekeepers in our home country and go cally in New York, and that would require some these events and assigning our people to at- straight to the more adventuresome press with serious grassroots Internet effort as well. tend them to pass out cards and promote the an independent New York theatrical premiere. premiere. If hundreds of people were coming Grassroots out for these science lectures, surely there was The Publicist We recruited several interns and started an audience for BLAST!, right? Once we had committed to a theater, the focusing on core audiences. We gathered The final outreach element was personal: I next step was to hire a publicist. This was an contact information for every person from all opened up my address book and started with essential element of the outreach effort. John the organizations in the New York area that the letter A. I was utterly unabashed about Murphy of Murphy PR had an excellent rep- might have interest in BLAST!. These includ- contacting everyone I knew in the New York utation among our colleagues. In addition to ed university science departments (Columbia, area (preferably by phone) and urging them to higher-profile films such as Milk, he and his NYU and Hunter College among others), come to the premiere. This resulted in some firm had worked on smaller documentaries New York Academy of Sciences, astronomy great catch-up conversations with people I including Sputnik Mania, which also had sci- clubs, planetariums, museums, etc. had not been in touch with in ages. It also ence elements. We were in touch with hundreds of people took several days. In our first sit-down, we met with Murphy, over several weeks by phone and e-mail. Soon We certainly felt as if we had made strong Greg Sullivan and Heter Myers, who would the upcoming BLAST! screenings were being contact with our core audiences. And we were become our point of contact. We filled them announced on Web sites and in newsletters, looking forward to reaching out to thousands in on the history of the film, the problems we our flyers and postcards were plastered all over of more attending the World Science Festival were experiencing gaining traction in Ameri- university science departments, and it became during our run. ca, the movie’s strengths and weaknesses and rare to find anyone in this community who our goals for a theatrical run that would gen- was not already well aware of the movie. Advertising erate worthwhile press attention. We added these new contacts to Constant How should we advertise BLAST!? Is there I explained that in its festival run BLAST! Contact, the e-newsletter service we used to a way to make science attractive and attention had received consistently excellent reviews (I notify our various constituencies about screen- grabbing? could not have dreamed up better pull quotes) ings, press and, of course, the theatrical run. My previous films had also presented se- but they were from science-friendly online We have collected close to 10,000 contacts rious marketing challenges. Long before sources. Overseas we also had great notices in over the years, across several projects. Nor- slam poets had visited the White House mainstream print, especially in England from mally we send out the e-newsletter semi- and HBO’s Def Poetry hit the air, SlamNa- the BBC broadcast on the Storyville strand. (It monthly. As our premiere drew near, how- tion was trying to sell slam poetry as dynamic was the highest-rated episode of the season.) ever, we sent it out three times within a week. and exciting. But the perception of poetry as In fact BLAST! had not generated a single This may have been one too many, because dry and dull was hard to beat. So we dropped negative review until the first time we hit the third announcement resulted in twice as the word. It wasn’t “poetry,” it was “competi- mainstream print in the U.S. At the Florida many “opt-outs” — people who dropped their tive spoken word.” They weren’t “poets,” they Film Festival BLAST! received its absolute subscription — as normal. were “cut-throat performers.” best review from the Orlando Weekly: “The We also updated the BLAST! MySpace We developed a similar strategy for Power science documentary may be at the precipice page, signed up for a Twitter account, and Trip. It wasn’t about “an electricity crisis in of a golden age… Delicious drama that builds added a Facebook event to my personal ac- Tblisi, Georgia,” it was about “corruption, to an edge-of-your-seat climax.” And its ab- count as well as a BLAST! fan page. assassination, street rioting, and absurdist solute worst review from the Orlando Sen- Of course a Web site for a film is essential culture clash.” tinel: “Devlin’s movie can’t make the mildly to any outreach effort. Ours included regu- Should we do the same for BLAST!? We dramatic setbacks into high drama.” lar announcements about the theatrical run came up with some good alternative copy that Like any filmmaker, I am confounded by on our home page and updates on press and avoided the word science: “A spectacular and utterly contradictory reviews, and this initial reviews that came in. We also set up a Guest suspenseful story of space exploration.” But mainstream exposure in the States made me Blog that any visitor could contribute to. This ultimately I decided it was not practical to nervous. New York critics can be brutal. For included more informal announcements in an hide the science. I was not comfortable try- the first time I worried that BLAST! might effort to engage our fan base, with the filming to either. Instead I decided to embrace the not inspire the positive reviews in New York makers and scientists in an ongoing dialogue. nerdish nature of the project. The message that we needed to make this effort a success. We discovered that there are a surprising would be “Science Is Cool!” We stole a great Murphy PR was reassuring that they could number of science-related events happening tagline from the Sheffield Film Festival blurb generate the reviews, but of course they could all over New York City. New York Academy of the movie and put a science word right up not guarantee positive ones. We started to of Sciences has lectures, Columbia has sci- front: “Astrophysics — Indiana Jones style.” make dates for press screenings, one of which ence cafe gatherings, City University of New We had to be very careful how we spent would take place at the fancy, exclusive Soho York has a regular series of shows, and then our money; we barely had a budget for any House, where I had connections. there are even hipster private events such as advertising. Instead we would be counting We were taking a huge gamble that na- Nerd Nite and the Secret Science Club that on our publicist to generate free advertising tional exposure through press attention would draw hundreds of enthusiasts to an evening through reviews and press. give BLAST! a positive identity in the United of science in a bar. The Cinema Village would place their

FILMMAKER WINTER 2010 95

0092-099_Blast.indd92-099_Blast.indd 9595 66/10/13/10/13 33:27:27 PMPM standard directory ads in the New York Times we could not afford to hire someone outside. I had wanted to check the tape and make and the Village Voice. Beyond that we decided The task fell on Amber Yoder, our associate sure everything looked and sounded okay. But not to take out any print ads at all. We could producer, who did a remarkable job. I was a little late for that, people were already only afford very small ones, which would not A big problem was figuring out how many in their seats and I was assured that the image have had much impact. of each item to order. The number of postcards was gorgeous HD and the sound quality was Instead I decided to focus on radio. I am proved too difficult to estimate. We reordered excellent. So I decided to accept this assess- a regular listener of the public radio sta- them twice (which is very cost-ineffective) and ment and went back upstairs to finish dinner. tion WNYC. Their short promotional spots wound up with 5,000 too many in the closet. Not checking the tape myself turned out to made me aware of many independent films, One of our interns came up with a ge- be a big mistake. so I knew they were effective. I figured their nius promotional idea: Balloons! Of course! The screening seemed to go very well. It audience would be receptive to BLAST! and BLAST! is about a telescope that gets launched was well attended and the Q&A was fantas- would make a focused target market. Also, via a massive NASA helium balloon. We tic. Overbye was the perfect moderator, clear with radio you can be sure that everyone lis- could use balloons to promote the movie. We and insightful, and Barth, my brother and tening to that particular show hears your an- ordered hundreds of white balloons with the myself were really on. The members of the nouncement; with print you can’t be sure that BLAST! logo on them, as well as some helium press were clearly engaged from the questions everyone reading that newspaper or magazine tanks. When the run started, this would prove they were asking and the conversation even actually sees your ad. to be our most fun and perhaps most effective turned philosophical as Barth and Mark ru- I took out six promotional spots on promotional item. minated on the spiritual value of science. We WNYC leading up to our weeklong run at Now with most of our outreach in place, had participated in many Q&As during our Cinema Village. The sales rep promised that it was time to put BLAST! to the real test festival run, but this was my favorite so far. the last ad would appear on National Public and screen it for the press. Unfortunately, the The second screening of the evening started Radio’s Science Friday, a perfect placement for press screenings resulted in one of the biggest while we were in the hallway shaking hands us. That got me thinking. I asked the sales blunders of my career. and answering follow-up questions. I decided rep if she had any inside information on how finally to take a quick look at the image be- to book Science Friday. We also took out a Press Screenings fore heading up to the bar. After a minute or banner ad in the New York Academy of Sci- The first press screening for BLAST! in so in the theater, I made a terrible discovery: ences weekly newsletter. With such limited New York City was set up by Murphy PR at We were screening a Textless Master! This resources we needed to target our advertising Magno Sound. It was expensive: $550. Only version was meant for international subtitles efforts as narrowly as possible. four people showed up. They were writing for to be added. On this master, there were NO Our one extravagance was posting flyers in Web sites I was unfamiliar with, and two of TITLES — no lower-third IDs, no location Manhattan. We had found our freelance IT them were from the same one. markers, no time stamps, no written explana- consultant through flyers posted in the neigh- Murphy PR was reassuring. The first press tions at all! borhood. He had told us that in fact, of all his screening was just a reason to start getting in I walked out of the theater devastated and efforts, these flyers had generated the most touch with people. A shot over the bow. Be explained the situation to my colleagues. Oh clients. So he got us in touch with Martin patient. my God, the Village Voice is in there, Holly- “The Flyer Man.” Martin lives in New Jer- The second press screening was planned wood Reporter is in there. This is a disaster! sey but has been in this business for years and for Soho House, which has one of the most What to do? Should we stop the movie? seems to know every (legal) spot in Manhat- plush, comfortable screening rooms in the The press in the first screening, Variety and tan to post flyers and drop postcards. city. A founding member of this trendy club many others, had already seen it this way. If We targeted Manhattan neighborhoods. had loved my movie Power Trip and helped there was damage, it had already been done. Was it effective? Hard to gauge. Our evidence me get membership. I must have pulled the wrong master from was anecdotal: Sitting outdoors at a Brooklyn A screening at Soho House has some glitz the shelf. We had dozens of masters because of cafe after promoting at one of the hipster sci- value that worked in our favor. Murphy PR all the versioning. We not only had to make dif- ence events, a slam poet who I knew from was able to develop it into a special event by ferent length versions of the movie for different my SlamNation days passed by. After a little attracting the New York Times science report- markets, but then we needed to make different catch-up, of course I passed him a BLAST! er Dennis Overbye to conduct the Q&A with versions of all the versions: NTSC vs. PAL, postcard. “Hey, I know about this!” he said. “I myself, my brother Mark and his colleague texted vs. textless, anamorphic vs. letterboxed, wondered if this was you.” How did he know? Barth Netterfield, whom we flew down from etc. I had been stretched thin by all the running A flyer in the West Village. Later a colleague Toronto. This time Variety, Village Voice, around, was not careful and had screwed up. of my brother contacted him to say, “Your face Hollywood Reporter, and other heavy hitters No excuse. I was inconsolable. There were is plastered all over New York City.” would be in attendance. many fewer people in the second screening, Very exciting evening. At the club John but unlike the first, the questions in the sec- Materials and Heter from Murphy PR introduced us ond Q&A indicated that some in the audience I must say that generating and ordering to Overbye. Netterfield joined us from the had been confused by the movie, most likely a materials was a thorn in our side the entire airport and we all sat down to dinner at the result of no titles. Why did this not seem to be time. We had to design and redesign fly- club’s restaurant. When the conversation the case in the first screening? I explained the ers, postcards, posters, banner ads, Web site turned to hard-core science I excused myself mix-up in master tapes this time and we did as pages, etc. This was all done in-house because to go downstairs to the screening room. much damage control as possible.

96 FILMMAKER WINTER 2010

0092-099_Blast.indd92-099_Blast.indd 9696 66/10/13/10/13 33:27:27 PMPM Mark and Barth tried to reassure me at the bar later on. People still seemed to like the movie. Maybe the titles are not as important as you think. Still, I couldn’t believe that after all I had invested, all we had been through to get this movie made and seen, I may have ruined everything simply by picking up the wrong tape. To make matters worse, the premiere was fast approaching and we still had not heard from the John Templeton Foundation about funding. I contacted them and the news was not good. Templeton was very complimentary about our proposal and said that in previous years they certainly would have funded it. However because of the downturn in the economy this year they had lost 30 percent of their endowment and were passing. Another pillar of my initial house of cards had collapsed. The third and final press screening was to be at Cinema Village. The New York Times and Time Out New York would be there. Of course, I checked the screen well beforehand to make sure we had the right version. As far as press was concerned, there was nothing more I could do except wait for the reviews.

The Run Our first press break (in publicist parlance) for the BLAST! theatrical run came from my local neighborhood newspaper, Town and Village. The piece featured a front-page pic- ture of me and a lengthy, sympathetic article on the background of making BLAST!. Very nice. But not a review. (LEFT-RIGHT) MARK DEVLIN, CLAIRE MISSANELLI AND PAUL DEVLIN AT CINEMA VILLAGE. The next write-up came the Monday before the Thursday premiere at IFC Center. Amber Yoder, our associate producer, is an We had two people at each stairway with Not really a review, but a short listing in New organizer for the New York City Film Col- hundreds of postcards. Our team included a York Magazine: “...plays like a physicist’s van- lective and used those connections to help us professional clown (sans makeup) with bal- ity piece, neither cinematic nor engaging, and hire many young filmmakers to do outreach. loon experience. She was armed with hun- the graphics are surprisingly dated.” Uh-oh. We strategically mapped out all the events on dreds of white BLAST! balloons and two Was I in trouble? Shake it off and move on. the World Science Festival calendar and as- helium tanks. The next day, the review in Variety came signed outreach people to pass out cards at Claire, Amber and I settled into our $100 out. This one really worried me because that just about every one of them. seats. We were in the absolute last row. Some writer had been at Soho House, the scene of The Gala Opening Concert of the World of the best seats cost thousands, which in- the Textless Master Disaster. It read: “This Science Festival was the night before our pre- cluded a ticket to the reception afterward. adventuresome spin on breakthrough science miere at IFC Center. It would be a swanky Fortune was smiling on us because someone should wow ’em… Devlin captures the es- affair with Alan Alda, Glenn Close, Yo-Yo had mistakenly included two tickets to the re- sence of hands-on scientific research…” Ma and other luminaries performing for ception with our show-only cheap tickets. Who needs text! It was a great review! more than 1,000 people in celebration of sci- The production was impressive. The two- Thank God! Perhaps this theatrical run would ence generally and in honor of naturalist E.O. hour performance was clever, innovative and en- not be a fiasco after all. At least my reputation Wilson in particular. tertaining: show tunes were adapted to science was intact within the industry press. Variety The gala was at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully content, Yo-Yo Ma performed while children also wrote that BLAST! was “…illustrated Hall, which turned out to be a perfect spot for dancing as ants paid tribute to E.O. Wilson’s with spectacular, NASA-generated mock-ups our guerrilla campaign. The theater entrance field work, and an orchestra interpreted a pow- of deep space.” Take that New York Magazine! was slightly below street level but funneled out erful Philip Glass composition set to a dynamic (Still confounded by those contradictions.) to the street via four short stairways. We could montage of Earth and nature images. Wednesday night was the beginning of the concentrate our contact with impunity because Afterward, out the huge windows, we could World Science Festival. We were prepared. we were already on the street. see dozens of dazzling BLAST! balloons.

FILMMAKER WINTER 2010 97

0092-099_Blast.indd92-099_Blast.indd 9797 66/10/13/10/13 33:27:27 PMPM to answer one of the science questions, Mark preceded his correction with, “You don’t know enough to know how little you know.” The after party was a thrill, and when we got home an e-mail from Heter of Murphy PR was waiting. The New York Times review had come out, and it was positive. The reviewer was a bit tongue-in-cheek, using words like “nerd” and “thingamajig” but also “brilliant astrophysicists” and “absorb- ing documentary… that leads to some unex- pected twists and turns and comedic hand- wringing.” A perfect capper to a wonderful day! And a huge relief. Now we had two great reviews in national publications. Those would be the two most influential reviews of any we would receive. The back-to-back positive pull quotes from these could be the boost to ancil- BBLAST!LAST! DDIRECTORIRECTOR PPAULAUL DDEVLIN.EVLIN. lary markets we were hoping for. First part of the mission accomplished; Gaining entrance with the serendipitous in- that we were going to embarrass ourselves. now it remained to be seen if we would pull vite, I worked the reception inside, meeting We had promised the IFC Center we could in good box office at Cinema Village. Friday and greeting people like Alda, Brian Greene fill the place and I wanted to come through. started with a buzzkill. The rest of the reviews and Neil deGrasse Tyson, another NOVA on- The guys from Murphy PR were at the the- coming in were mixed, and some of them were air personality and head of the Hayden Plan- ater when I arrived and seemed to have things brutal: one star from the New York Post, which etarium in New York City. under control. They had invited a lot of on- accused me of nepotism. Metro said BLAST! Outside, our team made sure that just about line press and were making sure everything had charm, but only “if you’re an egghead like every one of the 1,000 science enthusiasts at- ran smoothly. the Devlins.” Wow, this is getting personal. tending the gala knew about the BLAST! Then I checked with the box office. More Just have to brush it off again, because it was premiere the next day (not to mention all the than 100 advance tickets had already been sold time for my brother and I to do some radio. people passing by on the street). for the 210-seat theater. We were going to be WNYC’s The Leonard Lopate Show is one The balloons were eye catching, very popu- okay! I relaxed enough to join some friends of the most prestigious culture and arts pro- lar and lots of people wanted to take them. and family for dinner across the street. grams in New York. I listen to it all the time, Our first encounter with the World Science When I returned the BLAST! balloons were and for me it was an honor to be invited back Festival was an exhilarating success! flying and many people I knew were showing (SlamNation had also attracted his attention). Over the next four days, we did so much up. From there it became a whirlwind of meet Leonard is a true master — spectacularly outreach at WSF events that it became dif- and greet, handshakes and cheek kisses. well prepared and totally in control, direct- ficult to give anyone a postcard who had Inside was buzzing. We almost filled the ing the pace of an interview with eye contact not already received one. We were told that main theater at IFC Center — not com- and body language. His listeners were the tar- even celebrities like Cameron Diaz said they pletely sold out, but close enough. My en- get audience we wanted to reach. Not only would check out the movie and the founder tire family was there, and I probably knew to encourage them to see the movie but as a of the festival, Brian Greene, complimented half the people in the theater. I felt a bit like reputation enhancer for both my brother and us on our guerrilla marketing efforts. Surely my buddies in bands who would get gigs be- myself in this elite community. we would be putting butts in the seats. cause they promised the club they have lots At one point, Leonard asked Mark a ques- The day of the gala, more reviews came in: of friends who will come. But hell, it was my tion about the science results, and he hesitated, The Onion gave us a positive review and put hometown. They had better show up! “My brother doesn’t like it when I go into too BLAST! in the context of my previous work, I decided to stay and watch the movie. much detail on the science.” Leonard glared which I appreciated. Time Out New York gave Several times I looked around the theater at me. “But our audience is very intelligent.” a mixed review — not bad, just lackluster. and thought how unlikely this moment had Yes they are, and here’s a chance to do more of But the Village Voice and a few online re- seemed several months ago and took a deep, our brother shtick. “Go for it, Mark! Go into views shot us down. They complained that savoring breath. detail,” I replied. How refreshing not to have BLAST! felt like a TV doc, as if it did not The journalist Rob Levin of the free daily to dumb down the presentation. For Leonard’s belong in a theater. If only they knew the newspaper amNew York led the Q&A after- audience, rather than be ashamed, we can revel irony — so far it had been impossible to get ward. By this time my brother Mark and I in being “eggheads.” I often find it hard to BLAST! on TV in the U.S. The only place I had become entertainers. Often the audi- remember afterward what I’ve said in a radio could get it seen was in a theater; the press ence broke out laughing, especially when the interview. But from the reactions we received was not going to be easy on us. good-natured brotherly rivalry emerged. For almost immediately and through the rest of

Thursday: Premiere day! I was very nervous example, when I made the mistake of trying the week, it was an impressive segment. Mark PHOTO BY: MARK DEVLIN

98 FILMMAKER WINTER 2010

0092-099_Blast.indd92-099_Blast.indd 9898 66/10/13/10/13 33:27:27 PMPM and I were back on top of this ride again. The kids absolutely loved us. We were the Looking back at the theatrical run of Next was an interview with Mike Sargent only group doing balloons and we couldn’t BLAST!, I believe I have gained a lot of in- of WBAI radio, a non-commercial progres- blow them up fast enough. I have never felt so sight and can better assess the value of this sive station. The session was looser and more popular. The parents were very interested in effort. Did I make the right decision? I can’t laid-back, and at one point Mike asked the the movie, and as I looked out across the park, say that we didn’t lose money as predicted. question, “In doing this movie, what did you a sea of BLAST! balloons over the heads of And I can’t say the box office wasn’t dismal as ultimately learn about yourself?” the crowd greeted my gaze. That was a won- predicted. Everyone was right about that. That was one of those rare questions I derful climax to our outreach effort — mak- Not all our reviews were great, either. Many hadn’t heard before. It has to be answered ing lots of kids happy on a gorgeous, sunny reviewers were unwilling to attend our press immediately, and I fogged with a discussion day in the park. screenings, so Murphy PR sent them DVD of my tenacity. But over the next few days, I But when Thursday came around and we screeners. There seems to be a correlation be- thought a lot about what the real answer was. received the last box office report, I have to tween negative reviews and the reviewers who The premiere that night at Cinema Village admit I was relieved the run was over. We received DVD screeners. My guess is that was a disappointment. We did not sell out the were not quite finished yet, however. My some of those DVD reviewers did not even house; we did not have big crowds; we did not query with the WNYC radio sales rep had re- watch the entire movie — just got enough of a have lines around the block. My brother and sulted in a series of developing contacts with sense of it to meet a deadline. I did Q&As at the 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. shows Science Friday. Eventually these paid off in a Because of its epic nature of sweeping vis- and there were maybe 25 to 30 people at each booking on a segment about Summer Science tas in the Arctic and Antarctic, NASA outer show. The theater looked sparse. The rest of Movies. The following week, my brother and space simulations, etc., BLAST! has much the weekend was similar. And the weekdays I were scheduled to appear on National Pub- greater impact on the big screen. This in after were even slower. lic Radio. spite of the criticism that it is a TV piece, a So I was facing my worst fear. This is what Although it was too late to help the New conclusion much more likely from a DVD Doug Block and many others had warned me York run, this would be the biggest exposure screening. Next time, I might skip the DVD about: an empty, four-walled theater. Initially ever for BLAST! — the Science Friday broad- screeners and go for no review rather than a there was an impending sense of red-faced hu- cast reaches up to two million people across bad review. miliation. America, and even more from its podcast. I agree that it has certainly become more However, as I continued to do the Q&As, The interview with Ira Flatow went very difficult to make a theatrical run a success, es- I became buoyed by how much the audience well. It covered much the same ground as the pecially for a small film. A deluge of product who did show up LOVED the movie. They Leonard Lopate Show, but this time it was competes for attention from an increasingly were so enthusiastic, so blown away by what national. We emphasized that the New York indifferent media to help attract a shrinking, we had accomplished, both the science and run had launched BLAST! and that we were saturated audience. the filmmaking, so thankful that we had fin- now starting to book the movie around the However online, Internet publicity has not ished it. They really GOT the movie, and the country. We encouraged the audience to help emerged as an adequate alternative to a theat- genuine appreciation was nourishing. us identify venues and help book screenings. rical opening. There is no way we could have Also, young people and entire families were And the response was huge. Overwhelming attracted the kind of attention we received for showing up. The youngsters were participating even. Our Web site went from an average of BLAST! from an online campaign. Without in the Q&As — clearly supersmart kids whose 50 or so hits a day to about 4,000 on the day the event value of a theatrical premiere, it parents were cultivating their interests. Could of the interview and stayed at around 500 a would have required constant effort and en- it be that BLAST! was a family movie? day for more than a week after. The e-mail re- ergy to maintain momentum, inevitably los- So it turned out that the theatrical run was quests started coming in before the show was ing steam down the line. serving a small but elite group. Despite all over and friends and colleagues all over the I cannot say that a theatrical run is right for our outreach efforts BLAST! was not going country contacted us with congratulations. every film and that it does not have a strong to draw big crowds. However, just because it Several weeks later we were still managing possibility of failure. For BLAST!, however, I was not a large audience did not mean that the screening requests: hundreds from indi- believe it was the right decision. our audience did not deserve to see their kind viduals and dozens from theaters, museums, The positive national reviews, especially of movie. I took comfort in this even when planetariums, schools and libraries across from Variety and the New York Times and the the nightly box office numbers disappointed. America. As of this writing we have booked NPR Science Friday segment were priceless Sunday was the final day of the World Sci- Facets Cinemateque for a week run in Chi- exposure. And it turns out that one of the lis- ence Festival and our last big day of outreach. cago, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, teners of NPR’s Science Friday that afternoon The festival had organized a huge extravagan- Rio Theater in Vancouver, Coca-Cola Space was Stephen Colbert. And guess what? My za for kids, taking over Washington Square Science Center in Georgia, among many oth- brother Mark appeared on national television Park with theater events, demonstrations, in- ers confirmed or in the works. (A complete sparring with Stephen Colbert on his show. teractive games and all sorts of opportunities listing of BLAST! screenings are available at The result of all this publicity has been a con- to learn about and have fun with science. blastthemovie.com/screenings.html.) That sistent lineup of theatrical and “alt-theatrical” We showed up with all our guerrilla out- was a powerful interview; NPR has impres- screenings across the country that we could reach troops, a big poster, thousands of post- sive reach. not have generated otherwise. cards, two tall helium tanks and hundreds of The jury is still out on how the theatrical BLAST! balloons. Conclusions see page 109

FILMMAKER WINTER 2010 99

0092-099_Blast.indd92-099_Blast.indd 9999 66/10/13/10/13 33:27:27 PMPM discouraged. Bar says, “We spent months and a d.p. who owned a RED camera. The question was, last year, two successful festival sales. months writing letters, sending out DVDs, was, how little can we do this for?” Even if it’s half of that, it’s heartbreaking, and going out to dinner with donors, and we re- Woodrow had spent the year trying to re- it is a waste. It is the definition of insanity ally felt like it would never get made. We did think film financing in general after his first to keep doing the same thing over and over a ton of grant applications, but that was pretty feature, Craig Johnson’s True Adolescents, pre- again and expect different results, and it’s fruitless. Because we weren’t strictly dance we miered at SXSW to today’s typically dim rev- completely clear that the market is not the couldn’t apply for dance grants, and the film enue prospects. “I think there has been a shift answer. The only rational thing to do is to try grants that exist are mainly for social-issue towards efficiency,” he says. “Are you going to something different.” projects. We didn’t fit into any of the boxes.” make a movie or not? Can you make what you “After the year of The Sky is Falling,” says Then they met someone who used to work have in your head for what you have in your Woodrow, referring to The Film Department’s at PBS, and suddenly, everything changed. hand? There has also been a shift back to basics Mark Gill’s famous speech that rung the death “Channel 13 needed programming for their in terms of thinking about what a movie is. To knell for the industry, “I keep thinking about Great Performances: Dance in America series make a movie, you need a camera, an actor, an the Black Death. The greatest calamity ever was — we had a few meetings with them and they environment, and an idea, which were the only also the time of the greatest economic and class decided to take on the project as a preacquisi- things we had when starting Bass Ackwards.” mobility in Europe. Only when the whole struc- tion,” Bar says. Between The Robbins Foun- The inception of the film: Linas saw an ad on ture gets shaken up and blown apart do people dation and PBS, they now had half of their Craigslist for a VW bus that had been sawed in have the opportunity to move around. Innova- six-figure production budget. half, borrowed $1,000 from a friend and bought tors and hard workers will succeed. It’s like the Only one problem: It was June, and the it. Woodrow’s production plan: VW bus, director, ’70s again. Nobody knows anything.” dancers were only free for a few weeks in Au- d.p., camera, microphones, sleeping bags, road- gust. “PBS gave it a home and a context, so side diner food. “I turned to my investors from THEATRICAL LAUNCH suddenly we could secure all the financing we True Adolescents and asked them for a fraction from page 99 had been chasing. People who had said they of what that film had cost, just enough to get us will impact other ancillary markets such as would give but hadn’t suddenly paid attention started,” he says. “There was no money for me to DVD and electronic sales. However, after a because we could guarantee that the film would go [on the shoot], as I would have just been one year and a half of no response, Japan’s NHK be seen.” Eventually they signed up more than more mouth to feed. I took the money, opened a finally decided to license BLAST! for broad- 25 private donors even though they were con- checking account, sent Linas the debit card, and cast soon after I sent them the reviews from stantly raising money throughout filming and said, ‘Don’t spend it all in one place.’” New York. Coincidence? Or can I count this postproduction. “I had to leave set all the time Three weeks later, the Seattle crew arrived as an ancillary sale resulting directly from the to go meet with donors,” remembers Bar. “I in New York without a finished film but with theatrical release? If so, this plus the box of- believe that no donation is too small. The ma- some great footage. Nine months after that, the fice receipts bring the New York theatrical jority of our private donations were four fig- team had crystallized a plan to get the rest of run close to break even. ures. I followed every single lead because you what they needed and Woodrow set out to find We have also received offers from enthu- never know who knows who.” the cash to continue shooting. “It was a very or- siastic distributors to help us manage the The final hour of programming they created ganic process. Rather than be irresponsible by volume of interest and take BLAST! even — a 45-minute narrative dance film, accom- raising a very small amount of money to take a further. However, the offers are not attractive panied by a 15-minute documentary about the big risk and then completing a bad film, we un- enough for us to hand over the payoff that ballet and the project — will air nationally on derforecasted and overperformed. At each stage finally seems within reach. PBS March 24. The producers retained rights we created more value than anyone expected, Distributors are expensive and unfortunate- to DVD, theatrical and foreign television, and which allowed us to keep raising money.” ly their interests are not always aligned with gain back domestic television rights in a few The bet has so far paid off: Bass Ackwards those of filmmakers. Considering the exten- years. They have already been approached by will play in the NEXT section at Sundance. sive outreach groundwork we have already laid several interested buyers and anticipate at least Operating in the world of microfinance has it makes sense for us to book screenings and enough revenue to pay back their costs — and, inspired creative thinking about the release distribute the educational DVD ourselves, or hopefully, their own deferred fees. as well. “We have to take responsibility for at least hire someone in-house to do this for us. “When we were looking for money, every- what the film should cost, the way a distribu- We have experience successfully self-distribut- one said it was too unconventional to believe tor would, and consider the actual revenue ing Power Trip and today this seems an even in,” Bar recalls on the eve of their final sound streams for the movie as a way to justify the more common route for many filmmakers. mix. “But now everyone tells us how wonder- budget.” Going into Sundance, Bass Ack- If we had not climaxed our effort with a ful it is that it’s so unconventional.” wards won’t be looking for a distribution deal: theatrical run in the United States, four years Working with Zipline Entertainment, it will worth of work and all the money already in- BASS ACKWARDS self-distribute online on February 1 immedi- vested making the movie would have fizzled. “I was walking down the street in the West ately following the festival. BLAST! most likely would have faded into Village, and I got this call,” recalls producer “This year 3,689 films were submitted to obscurity in the U.S. In that case, reviews of Thomas Woodrow, who would agree right then Sundance and 117 were accepted,” Woodrow my next movie may have started with, “Dev- to produce Linas Phillip’s unfinanced, no-bud- says. “If the median cost of each film is, say, lin’s previous film Power Trip…,” and com- get, experimental road-trip comedy feature film. $100,000, that’s almost $369 million dollars pletely overlooked BLAST!. Instead BLAST! “He didn’t have a script, just a general idea and in equity leveraged on the prospects of what takes its proper place alongside the rest of my

FILMMAKER WINTER 2010 109

1104-111_Jumps.indd04-111_Jumps.indd 109109 66/10/13/10/13 33:29:29 PMPM “the title is not descriptive enough.” Maybe we uniquely qualified to apply talent and skill to simply did not take out enough ads? this form of philanthropy, telling stories that However, after a recent discussion with only we are in a position to tell. Astra Taylor, who made Examined Life, I Moreover, despite my ambivalence toward think I may have found a more illuminating nonfiction filmmaking as de-facto activism, explanation. It’s simple and cliché. The miss- I have learned that I may also be an activist ing element may be celebrities. after all. My journey with BLAST! has turned I’m not talking about household-name me into an unapologetic advocate of an open- celebrities. I’m talking niche celebrities for minded view of science and science education. niche audiences. Helvetica interviewed very In contrast to the positive attitudes in Eu- prominent graphic artists, many of whom rope, I encountered two patterns of intoler- had rarely been seen. Examined Life featured ance in the U.S. toward what BLAST! rep- famous philosophers, some from opposing resents: On the one hand, the mere mention camps of philosophical thought. These per- of the word science seemed to agitate some sonalities are heroes to target audiences, mak- people, allowing them to write off the movie ing the films “must-see” for their niche. immediately. We dubbed this attitude “hos- Unfortunately BLAST! did not feature any tile indifference.” Mainstream programmers celebrities. Astrophysics does not really have reinforced this attitude, insisting that their its own celebrities. Perhaps Neil deGrasse Ty- audiences would not be interested in content son? Maybe we should have had him narrate? that might be intellectually challenging. Or found a way to insert a red herring Ste- On the other hand there were scientists phen Hawking interview into the movie? In who were deeply offended that we allowed any case, it’s possible that even niche movies one of our characters to express his spiritual may require niche star power to achieve box views in the context of scientific pursuit. They office success. felt that mentioning God and a discussion of The other question comes from the WBAI religion had no business in BLAST! radio interview: “What did you learn about Although I hope this group is a minority, they yourself…?” I’ve discovered that I and many of are emotional, vocal and perhaps influential. my non-fiction filmmaking colleagues are phi- Their utter intolerance for alternative points of lanthropists. Our filmmaking is philanthropy view carries a tone one would normally associate because we believe what we are doing is essen- with religious fundamentalism. tial despite the fact that it is very unlikely we Even a colleague of my brother confessed will profit financially from our films. that he “hated” the movie because it was half The concept of losing money only applies about religion (in fact there are only about if we identify our filmmaking as a business. four to five minutes that address spiritual be- In fact, what we do is more accurately de- liefs throughout the 74-minute movie). An- work. It now has its own identity. scribed as a calling. Our calling must be as- other said that, although the movie had some But there are some questions I still need sessed on the value of intangible assets rather merit, because of the religious elements she to answer. First, why did our grassroots effort than a profit and loss statement. For example, could not support BLAST! being screened in not produce box office success at Cinema Vil- SlamNation inspired an entire generation of a “pedagogical” setting. In other words, no lage? Thousands of science-friendly attendees artists — talented writers and performers students would see BLAST! in classrooms if of the World Science Festival knew about the who would sometimes seek me out at their she had anything to say about it. The severe movie. So did all the university people with shows to say, “I’m a poet because of your intolerance actually seemed unscientific to whom we made personal contact. And what movie.” Power Trip had immeasurable impact me. We dubbed this attitude “scientific fun- about all those nerds packing events like the on privatization policy, with screenings at the damentalism.” Secret Science Club? Why did they not show World Bank, the U.S. State Department, the I realized that it was my growing awareness up? Just because we weren’t serving beer? Council on Foreign Relations, USAID, etc. of these attitudes that ignited my dormant Were they turned off by the bad review in the These often led to soul-searching discussions. activist tendencies and made me ever more Post? More likely they would have been ex- We hope BLAST! will excite young people convinced that BLAST! should reach its au- cited by the positive review in the Times. (especially in the United States) to pursue dience. It was this sense of activism that gave If films like Helvetica and Examined Life scientific careers. me the stamina to stick with the theatrical were able to tap into their niche, core audiences, These were all made utterly independently, run through all of its difficulties. In the end, why was BLAST! not able to tap into the sci- on a shoestring, from my apartment. There’s this obscure little specialty film that many ence crowd, despite the exhaustive grassroots power in that. What dollar value can we put dismissed may be exposed to more people in outreach strategy? I’ve heard lots of possible on this kind of success for our films? America than any of my other independent reasons, from the “it’s a TV show, not a the- Because of my seasonal day job at CBS work, even without a U.S. broadcast. I knew atrical movie” complaint, to “the universities Sports I am in a financial position to do this the audience was out there, despite the hostile were out of session so you lost the students,” to work. But like many filmmakers, I am also indifference, and it was the New York theatri-

110 FILMMAKER WINTER 2010

1104-111_Jumps.indd04-111_Jumps.indd 110110 66/10/13/10/13 33:29:29 PMPM cal run that pushed BLAST! past the tipping kind of scale, the most appropriate way to tell AD INDEX point in the United States. these stories is by building tools — tools that Academy of Art University ...... 17 BMI ...... 5 Now our audience has found us. Perhaps years allow individuals to tell their personal stories in Center for Digital Imaging Arts ...... 63 from now, someone will come up to me and say, a meaningful way, and tools that collect, curate, Chapman U. - Dodge College ...... 11 “I’m a scientist because of your movie.” recombine and edit these stories to form the Deluxe Film Labs ...... 39 Directors Guild of America ...... 45 stories of the collective. Most data analysis has Durango Film Festival ...... 64 CULTURE HACKER focused on the macro level — statistics, trends, Edit Center ...... 78 from page 18 clusters, etc. These give important contextual Five Towns College ...... 79 Focus Features ...... 34 requests, screenings and audience attendance information and meaningful insights, but rarely FUJI Film ...... BACK COVER to be open. This is simply because the more do they provoke a visceral, emotional reaction. Full Sail Real World Education ...... 13 applications that are built to utilize that data, On the other hand, many individual stories Glidecam Industries ...... 21 Greater Miami Visitors Bureau ...... 25 the more attention a film gets, and the more provoke an emotional reaction or social con- IFC Films ...... Front Inside Cover the audience for that film grows. Whether it’s nection but lack the context that data analysis IFP Labs ...... 47 an iPhone app that tells you where you can find brings. For us, it’s important not only to present IFP in Park City ...... 30 Interlochen Center for the Arts ...... 69 the nearest screening or a number-crunching the high-level data analysis, but also to present Kino Flo ...... 59 Web app for market-research purposes, it’s all the individual stories behind the statistics and KODAK ...... 3 of value to the filmmaker and the audience.” allow for the user to seamlessly shift between Lionsgate Films ...... 33 Loyola Marymount University ...... 71 The same data that Masterton describes can the two.” Montana Film Office ...... 75 be used to power social interactions that rec- New York Film Academy ...... 19 ommend films and connect film lovers. In an The Emergence Of New Models New York Times ...... 32 Paramount/Sony Pictures ...... 37 age where filmmakers are struggling to under- If we take a moment to look at current trends PayReel / Crew Connection ...... 75 stand the digital “attention economy,” the old within other industries, it’s not hard to see that Quad Cinema ...... 93 adage that content is king doesn’t apply. In a creative uses of data and date filtering are at the Reiff & Associates ...... 89 SAG Indie ...... 15 world where devices and people are connected center of emerging models. But data is some- ShowBiz Expo ...... 27 like never before conversation is now king. times seen as a foreign element to the creative Slamdance Film Festival ...... Back Inside Cover process of storytelling. Therefore finding ways Squaw Valley Comm. Writers ...... 65 Stella Artois ...... 49 We Feel Fine to apply it will benefit from experimentation. Sundance Institute ...... 7 But the data surrounding conversations can The following are some suggestions to help SXSW Festival ...... 29 also tell stories, as demonstrated by Jonathan get you started. If you get up and running Technicolor ...... 1 The Screenplay Network ...... 70 Harris and Sep Kamvar’s project “We Feel make sure to let me know @lanceweiler. Thinnk Outside Box Office...... 101 Fine.” Started as an attempt to show what The Writers’ Store ...... 57 type of humanity could be found within the Twitter Lists Universal Pictures ...... 43 Working Title ...... 53 data that travels daily across the Web, Harris Create a Twitter List. Ted Hope recently Business Card Ads are on pages 110 and Kamvar wrote a program that crawls blogs created a Twitter List to capture the produc- For questions regarding advertising, and Twitter every few minutes for sentences tion process from various members of the please contact Ian Gilmore at: that contain the words “I feel” or “I am feel- team during the production of his latest film 212-465-8200 x220 or ing.” By 2008 the project had captured more SUPER (twitter.com/tedhope/super). Side [email protected] than 12 million emotions in a database, along note: Ted also discovered the script for SU- with information about location, gender and PER via Twitter. Lifestreams are a simple way to combine all age of the people feeling those emotions. your social activities in one place. I have one I This winter they released a beautiful book Try Out A Streamreader use at lanceweiler.com. It aggregates all my feeds entitled “We Feel Fine: An Almanac of Human Streamreaders are applications that you can (music, bookmarks, blog posts, tweets) into a Emotions” that further visualizes the data they use to manage your various social accounts simple and clean listing of my online activities. collected. In looking through the book and hav- like Facebook and Twitter. TweetDeck is a Try hosted services at dipity.com or friendfeed. ing spent time on the site wefeelfine.org, I’m popular streamreader. In fact TweetDeck re- com and self-hosted at sweetcron.com or word- struck by the emotional power and the sense of cently released a special Sherlock Holmes ver- press.org with the lifestreaming plugin. story the project has. I had a chance to ask Sep sion of their streamreader. The special version Kamvar some questions about the project and servers as a companion to an experience that Microblogging in particular what type of role he sees for data was designed by AKQA and Hide & Seek Microblogging is a form of low-commitment and storytelling in the future. He said, “We Feel entitled 221B. The two-person game was blogging that is light on text but rich on me- Fine is a story authored by millions of people released as a promotion for Sherlock Holmes dia. I have one for all the things I find online who don’t know each other. The result is a co- and leads players right up to the first scene that I like at textoflight.com. Blogs are excel- herent, authentic story. And this is not the only of the actual film. Those playing can moni- lent ways to collect data due to the fact that story that can be told this way — the story of tor player and character interactions within a RSS feeds enable blog content to be syndi- love, the story of hurt, the story of helplessness. special Sherlock Holmes edition of TweetDeck. cated in a variety of ways. Try posterous.com There are thousands of stories waiting to be Try tweetdeck.com. or tumblr.com. told collaboratively by millions of people who don’t know each other. When we talk about this Create Your Own Lifestream

FILMMAKER WINTER 2010 111

1104-111_Jumps.indd04-111_Jumps.indd 111111 66/10/13/10/13 33:30:30 PMPM