As someone who has posted time and again about my puzzlement at the difficulty in independent filmmakers getting distribution (puzzlement because I don’t view the production of >$5M films as a risky venture**) I take the treatment of ‘Romance And Cigarettes’ as a sign that the future of independent filmmaking is bleak if not already dead.
If a film, directed by John Turturro, executive produced by the Coen brothers, starring James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet and Christopher Walken, and well-received by festival audiences can’t get distribution, then how can anyone without A-list connections hope to ever do it?
Romance And Cigarettes was produced by the United Artists wing of MGM, who were then bought out by Sony, who promptly killed the film. They wouldn’t release it, and wouldn’t even screen it, which means Tuturro couldn’t even count on free advertising in the way of newspaper reviews. Sony is offering the US rights to the film for $3M, but no one will buy it (the logic being, if Sony didn’t want it, why would I?).
Mel Gibson has bought the foreign rights and already made most of his money back, before dvd.
Anyway, as I’ve asked many times before here, where are the new Harvey Weinsteins of the world? You can’t lose money on a 3 million dollar film. It’s impossible. So why is no one fostering these films? I’m not saying it’s Sony’s duty, but then why do they insist on buying up the catalogs of companies who do care just to kill them?
Anyway, here is the associated NY Times story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/movies/02lidz.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&ref=movies&a dxnnlx=1188741917-LqdGICLmW9dFSsMQDOe0iA
It has a somewhat happy ending. Adam Sandler, who is currently shooting a project for Sony, has stepped in and flexed his muscle on Tuturro’s behalf.
As a result, Sony has agreed to show Romance And Cigarettes for one month at New York’s Film Forum, thus getting it some press and allowing it avoid that ‘straight to dvd’ stigma.
If there is anyone in NYC interested in seeing this with me (the film itself sounds just weird enough to be interesting) please let me know, I would love to go.
**as long as there is a great script, I mean. Good actors will usually work for scale if you do.
If a film, directed by John Turturro, executive produced by the Coen brothers, starring James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet and Christopher Walken, and well-received by festival audiences can’t get distribution, then how can anyone without A-list connections hope to ever do it?
Romance And Cigarettes was produced by the United Artists wing of MGM, who were then bought out by Sony, who promptly killed the film. They wouldn’t release it, and wouldn’t even screen it, which means Tuturro couldn’t even count on free advertising in the way of newspaper reviews. Sony is offering the US rights to the film for $3M, but no one will buy it (the logic being, if Sony didn’t want it, why would I?).
Mel Gibson has bought the foreign rights and already made most of his money back, before dvd.
Anyway, as I’ve asked many times before here, where are the new Harvey Weinsteins of the world? You can’t lose money on a 3 million dollar film. It’s impossible. So why is no one fostering these films? I’m not saying it’s Sony’s duty, but then why do they insist on buying up the catalogs of companies who do care just to kill them?
Anyway, here is the associated NY Times story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/movies/02lidz.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&ref=movies&a dxnnlx=1188741917-LqdGICLmW9dFSsMQDOe0iA
It has a somewhat happy ending. Adam Sandler, who is currently shooting a project for Sony, has stepped in and flexed his muscle on Tuturro’s behalf.
As a result, Sony has agreed to show Romance And Cigarettes for one month at New York’s Film Forum, thus getting it some press and allowing it avoid that ‘straight to dvd’ stigma.
If there is anyone in NYC interested in seeing this with me (the film itself sounds just weird enough to be interesting) please let me know, I would love to go.
**as long as there is a great script, I mean. Good actors will usually work for scale if you do.
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