The Dinner Party, “left at the altar”
Independent thrilller The Dinner Party will no longer be released by PackScreen on October 7, as originally planned.
“We are now with Accent Film Entertainment, set for February DVD. Talk about being ‘left at the altar’,” producer Brendan Sloane told Encore via Twitter.
Sloane said on Twitter: “Our distributor [PackScreen] folded three weeks ago – fucking great huh!!! Anyhoo we are now with Accent distribution and are set for release feb 2011.”
He continued: “Can anyone answer this question – why does it take two weeks to sell an Aus film in London and two years to sell an Aus film in Australia???”
Encore has contacted Sloane for further comment. PackScreen director Peter Castaldi’s response can be found here.
Well Brendan it might just be that what we were working for here in Australia was a domestic theatrical release supported by a strategic cross platform strategy. The Dinner Party was piloting that strategy and that was the risk! DP went straight to DVD in the UK!
Answer me this, how do you feel about, and expect to find cut through in, a market where the genius of Michael Winterbottom and “The Killer Inside Me” can barely hold on screen for two weeks, on what was most likely a respectable/reasonable P&A and the bombast of Oliver Stone, James Cameron and films like Insertion on HUGE P&A’s flop along for weeks..even months.
Pack Screen HAS NOT FOLDED!
and best of luck with Accent
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Peter
Firstly, I am relatively new on twitter and have now learnt that messages can be picked up by everyone not just your followers. You folded on the deal to release our film to cinema. Twitter can be linguistically ambiguous due to text constraints and the meaning has been misconstrued. In any event, as I have communicated to you ‘privately’ this message has been deleted.
Secondly, as producer of THE DINNER PARTY I have sold direct to a distributor in the UK and Australia and both groups have and are releasing to multiple platforms (We have a poster, key art and multiple DVD extra’s – All of which have been designed and provided free of charge by our UK partner or myself). You pulled the cinematic release AFTER national publications went to print (The FilmInk Magazine review as organised by myself). So, not only has nothing tangible been created but we are now worse off than we began as what little media we had access to as Independent artists has now been wasted – hence, ‘Left at the Alter’.
Thirdly, I am proud of the fact that a micro budget feature with no federal support is now selling ‘to DVD’ in FHM stores on Oxford Street. A strategic cross-platform strategy? Gee that sounds hard but I believe I just achieved a ‘strategic’, ‘cross platform’, ‘strategy’ and I have done it across different countries with no previous experience in distribution whatsoever. I believe in the UK and other parts of the world it’s simply called ‘Distribution’.
Lastly, this will be my last entry on this site as I do not wish to engage in a juvenile ‘blog-fight’.
Over n Out
B
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