29 replies to this topic

[NClarke]

Follow My Film, on 05 March 2011 - 05:12 PM, said:

NClarke, on 05 March 2011 - 01:51 PM, said:

Christopher - any fests or screening locations you might recommend in LA area?

Gosh, I really don't know. Unfortunately I'm not too familiar with the festival scene out here. If you were interested in creating your own screening, there are a ton of places in LA that vary in size, style and price. Regarding festivals, I'm just not sure, especially with the strong religious nature of your film, though secular fests may really be into that - who knows?

It's ironic, but we really don't have really cool fests here in LA. The LA fest is the most reputable, which is in the summer.

Personally, I feel like your film could be embraced by large churches out here, who might want you to screen it as a special event for their congregation. But then again, that might be true at any large church in any town....

cB

Curiously both places it's been accepted (Wi Film Fest and Indie Grits) are both in smallish towns with prominent secular public universities so I'm not entirely sure that the film audience is limited to religious audiences (although I am developing a strategy to reach those audiences).
I guess the great thing about doing a film festival run is it allows you to test your film with different audiences and see how they respond. You can then develop a larger distribution strategy based on that.

[vjmorton]

NClarke, on 05 March 2011 - 01:51 PM, said:

Christopher - any fests or screening locations you might recommend in LA area?

I don't know what their deadlines are, but there is Silverdocs in the Washington area.

[NClarke]

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I don't know what their deadlines are, but there is Silverdocs in the Washington area.

Silverdocs was one of the first I applied to. Haven't heard yet.

[NClarke]

We had this nice little write up in the Onion's AVClub (the Madison version).
Looking forward to next week and the premiere.

[Thom]

That is a nice write-up. Very positive.

[NClarke]

And one other nice write up in the Madison weekly paper where Wrestling For Jesus was one of 12 movies "guaranteed to be worth the while"

Quote

They live in South Carolina, and their wrestling promotion is devoted to spreading the word of God's love. When they're not staging matches in masks and spandex, they're praying and preaching and inviting the saved up to the ring for an altar call.

It's miraculously juicy material, and I can imagine a documentary that commits the fatal mistake of condescending to these people. To his great credit, Madison-based director Nathan Clarke never does. After the sensational opening acts, Clarke focuses perhaps a little too much on the promotion's organizer, whose problems are sad but ordinary. But I understand the choice, and the scenes pay off in a delirious grand finale.

[Nathan Douglas]

I hope the screening went well tonight, Nathan.

Have you thought about submitting to Vancouver? They are usually pretty keen on documentaries and the program has featured a good bunch every year that I've been (3 years now).

[NClarke]

I'll check out Vancouver - thanks for the suggestion. My guess is that being a larger festival, they are looking for premieres but, it can't hurt to give it a try.

The screening went really well. It sold out and it was good to see another Arts and Faith board member there - Thom. The premiere party was also a great success. It was an incredibly affirming experience and I'm looking forward to the next screening in South Carolina in mid-April.

[Peter T Chattaway]

NClarke wrote:
: I'll check out Vancouver - thanks for the suggestion. My guess is that being a larger festival, they are looking for premieres but, it can't hurt to give it a try.

FWIW, I've been going to the VIFF since '94 and I can't recall seeing all that many documentary premieres there. Some, sure, but it doesn't appear to be a high priority. They just love documentaries, period.

[NClarke]

A couple of updates.
We just had a screening in South Carolina at the Indie Grits Film Festival - a great festival that is worth checking out if you live in the South East.

Also, the soundtrack (produced by Charlie Peacock) just came out on iTunes.