Fissure Movie Review
We received another movie review this week from Matt Mungle of Mungles on Movies.
Matt writes:
- Webster’s defines “fissure” as: The process of splitting or separating; division.
Fissure is a perfect title for this film for two reasons. One, it defines the plot of the movie and two, the final product is in itself a splitting or separation from what you would normally expect from an Indie film. Director Russ Pond creates an engrossing thriller that though not perfect is an intriguing ride that keeps you guessing until the end.
Written by Nicholas Turner, the story is a mind bending journey where time and dimension are living characters. Paul Grunning (James MacDonald), a police detective recovering from a personal tragedy, is called out to investigate what should be a simple disturbance call. What he finds is a dead body lying within a chaotic reality. As he begins to investigate he finds that nothing is as it seems. At least for any length of time.
This element of bent reality helped me enjoy the story as I went through the same confusions along with the character. I knew something was odd, but like Paul, I wasn’t sure what was actually going on. It could have been in his own head, or maybe there was some twisty dimensional thing occurring. I liked the way you were eased into the chaos and at first you think the characters are simply being eccentric, then you discover why.
I thought the film looked fantastic. It was rich with depth and style. Most Indie films I view are a little grainy due to artistic desire or just plain lack of knowledge, but this one had that professional look that I think raises it above most. The story takes place primarily in one house so it had to be sort of a character in itself. The red’s inside the house popped and added a nice contrast to rest of the film. It is a mental film and so the blast of color seemed even more prominent.
Fissure is a superb film for the Indie realm. It is always pleasing to see film makers not use “Indie” as a crutch to cut corners, but instead a springboard to leap outside the norm and do something clever. Fissure made that leap.
Movie Studio Busyness
Today kicks off a very busy weekend for our project! We have a lot going on, but it’s going to be a blast! My wife and I are headed to CBS Studios in Burbank for a few different events:
First, we’re having a screening of the movie at CBS Studios today at 4pm. We’re expecting about 40 people. Some of the team will be joining us as well–James Macdonald, Crystal Mantecon and Nicholas Turner. Also, some other industry folks will be attending as well. What fun!
After the screening, I was invited to speak at the Biola Studio Task Force Dinner. Between 120 and 140 industry professionals and students will be attending the dinner. I will be speaking about my production experience.
Then, on Saturday, we’ll be having our final sound mix at Fox’s sound stage. It’ll be great finishing our last major task for the movie.
Independent Film Distribution
The more I learn about film distribution, the deeper the rabbit hole goes (to quote The Matrix). It’s amazingly complex and diverse. It’s never as simple as “Here. Buy my film.” There are so many degrees and levels and territories and rights and agents and rabbit holes.
With the advent of digital filmmaking, it has become a buyer’s market. There is so much supply that demand has dropped considerably. Let me give you one example. Horror films have saturated the market. Typically, horror films are cheap to make, require no name talent (you kill them all off anyway), and fear sells across cultures. But, horror films are a dime a dozen.
So, what are our options for our movie? The biggest challenge we have is that there are no recognizable names. We have some great talent and actors who have been in big films. James Macdonald’s extensive resume includes movies like Phone Booth, Hollywood Homicide, Space Cowboys, Stealth, Home of the Brave, Mercury Rising and Broken Arrow. His list of TV credits are even longer.
Our other actors have formidable credits as well, like Scarlett McAlister (The Missing & The Astronaut Farmer) and Crystal Mantecon (Road House 2 & Prison Break) and Todd Tyler (Walker Texas Ranger). We have some great talent! And it shows on screen.Then, there’s the story. It’s a wonderful, unique story that’s never been told before. It’s the kind of show that you can watch three and four times and still see new and fresh things. There’s an incredible science behind the story that indie film buffs will be drawn to. Those commenting on the film say it has the potential to be a cult classic.
So, how do you sell that? It comes down to marketing and being able to position your film amidst the fray.
Some of our strategies include an amazing website. This week we start work on a new movie website. It’ll focus on a lot of web 2.0 technologies, like blogging, commenting, email blasts and links to social networks. Which leads me to another marketing strategy…social networking. With explosion of tools like MySpace, Facebook, etc., it’s imperative that you start networking. There are blogs, newsgroups, networks, niche groups, and millions of others little networks–and it’s key that you plug into these groups.
I’ve now taken off my filmmaking hat, dusted off my old marketing hat from Corporate America and jumped back into the business arena. It’s familiar, yet new. Lots of the same concepts apply, but instead of selling mobile phones and services, I’m selling movies.
Movie Projects and Offers
We’re about a week away from finishing out 2007, and what a year it has been!
Current Project
We kicked off the production on January 15th of 2007, and here we are at the end of the year with a finished film. What a great year and what a rewarding accomplishment! I’m looking forward to seeing what 2008 brings in the way of distribution and exposure.
Last week, we received our first official offer on the movie from a distribution company out of LA. It was a pretty decent offer, but we’re going to study all of our options before making any concrete decisions. We have another tentative offer on the table from a local distribution company as well. And, we’re expecting some more offers just after the holidays. It feels good to have gone from an idea to sellable product in just a year.
Romantic Comedy
We’re about to start development on a new romantic comedy. I’m very excited about this project. Yes, it’s a chick flick. And, you’re going to cry. This story has been on my heart for about 4 years now, and I’m excited at the opportunity of developing this story and capturing it on film.
My dream would be to produce it in a similar timeline as our last project, with hopes of having a finished movie by the end of 2008. With all of our learnings, we hope to create a much better, much more sellable product by securing more recognizable name talent and to shoot it on 35mm film. All very exciting!
The Imposter
Right now, I’m working with Dan Millican on producing his new film, The Imposter. It’s an exciting film, and we plan to start shooting on January 15th.
Armando’s Chase
I’m also working with Rand Chesshir out of Portland on a new film called Armando’s Chase. We hope to kick off the film in 2008, around the same time as my romantic comedy. I’m very excited at the opportunity of producing this film as well.
I want to thank everyone who worked with me on this project this year. I appreciate your devotion and hard work. I hope and pray that 2008 will be a great year for everyone, and that God will bless everything you put your hand to do.
Merry Christmas and happy new year!
Independent film reviews and distribution
I wanted to take a few moments to talk a bit more about distribution. It’s interesting talking to different people about this part of the moviemaking business. Distribution does seem to be quite subjective at times, but at the end of the day, it’s a lot like selling a home. Let me explain.
First, we build a spec home (the movie). When we build the home, we make sure the location (genre) is good, and what people are looking for. As they say in the business, it’s all about location, location, location (genre, genre, genre). Then, we make sure the amenities are of great value (casting, production value, story). And, we make sure we stay on budget and on schedule (budget and schedule).
Once the house is built, very rarely to home builders sell directly to home buyers (self distribution). Rather, the home builder (filmmaker) hires realtors (sales agents) to sell the home (the film) directly to the new home owner (Blockbuster), at a commission. When it comes to films, there are a variety of rights you can sell, but it typically comes down to three categories:
- Theatrical (in the theater)
- Broadcast (cable and satellite)
- Video (Wal Mart and Blockbuster)
And, those three rights can be sold anywhere in the world in separate territories. So, there are lots of variations and combinations of sellable options. For this movie, all rights across all territories are available for purchase at this time. We are currently talking to a variety of sales agents, and we’re getting some great feedback. Many are very pleased with the story and production value. These are some actual quotes from potential sales agents:
- “The film is very well made, and we very much enjoyed its visual qualities.”“It’s a well-shot film.”
And, we did receive our first critic’s review:
- Fi•ss•ure: A separation or disagreement in thought or viewpointIt can certainly be said that this was true of the discussion after the jam packed premier of Russ Pond’s movie, Thursday, Nov 15, 2007! Everyone bustled and buzzed about this fantastic project! My take? Well, where do I start? Slowly at first to be perfectly honest. It began with a great view, its main character. Instantly I thought he should be on 24. His look was perfect, his acting, good. His obvious discomfort about something we didn’t quite know about yet was well portrayed. Therapy session-good start as well.It took too long to get to the juicy part. But the juicy part was really good! It was enjoyable not having a lot of different locations in the film. You could then try to figure out what you’re trying to figure out! Casting was also excellent. Each person perfectly fit their part.The movie had a lot of great issues and to hear the way everyone thought it “ought to have gone” afterwards was really a testament to the greatness of the film. The struggle over death and hence despair, the battle to heal oneself, the mystery of science, the healing between father and son, etc…. My favorite part of course, was the end. I am a woman, after all, and nothing is better than a man wanting to tell his son how much he loves him, even though… The even though?Well you have to go through to find out!- Christy the Critic
For our first review, it’s positive, and that’s very encouraging. We’ll keep you updated on the progress of our new home.
Film Distribution
Now that the movie is finished (mostly), we’re ready to enter into the distribution phase of this project. (I say “mostly” because we have one final day of audio mixing left at Fox Studios in a couple of weeks. And, I have one Visual FX tweak left, but the movie is ready to start selling.)
For me, distribution is a lot like going on a hike into some unknown woods with nothing but a backpack and hunting knife. You’re not sure what you’re going to encounter. There are bears, wolves, snakes…animals of all kinds. There are ravines, mountains and valleys. It can be dangerous, and yet exhilarating and terribly exciting. And with 16 years of marketing and business development experience in corporate America, I’m ready for this new hike!
Cast and Crew Screening in Dallas
We are having a private screening at the Inwood Theater in Dallas on Thursday, November 15th. You can register online by using the following link:
The movie will start promptly at 8:00pm. A Q&A session will follow immediately after the film. We will also have a cast & crew get together at the Inwood Lounge after the Q&A session.
If you are planning to attend, go to the above link and register. The screening is free, but reservations are required. We may call to confirm your reservations prior to the screening.
New Trailer, New Poster, New Headshots
Things are busy! And it’s good. As we put the final touches on the movie (music and sound), I was hoping things would slow down a bit. Quite the contrary–things are speeding up. But, it’s all good.
New Movie Trailer
We’ve finished our new movie trailer, and it’s amazing! It really captures the story and keeps you wanting more. If you get a chance, check it out.
New Movie Posters
We’ve also finished work on our moive poster/one sheet. This is the 8.5″ x 11″ marketing one sheet that we use to market the film to distributors. More than likely, the distributor we sign will create their own one-sheet and movie trailer. But, we still need to market our film to them.
New Headshots
I don’t really like pictures of myself. It’s a lot like listening to your voice on a recording. “That’s not me!” Well, I feel the same way about pictures of myself. But, my publicist needed some headshots of the director, so my friend Kevin and I went out to Southlake Town Center and took some pictures.
Haunting Melody - Movie score
My sound guys in LA have been working hard on the score and sound. I’ve really enjoyed laying down the various music tracks, sound tracks, and effects tracks. Watching it all come together has been a blast.Just recently, we nailed down the melody. I don’t know how else to explain it expect it’s our haunting melody. If you’d like to get a taste of that huanting melody, click on this arrow: Fissure Melody
2008 Film Festival Circuit
Now that Fissure is coming to a close, it’s time to hit the film festival circuit. Typcially, Sundance is the one key film festival to kick off the festival season. They have a requirement of only accepting “World Premiere” films. So, most people start with them.We have a very specific film festival strategy for Fissure. Here are the top tier festivals we will be targeting:
| Film Festival | Deadline | Event Date |
| Sundance (pass) | Sep 28, 2007 | Jan 17-27, 2008 |
| Slamdance (pass) | Oct 9, 2007 | Jan 17-25, 2008 |
| Palm Springs (pass) | Oct 9, 2007 | Jan 3-14, 2008 |
| Berlin (pass) | Nov 1, 2007 | Feb 7-17, 2008 |
| Santa Barbara (pass) | Nov 16, 2007 | Jan 24-Feb 3, 2008 |
| SxSW (pass) | Nov 16, 2007 | Mar 7-15, 2008 |
| Tribeca | Jan 11, 2008 | Apr 28-May 4, 2008 |
| Victoria (pass) | Oct 2007 | Feb 1-8, 2008 |
| LA Independent | Nov 29, 2007 | Jun 19-29, 2008 |
| Dallas AFI (IN!) | Dec 1, 2007 | Mar 27-Apr 6, 2008 |
| FirstGlance (IN!) | Feb 1, 2007 | Apr 10-13, 2008 |
| Salem (IN!) | Feb 29, 2008 | Apr 18-20, 2008 |
| Phoenix (pass) | Dec 1, 2007 | Apr 12-19, 2008 |
| Vail (pass) | Dec 1, 2007 | Apr 3-6, 2008 |
| Nashville | Nov 30, 2007 | Apr 17-24, 2008 |
| Florida (pass) | Nov 30, 2007 | Mar 28-Apr 5, 2008 |
| GenArt | Nov 30, 2007 | Apr 2-8, 2008 |
| Ann Arbor (pass) | Dec 1, 2007 | Mar 25-30, 2008 |
| Cannes | May 14-28, 2008 | |
| Hollywood | August 2008 | |
| Montreal | August 2008 | |
| Telluride | September 2008 | |
| Toronto | September 2008 | |
| Venice | September 2008 | |
| Hamptons | October 2008 | |
| New York | October 2008 | |
| Radiance | October 2008 | |
| Tokyo | November 2008 |
We’re very excited about taking Fissure to some of the festivals. We’ll keep you posted!