There is a lot of hate aimed at Kevin Smith at the moment and I am not entirely sure why. Okay I understand why distribution companies and movie studios might be a little pissed, let’s face it they don’t like it when you rock the boat or threaten their income flows. Okay, I could even understand why the critics are mad, Kevin Smith has point blank said there will be no advertising campaign for the film, which by definition means no press junket, which means no exclusives.
What am I talking about? Kevin Smith (director of “Clerks”, “Chasing Amy” & “Dogma”) premiered his new film “Red State” at Sundance yesterday and caused a frenzy when he announced that he was going completely independent with this film and he would distribute the film himself by taking the film on a Q&A roadshow across the country and then eventually releasing the film independently on October 19th. This date is significant as it is the anniversary of the release of “Clerks” seventeen years ago.
Love or hate Kevin Smith’s films (I, on the most part, really enjoy his work), you have to admit the man is a showman and live speaking is his main game now. I think this tour will be awesome. If you live in the States you should really look up the screenings at viewaskew.com/redstate and if possible, you should book in and support this distribution method. I think it (if Mr. Smith can pull this off) would be an amazing boost to smaller independent distribution.
One last thing, a lot is being said around the net about how the film will die at the box office in October with no advertising. Let’s be clear about this, there will be advertising. What Kevin Smith said was he wasn’t going to pay for advertising. I think he is banking on word of mouth and the web lighting up with buzz to advertise the film. Sites like this one and /film and Chud and Ain’t It Cool and many more will all be talking about the film for months now and that is advertising that he didn’t have to pay for. It is a very clever plan.
Here is the full video of his speech that he delivered at the end of the Sundance screening of “Red State” that was put up by BobbyMiller on YouTube. I don’t know about you but I for one applaud Mr. Smith for this bold move and cannot wait to see the film.
Okay, you’ve seen the speech, what did you think? Has Kevin lost his mind or is this a great plan? Love to hear your thoughts on this, comment below.
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[…] you haven’t read Dave’s article on Kevin Smith’s Red State (link here) then stop now and watch the attached video. It covers a lot of what this piece is […]
[…] Kevin Smith factor. A new age of film distribution might be upon us. https://geekactually.com/2011/01/25/kevin-smith-announces-his-distribution-plans-for-red-state/ and […]