Hi My Sweet Ones,
It's time to start getting down to business and I will be very busy making contacts and getting the serious part of the forum up now. So, I'm going to ask a huge favor of you. I have some things that need to be said about this project and it's a bit of a long post, but I ask you to please bear with me and read it. I promise you I will try my hardest not to write huge posts frequently. I just think the better we all understand what's going on with the industry and what we can do and bust the myths that we may all have heard about the magical "distribution", the more we can understand the need for our commitment and help. Please please register and please even if it's one post a day please post once a day. And, please post not only to the Heath threads but all kinds of threads. It's important that it be well rounded. Our numbers are being watched so just joining doesn't help if the forum isn't full of posts. We have 87 members so far, after one and one half weeks and if there were one post per person per day think just what the industry will see when it comes there. And it's all about numbers to them. Please don't ever fool yourself into thinking that the distributors, producers or exhibitors feel any sentimentality for this film. They wouldn't care if God was in it if they don't have good reason to believe it will make them lots of money.
What a precious mission we have. We have to not only take care of our boy and his last performance, we have to take care of one another. Even if our country receives distribution, we don't know how wide it will be, then comes the exhibitors, will they buy the film for their theaters. So it comes down to whether a country has distribution or not, will it be like Candy and show in one or two theaters in only metropolitan areas. It only showed for two days in NYC. Heartbreaking. And we also have to think, and this is very serious. If it gets bought by a distributor, are they going to support it and really try to sell it. Look at Candy. It's North American distribution rights were bought by ThinkFilm (who the exhibitors told me have a terrible reputation for not working to sell or support their films). They put no effort into selling that film to exhibitors. The exhibitors got the film too late in many cases to even consider buying it. ThinFILM was a Canadian company and didn't even release the film in their own country until well after it had been played and forgotten then only in a few theaters as a second feature after Brokeback Mountain. Pathetic. As for Brothers Grimm, they did nothing to promote it. Again it didn't play nearly the theaters it should have. It was a great film. But the public as a whole didn't even know it existed. There was a fight between Harvey and Bob Weinstein and Terry because they wanted to butcher his film and he refused so it took almost 3 years to even get it released. Then they released it as a 3rd quarter film. Films that are released in the third quarter (September through October) after summer block busters and before the holdiay and award blitz are what the industry calls "throw away movies." They get minimum publicity and minimum distribution. Now here's the heartbreaking news. It was announced last week by the publicist for the film that they are planning a 3rd quarter release for this film too. You know what that means. It is a cause for great concern.
And after the distributors buy it, then they have to sell it to exhibitors. Exhibitors are only going to take it if they think it will fill theaters, which comes from public knowledge of the existence of a film. So they choose between Harry Potter sequel 50001 that gets crammed down the entire public's throat or Imaginarium who the public as a whole around the globe doesn't even know exits.
We know about this film because we are fans and we go to specific fan areas that are about the film, but the general public around the globe doesn't know of it to even go find out about it. So that's what our first job is on the forum and why it is so vital that we not only join but participate and keep the forum alive daily. This is the period of time we must raise awareness for this film around the globe, then we will move into distribution and exhibitors and we need to do it with one big community voice. A consortium of sites and fans. We need to make ourselves a force to be reckoned with. We learned a lot from Candy and the exhibitors and distributors who became our supporters. We now know to use it from the beginning with Parnassus.
But the industry wants numbers. They want to see a forum with not only lots of members but with active members. To them that translates to butts in theater seats and that translates into $$$.
Yes, it may be distributed in say, England and I don't doubt in the US, but in how many theaters, how many towns. Or once again only in metropolises. It needs to come to home towns.
I'm sorry, I truly didn't mean to go on about this, but it is our last chance to promote a movie for Heath. We have no do overs. No matter how heartbreaking it is to know this or how busy our lives are, we need to band together in one non-site specific area and we need to speak together. Distributors have already told us they will listen to one, professional, well organized group but individual or small groups of fans will be ignored because they do not have the resources to deal with that an it becomes a problem and an irritation.
Also, One of the Most Important things. We are a consortium of sites. A community of people from around the world working together and we want everyone to display their home site and a link to it hopefully in their signature. We want visitors and the industry to then visit these amazing sites and see how these people feel and how devoted they are, how good they are. We want visitors to visit your homesites as well. We also have a links page for all sites who participate. We want them to know we mean business and we are a force to be reckoned with. So please register and make one post a day in whichever category you wish. They are looking for numbers. That's what will sway them. So they want an active busy site.
Thanks for letting me say this and if it is in the wrong place or sounds preachy, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it to. But you are my friends and I can speak my heart here. Because this is the last new film we will have of our dear boy, I feel a deep desperation to make sure that every fan, in every country see this movie on the big screen or at least have the opportunity to. And you people have been nothing short of amazing.
We have to face it. Producers don't like Terry. He's a pain in their ass because he will not let them chop up his movies and destroy them. He doesn't play their game. He's so much like Heath and supporting him is like supporting Heath because Heath believed in him and loved him. I admire the man. Like Heath, he simply refuses to be controlled by the system. They were two peas in a pod and Heath told me himself at an event that he loved Terry like a brother and he was his favorite director and he'd do anything to work with him again.
That is why the support forum exists. So please join and participate, it's going to be a long hard battle and will take a commitment from you of at least one post a day and please please use the ennis jack button we made for you in your siggy. We are so very honored to have you there and we want everyone to know.
Thanks again for letting me say the things I really need to share with you and for not getting mad at me for probably boring you with all the technical stuff of it all.
And remember if you post to other stars or other topics you are helping Heath because helping one helps everyone because everyone who comes to the site, especially the industry want to see a well rounded forum.
I can never tell you people how much I love all of you and respect the terrific folks you are. You have just been amazing.
Hugs
Theresa
