Stro

[Greg]

So.... Scott Knies wants to arrange for me to use a San Jose theater to screen Stro.

[Drunk Monk]

I think you mean magnet.

uh...yeah...obvs. 

So.... Scott Knies wants to arrange for me to use a San Jose theater to screen Stro.

Sweet! Which one? And when? Well, that's a big question, isn't it?

If you can get our Tiger Claw Foundation logo on your materials, I'll be able to promote it across all our social media. That is reliant on Tiger Claw still existing on the other side of the pandemic...but I guess the same goes for San Jose.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

I received a bag o' swag!!!

---

Can I post the pic to social media?

---

Of course I can!

[Drunk Monk]

kewl stickerz, amirite?

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

They *suck*! They only stick to metal!

[Greg]

It's the Hammer Theater. It's going to be semi-private so I don't think we need Tigerclaw Branding at this time.

Lots of festivals demand they have a premiere at least in a given vicinity. TIFF for instance would love a World Premiere. But a bunch want at least local premieres or not in the few months around it. I need to find out what constitutes a premiere. At the moment, I think it will be a cast and crew and friends 'Screening' so I don't lose the premiere status card.

To be honest, TIFF isn't going to pick me up. I wish. I'd lose my mind if that happened. I want it to happen. But....

In the slight eventuality that it does happen, I'm playing it safe about the premiere.

Sorry about the crappy stickers.

[Greg]

Here are the guidelines from the TIFF website:

14) What is a public screening?
We consider a public screening to be a screening where the public attended and the event was advertised and/or ticketed. An exception to this would be if the public attended, but there was a non- disclosure agreement and no advertising, and/or a private friends-and-family/cast or crew screening. There may also be exclusions for compulsory school showcases.

[Drunk Monk]

Gotcha. The Hammer is nice. It's been years since I've been in there, not since the reopening. 

I could probably dig up an NDA contract if you need. Just let me know. 

The stickerz are nice. Reuseable for metal. I'll slap one on my file cabinet at work...when I get back to work. 

We'd all collectively lose our minds if you got into TIFF. You'd be the recipient of the SJSU victory song. 

Now here's to Brother Greg
Brother Greg
Brother Greg
Now here's to Brother Greg
The Best of us all
Now drink muthafucka drink muthafucka drink muthafucka drink muthafucka drink muthafucka drink muthafucka drink muthafucka drink muthafucka drink muthafucka drink muthafucka drink muthafucka drink muthafucka drink muthafucka drink muthafucka drink muthafucka drink muthafucka drink muthafucka drink muthafucka ...

[Greg]

If I get into TIFF, drinks are on me.

I need to reset my expectations to get in anywhere.

[Drunk Monk]

Keep pluggin Greg. You've got a decent doc there. I feel it's stronger than the Last Captain, but I'm biased of course. I'm curious how the pandemic is affecting the film festivals. Hoperfully that will make even more of an opportunity for you. The poster needs some of those 'official selection' laurel leaves, right?

I imagine pumping up your social media would be good so that when these film festivals start looking, they see you've got a following. Maybe make some more vids? Maybe focus on topics that can give you a wider hashtag appeal - stories like the Neil Diamond one and such. Just a thought. I've been promoting Tiger Claw for 20 years so not to be doing that for the last month and a half has me going into advertising delirium.

[Greg]

I'm trying, goddamit. One of the recommendations I got from elsewhere as opposed to from DM: Media Savvy Guru was to promote heavily on Social Media. I was originally going to skip doing a website but it came highly recommend, as well. I am trying to put something on Instagram and Twitter every day as well as following everyone I can. I have tried to get the movie to Neil Diamond via his close friend Herb Cohen. But I haven't heard back from Herb

I think Herb Cohen has the relationship with Neil that everyone assumed Stro had with him.

[Drunk Monk]

I'm trying, goddamit. 

Am I bugging you with all of these comments. Because if I am, I'll do more. Many more.

[Greg]

When I entered The Last Captain into all the festivals all I got in return was nothing. The only notifications I would get were small notes or just my notifications page on Withoutabox turning from "In Consideration" to "Not Chose" I get the fact the fact festivals are inundated with submissions and they wanted to streamline their process as well as make it easy on themselves. But it was very much the black box. Submissions go in. Very little comes out.

Which is why the new round is proving surprising. I finished doing the entries on Monday. By Tuesday the two Canadian films had at least looked at the film. I can only tell this because I'm watching the analytics on Vimeo. they didn't send any messages.

Yesterday, I got two emails. One was from the Bend Film Festival thanking me for my submission and saying they were going to watch it in the near future and couldn't wait to get it before the selection committee. It was probably just smoke blowing but it was very courteously done.

The other email was from the Valley Film Festival down in the San Fernando Valley. They want to meet with me via Zoom next Friday for a virtual cocktail party. At first I was little concerned about my partner, because when I signed up for the event, they only gave me one ticket. But I sent the link to HK and he got a ticket as well. So, we are both attending. I'm guessing this will be akin to speed dating so the Valley Film Festival can gauge what kind of people they are inviting to the festival. They probably don't want to introduce jerks to everybody.

They could be doing this with everyone. There might be a huge crowd at the Zoom meeting. But they are including me which I never got from anyone on The Last Captain.

Fingers crossed for the next six months or so.

[Drunk Monk]

What are the dates for said festivals? 

You saw this, yes?

Here’s How to Watch Upcoming Films From Cannes & Sundance on YouTube for Free

• By Sarah Osei in Movies
  
  
• 2 days ago
  

Getty Images / Pascal Le Segretain

Over 20 notable film festivals from around the world including Cannes and Sundance have joined together to stream movies free on YouTube. This comes after the coronavirus pandemic resulted in the cancellation of annual showcases worldwide.
The move is part of the “We Are One: A Global Film Festival,” a 10-day event showcasing a selection of feature films, shorts, documentaries, music, comedy, and panel discussions.
The virtual festival will kick off on May 29 and run until June 7. It will feature programming by festivals such as Cannes, Sundance, Toronto International, Berlin International, Tribeca, and Venice. Viewers will be able to make donations to the World Health Organization’s Covid-19  Solidarity Response Fund.
Cannes welcomed the move to go digital in a statement, writing, “We are proud to join with our partner festivals to spotlight truly extraordinary films and talent, allowing audiences to experience both the nuances of storytelling from around the world and the artistic personalities of each festival.”

[Greg]

I did not see the YouTube notice about festival screenings but I wouldn't be surprised if more festivals go this route.

The dates for the festivals I enter start to trickle out through the summer, then there is a big crunch around September and October. My first notification comes next week for a festival in London that airs two weeks after that. I'll keep you posted.

For $10 bucks Film Freeway adds your name to the newsletter it sends out to Festival Organizers. For $10 bucks, you can't go wrong. The email went out yesterday. Yesterday I received about fifty or sixty invitations to join festivals. The invitations also came with discounted entries. Most of them were scams. A lot of them were in Russia and India. But there were a few that caught my eye. But one that burned my brain was the Wallachia International Film Festival. The reason I did enter was because they are giving out a Vlad Dracul Trophy. It seemed like a moral imperative.

Finally, HK asked me did the Yeti like Stro more than The Last Captain because he was in it. I said yes.