Ever since our traumatic run-in with licensing issues in the wake of some downright irresponsible comments made to the papers about licensing and permission, we’ve been doing our best to make sure that our shows are by the book and that the people with the licenses are being paid. However, we hit a snag when we came up on some titles that Swank Motion Pictures didn’t have licenses for. They made it sound like we had some kind of exclusive deal with them since they more or less had our backs to the wall in the licensing department. This is not the case, of course, and pictures that they don’t license aren’t really any of their business. Case in point, the upcoming showing of the heavy metal horror movie, Black Roses, a real turkey that is nothing but good laughs and cheesy metal. It’s important that we do this right, though, if our little movement is going to gain any kind of traction, and with this in mind I contacted the fellas at Synapse Films who last released Black Roses on DVD. They contacted the license holder for the movie who then promptly granted us permission to show the movie at no cost. I only wish that they would have told me who owned the license so that I could thank them, myself.
So big ups to Synapse Films and big ups to whomever owns the rights to Black Roses. We’ve been getting shaken down at great expense to show some of these movies and I hope this screening generates some interest in Synapse, who also released John Fasano’s other kickass metal horror movie, Rock N’ Roll Nightmare (starring the one and only Jon Mikl Thor). Black Roses screens August 14th. See you there!
There are so many producers who really want exposure for their indie films. Seems like a shame you are not using this venue to help them out, instead you’re supporting the mainstream cinema that keeps indie films out of cinemas and also risking copyright violations while you do it.
Comment by Matthew — October 6, 2009 @ October 6, 2009
Well, actually, we pay for these movies. This isn’t some bootleg show. The licenses don’t come cheap. As a matter of fact, had you read the article you’re complaining in, you’d see that the license owners for Black Roses let us do this show for free. Ordinarily, we shell out to a company that manages non-theatrical licenses.
Also, we’d like people to come to see the movies. To do that, you have to show them something they at least recognize. The difference between a full parking lot and an empty parking lot is whether we’re screening Dawn of the Dead or Bone Sickness.
The indies are far more concerned with booking film festival engagements than travelling potentially hundreds of miles to screen their movie for free in front of ten people behind a gas station.
And we’re hardly helping “mainstream cinema” by doing this. The article you’re commenting on is in relation to Black Roses, a film seen by myself and a handful of other people in the world. It’s hardly mainstream. We also showed Blood Diner which has been out of print in the United States since the early 90’s. You want to talk mainstream? Go complain to Brian Kennedy and the Mobmov.org gang. They screened Transformers.
You should relax a little. Come see one of our movies. We have fun. You might, as well.
Comment by Bryan White — October 6, 2009 @ October 6, 2009