Sunday, October 01, 2006

DVD pre-book and street dates

Last Tuesday HEAD TRAUMA hit stores and rental outlets. What is interesting is how the normal pre-book and street dates of DVDs are changing for Indie films. Basically if buyers purchase prior or by the pre-book date then they're guaranteed to have the DVD by street date, if not the DVD will arrive after.

This means that smaller indie films will rollout over time making the list of available retail locations and rental outlets change from week to week. This can be a challenge when it comes to telling people where they can find the movie. The way I've been dealing with the supply and demand issue is by setting up my own store and then also giving links to various online and offline outlets as they come on board. Even though this new trend of not hitting street can be a bit confusing for fans, it does effectively let the title live past the street date, which makes it seem fresh to new retail and rental outlets.

Getting into retail and rental can be a challenge and requires a number of steps and careful planning. At some point when I have more time I'll outline them here. For now if you're interested in picking up HEAD TRAUMA or my first flick THE LAST BROADCAST you can find it in the following places. More outlets coming this week.



HEAD TRAUMA DVDs are available NOW.

The DVD is loaded with over two hours of bonus features.
* Audio commentary by director Lance Weiler
* Six featurettes:
- Cast interviews
- Blowing up a car on a tight budget
- Shooting in the house (working in a haunted condemned structure)
- Johnny Magdic and his Amazing Flying
- Comics veteran Stephen R. Bissette discusses the art of HEAD
- Behind the music of HEAD TRAUMA
* A special collector's edition eight-page booklet with original art
Bissette and liner notes by GRUDGE screenwriter Stephen Susco
* Trailers HEAD TRAUMA and Weiler/Stefan Avalos' THE LAST BROADCAST
* An Easter egg or two

The following sites are currently taking orders

weiler's online store - click here

diabolik dvd - click here 14.99

amazon.com - click here 17.99

barns & noble - click here 15.98

bestbuy.com - click here 14.99

buy.com - click here 16.75


WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT "HEAD TRAUMA"

"Any number of big-deal filmmakers - M. Night Shyamalan, for one -would be well-served by a viewing of the low-budget Head Trauma....this simple and effective psycho-thriller creates a mood of dreadand dissociation, and sustains it, without resorting to elaborate special effects, or a colorful crowd of actors, or other worldly mystical hooey." 3 out of 4 stars
- PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER

"I'm giving this film my first ever 10 and have to say the hopes and dreams of the great American horror are now on Weiler's shoulders."
- CINEPHELIA.COM

"With his second outing, Weiler proves himself a seriously skilled director. His tone has much in common with the recent spate of Japanese horror films. There's the emphasis on atmosphere, the sad, restless ghosts of the past, the jittery camerawork. It's a wonderHollywood hasn't snapped him up to helm one of the countless J-horror remakes taking place stateside (The Ring, The Grudge, Pulse). It's almost depressing to think what Weiler could have done with the recentrevision of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's 2001 chiller Pulse."
- THE ALIBI

"HEAD TRAUMA will leave you scratching yours in the midst of a fantastic, scary ride that leaves no unanswered questions and does its job with the utmost competence and sheer unalloyed glee." 4 stars
- FILM THREAT

"Works its way under the skin, raising neck hairs while teasing usto pry open its psychological puzzle box."
- LA WEEKLY

"The growling, hooded figure which dogs George through the story is an absolutely terrifying apparition, perhaps the simplest and most haunting monster to grace a movie screen since the debut of Freddy Krueger in the original "A Nightmare On Elm Street."
- BLOODY DISGUSTING

"One of this year's touchstones... Demonstrating once again that ingenuity and invention are more important than millions of dollars in budget, Weiler most effectively works within the confines of the dark house. As more and more unsettling things start to happen, it's almost as though the house were growing into a full-fledged, recently awakened character that is not sure what it wants to do when it sees that it's under attack... Head Trauma creeped me out."
- TWITCHFILM.NET

"A slick, original, attention-grabbing feature... pushes the medium to the edge of its artistic bounds."
- ALBUQUERQUE WEEKLY

"Horror outing that revives the under appreciated monster of the id to great effect."
- MOVIE CITY NEWS

"You know the ones: Jacob's Ladder, 12 Monkeys, even Lost Highway. Head Trauma is a solid induction into these halls of creepy mindfucks."
- THE PORTLAND MERCURY

"Elicits effective creeps. A well executed haunted house exercisethat treads the psychological vs. supernatural line."
- AIN'T IT COOL NEWS

"Incredibly creepy... good re-creation of 70's horror."
-TUCSON WEEKLY

"Fright classic... surprisingly effective chiller."
- THE OREGONIAN

"HEAD TRAUMA is completely pro. From packaging to film quality to the movie's website, it seems like there was big money behind this film."
- LOCAL IQ

1 comment:

Sujewa [Blog Admin] said...

Re: "Even though this new trend of not hitting street can be a bit confusing for fans, it does effectively let the title live past the street date, which makes it seem fresh to new retail and rental outlets."

That's one of the things I like about working in the scale & budget that we work in: each new store & each screening is a big deal - it is a more deeply felt participatory experience for me as the filmmaker/distributor, compared to let's say the film opening on 1500 screens on the same day/out in a few weeks/then the DVD in stores all over America a few month later - on the same day. I guess at this early point in my career I like things not happening simultaneously on a large scale because small advancements are more managable - & when I mess up the clean up job is not that big :)

Down the road it would be cool to have a film of mine open in many theaters at the same time & also be available on DVD at many stores at the same time. But for now, how it must happen for new indies is very cool by me. I like how the project can be new to some people even several months after it has its premiere or first becomes available on DVD.

All that aside, congrats on the HT DVD release Lance! I am gonna get me a copy of that movie.

- Sujewa