Well, this is officially the first time the word "Boffo" has been used in conjunction with B-Side. Richard Horgan of FilmStew wrote a nice piece last week on B-Side’s Roll Your Own Screening program for Super High Me. The very generous subtitle reads:

Although Super High Me’s grassroots exploits are of an entirely different nature than Indiana Jones’ imminent record-busting totals, they deserve to be celebrated just as loudly.

The story includes a good summary of the numbers behind the program:

From April 20th through this past Tuesday, May 20th, there were a total of 1,576 grassroots screenings in 975 cities (with 1,076 of those taking place on opening day). Events ranged from private parties for 20 people to public screenings at 2,000-plus seat auditoriums.

… as well as an interesting analysis we did comparing the attendance for our opening day (4/20) with the opening weekends of the top-grossing documentaries of all time:

"Our opening weekend attendance is greater than six of the top ten grossers of all time (including March of the Penguins, Sicko and Winged Migration), which had more typical platform release patterns. It’s worth noting also that Super High Me’s opening attendance is tallied from one day, and primarily single screenings, compared to three days with 4-5 screenings per day for traditional exhibition," [Hyams] continues. "Considering that the vast majority of films spend more on marketing than they earn in gross theatrical revenue, this level of attendance for a documentary is unprecedented. Even before taking into account the marketing budget for Super High Me, which was less than $5,000."

The last point is really the key behind B-Side’s exhibition model, what we call Groundswell. Yes, our screenings are free, so there is no box office. However, according to the MPAA’s annual research statistics, most — if not all — movies lose money during their theatrical run.

In 2006, the theatrical marketing costs for the average studio film was $34.5 million. That same average film grossed $32.7 million at the box office. Once you factor in the 50/50 box office split with exhibitors (theater owners), you have a pretty unattractive business. And while you’re at it, factor in the $65.8 million production cost for that same average film. That leaves the golden ratio of $4 spent on production and $2 spent on marketing for every $1 in gross theatrical revenue. Yikes.

So why is it that studios even bother releasing films in theaters? Trust me, it’s not because of the magical communal experience of sitting in a dark room together. Sure, that might be why we go, but to these guys it’s just math. 2/3 of industry-wide revenues are from DVD sales. Most films generate gross DVD revenues roughly equivalent to box office — but without the pesky 50/50 split with theaters (retailers take less than 25% of DVD sale price). The rub, of course, is that no one has figured out how to sell $100 million worth of DVDs without first doing $100 million at the box office. (Forget for the moment the Disney straight-to-DVD machine).

So for us, the idea was pretty simple. If everyone else loses so much money trying to make money at the box office, what if we just tried to not lose money? Could we get the same benefits without any of the risk?

By turning exhibition over to fans — the community — we have found a way to get some of that dark theater communal magic, plus a whole bunch of press and buzz, without spending all that money. And the results have been pretty amazing so far:

• widest ever single day opening of a documentary (1,076 screens vs. Fahrenheit 9/11’s 868)
• higher opening weekend attendance than more than half the top-grossing docs of all time (see above)
• peaked at #29 on Google Trends Hot 100 searches across the US.

And then there’s this:

Meanwhile, over on Netflix, whose Red Envelope Entertainment was a producer on the film, Super High Me is, according to Red Envelope exec Liesl Copland, "tracking better than some of the best reviewed films of the year [that we've been involved with]."

So the real proof will come on June 17, when the Super High Me DVD streets. Until then, I’m flattered to hear Richard describe our campaign as "nothing short of groundbreaking."

Check out the full story here.

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Audre Lord said, "there are no new ideas." This idea is rarely more depressing than when reading about the brilliant new ideas Hollywood has for re-using old ideas.

When Iron Man blew the roof off two weeks ago, the big story was how its opening was the second-highest grossing opening weekend ever for a non-sequel. Second-highest for a non-sequel. But only 10th highest including sequels.

I hate to sound like one of those old guys talking about how much better movies were in the 70s. I grew up on 70s movies, and several of my all-time favorites were made then. But I don’t believe movies were better then. What I know to be true is that Hollywood produced more big movies in the 70s based on original ideas. Originality, it seems, is now relegated to the indies. And Pixar. Thank god for those guys.

Some quick facts. From 2000 to 2007, 5 of the top 10 grossing films each year were sequels. 7 of 10 if you include remakes and other derivative works. In 2007, 5 of the top 10 grossing films were third installments (or beyond). Compare that to the 70s: an average of 1 of the top 10 grossers each year was a sequel.

I have a minor obsession with each new grotesque idea to re-do something that’s already been done. I gag at least once a week as Variety reports the latest innovation in re-packaging. And as a result, I read with great schadenfreude every story on the trainwreck that is Speed Racer.

So today was a twofer. First, we get the news that Nic Cage will star in a re-make of The Bad Lieutenant. Sure, it’s Herzog, but this is not a movie that needs to be re-made. And while Cage can cling to former cred from Leaving Las Vegas, Harvey Keitel he is not. When I sent this link to a friend (who wishes to remain anonymous), he replied:

this movie was shit the moment somebody said, ‘hey, let’s remake the bad LT.’ so now, forget about remaking movies from the 50s, 60s, or 70s, they’re remaking movies from the 90s! I got a better idea – how about remaking iron man! Hollywood sucks.

So that’s one. But the virtual ink was barely dry on that story before we got this gem from Cannes: Jan de Bont is bringing his fresh and original perspective to the parachuting-ex-president-mask-wearing-surfer-bank-robber classic Point Break – only this time in Indonesia. I really wish I could make stuff like this up, but it’s all true. Ok, at least that was an original idea when it was first done (I would love to have been in the pitch meeting for that one).

I’ll spare you my thoughts on this, since my aforementioned friend summed it up so eloquently:

Maybe as an act of revenge kathryn bigelow should remake speed, starring jamie fox and jessica Simpson. Come to think of it, they should just remake it with keanu and sandra bullock, directed by Brett ratner, but they should invent a funny role for a wisecracking black guy, and offer it to chris tucker. Maybe they should get jackie chan in there as well, and after brett ratner directs it they should have peter berg reshoot the whole thing, and then john favreau will recut it, and then they should bring in michael bay in post, just to give it that ‘michael bay feel.’ I smell a franchise – a new one, different from the old franchise.

Amen, brother.

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Mike Stuckey of MSNBC spoke to Super High Me producer Alex Campbell and I last week. His story published today on msnbc.com looks at the commercialization of 420. While the article takes a skeptical view of both pot-smoking and the varied attempts to cash in on the 420 phenomenon, we get a nice shout-out for our efforts.

Stuckey declares the B-Side Roll Your Own Screening campaign "the most ambitious 420-linked marketing campaign," directly contrasting it with the latest Harold and Kumar. He generously points out that Harold and Kumar distributor New Line Cinema is "a Hollywood powerhouse, a Time Warner company with over $1 billion in annual revenue and deals throughout the entertainment world that include NBC and Microsoft, msnbc.com’s parent companies."

Such devotion to 420 festivities has grabbed the attention of filmmakers with projects about pot, or featuring it. “Totally Baked,” a mockumentary written and produced by comedian Craig Shoemaker, premiered on April 20, 2007, and is being distributed on DVD just after 420 this year.

“Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo,” a comedy featuring John Cho and Kal Penn as a pair of hapless pot smokers, is being released April 25, and will be promoted with a prominent advertising campaign and other 420 content on the High Times Magazine Web site. “Harold and Kumar’s” maker, New Line Cinema, is a Hollywood powerhouse, a Time Warner company with over $1 billion in annual revenue and deals throughout the entertainment world that include NBC and Microsoft, msnbc.com’s parent companies.

But the most ambitious 420-linked marketing campaign belongs to the makers of “Super High Me,” who are giving away DVD copies of the film to anyone who promises to air a public or private showing of it on April 20. The documentary parody of the fast-food film “Super Size Me” follows comedian Doug Benson as he first abstains from marijuana for 30 days and then smokes as much as he can for the next 30 days, taking physical, psychological and SAT tests during both periods.

“We’ve got 401 screenings scheduled right now” for April 20, said Chris Hyams of B-Side, an entertainment technology company that is helping market and distribute the film. “By the time of the event we expect 800.”

Hyams had to talk film producer Alex Campbell into the ploy. “My first instinct was there’s no way I’m going to give this movie away for free,” Campbell said. “I’m an independent filmmaker and I haven’t made any money on it. But he said he then got to thinking that “people are going to watch it, they’re going to love it, they’re going to buy it.”

The interview was barely a week ago, but we’re way past the ‘hoping for 800′ mark, with over 1,000 screenings officially booked.

Read the full story here.

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