Distribution - about to pull the trigger...

I now believe Gil Holland's film mantra: "There is an Independent Film God."

We have had 3 offers on the table for theatrical distribution -- since freakin' July!
But as we've heard, and we are learning all the time, these things take forever.
A 2006 release, we realized recently,is going to be dang-near impossible.

Bad day when that truth hit home.
My moose was honked!
Really honked!

Until, that is, this stat came roiling into mix: There are more than 100 films being released between now and Christmas (that's more than one-a-day).

Insanely fierce competition at the box office.
Perhaps unprecedented, I don't know for sure.

But I will say this with certainty, the films being released during that stint will have their work cut out for them grabbing eyeballs from each other and pinching each other's asses-in-seats.

So - thank you Indie Film God! - it looks like we'll avoid that, and make 2007 the year for American Cannibal hits theaters.

As soon as we choose what deal (and ink it... and get a release date) we'll post it.

We're going to keep moving forward

An extraordinarily odd end-of-the-week for us here at Acme.
Kevin Blatt filed a cease and desist against the film, trying to prevent it from being screened at Tribeca. Next thing I know, there are reporters and cameras outside Acme’s offices and Perry and I are scrambling, attempting to write a statement for the press. I haven’t been that uncomfortable since… since… Okay, I don’t think I’ve ever been that uncomfortable.

BELOW is the official statement that we read and disseminated to the press...


April 13, 2006

From: Acme Pictures

Re: American Cannibal: The Road to Reality premiere at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival (Producers: Perry Grebin, Michael Nigro, Denis Jensen)

The filmmakers are sad and disappointed that Kevin Blatt has chosen to threaten litigation to prevent our documentary from playing at the Tribeca Film Festival.

His fears that the film will damage his reputation in the adult industry are unfounded. Kevin Blatt is presented in the film exactly as he is -- as a porn king who likes to push the envelope of entertainment. He's an vital but not the only part of the documentary, which follows the path of his ill-fated reality show "The Ultimate, Ultimate Challenge."

While we followed him –with his permission– for several months, KB blabbed a lot about the celebrity sex tapes he constantly buys and sells. We could not help but record his comments about Paris Hilton, Colin Farrell, Cameron Diaz, this film is not about the sex tape industry: it is a documentary about reality TV and the lengths people will go to for entertainment. It tells none of his secrets: that is a job he can do himself.

All is a go for Tribeca

We have picture locked.
It comes in at 91 mins
So much more of to explore, tho...
All materials now in the hands of Duart.
2006 Tribeca Film Guide

Oh... the trailer is up too...

CLICK FOR THE TRAILER

Change of The Documentary Title

Ug. We may have to change the title of our movie...

What I will say... what I am loath to say

One of the principal people in our documentary is looking to make life very difficult for us in the future.

That's all I will (can) say for now.

Tribeca it is

American Cannibal: The Road to Reality , the film we have been working on will premiere at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival; We will not know date, time, logistics until later. Probably in February.

Film Festivals

Three of the top-10 film festivals in the U.S. have requested our film, American Cannibal: The Road to Reality to premiere at their festival. South by Southwest, Tribecca and Florida all contacted us and, oddly, excellently, each programmer proffered the following caveat: if we want to be eligible for Best Documentary at thier festival it must be a premiere. This, obviously, is a problem, but a problem I don’t mind having. Perry says to me: "Think about what we've been through."
So I have. Below, is a rough catalogue of the combined personal issues – satellite anxieties, if you will – that had harassed the principals of Acme Pictures during its 2 year production of American Cannibal. The list is still open for addenda.
1 case of pneumonia.
1 arthroscopic knee surgery.
3 bouts of food poisoning.
1 lawsuit (dropped)
1 back, the lumbar region, completely thrown out.
3 break-ups (girlfriends).
1 attempt to go cold turkey from the evils of coffee.
After a viciously difficult 3-day stint, a welcome relapse and enthusiastic embracing of that wonderful beverage: coffee.
1 girlfriend entering into an alcohol rehab center for 28 days.
A revolving door of interns. To date, we’ve had 17.
1 superstitious week of wearing no underwear, all in the hopes that this would subconsciously – not to mention miraculously – sway potential financiers to invest in the movie. All it achieved, in truth, was the aforementioned case of pneumonia.
6 weddings (this is only a rough estimate; there may be others)
4 deaths in four separate families.
The turning down a one million dollar deal (because these guys were greedy and smarmy and were about nothing more than making money rather than making movies).
1 purchase of a Brooklyn house.
1 ridiculous beard, the visage of which projected the image that the owner of said beard either, one, just invented baseball or, two, was about to go out and sell root beer.
3 diagnoses of cancer
2 pregnancies
The firing of five people.
The re-hiring of two.
The quitting of one.
Someone defecating on the carpet in the Acme foyer and then stuffing their underwear down the toilet.
The realization that I, Michael Nigro, was in the best shape of my life and that I should begin training for another marathon… Then I woke up to discover that I’ve never been in worse shape and was craving pizza and gravy and lard.
3 straight days of being stalked by a woman's black thong (long, boring story)
3 fried computers.
3 new computers.
The meeting of Kevin Blatt, promoter of the Paris Hilton Sex Tape
1 morning with Olympic Gold Medal winner, Bruce Jenner.
1 late morning with Frank Stallone, Sly’s Brother
1 afternoon with Don Most.
1 cell phone dropped down a public toilet (me).
The death of two other cell phones.
3 flat tires (one in LA).
2 car accidents (both in NY)
7 parking tickets (all perry).
The demise of the band, Guided by Voices.
13 trips to LA (only one for pleasure).
11 short-term freelance jobs to supplement a brutal lack of income, one being a reality show called, America’s Most Extraordinary Dancer.
397 packages of succulent Ramen Noodles.
Real tears, five times.

My postings are over

I will post again, but only with news of our premiere (or when we have distribution, or when something extraordinary happens). We're still editing and will be for quite sometime. Doug Gillard, former (and best!) guitarist for Guided by Voices will be coming to New York to score the film later this year. Hell, it might be early next year. I don't know. Quite frankly, I am tired. This film has killed me, taken a toll on my health, my family, my friendships, my lame bank account. The same goes for Perry. I looked at him today and my initial instinct was to hand him all the change in my pocket. And I would have, really, except all I had in pocket was lint and a coughdrop. To be blunt: I do not have anything else to say, anything I can think of now, that the film itself will not make evident. It is my hope that we'll have a polished enough cut of the film to submit to South by Southwest, Tribecca. and perhaps Florida. That would be nice...

Rough cut... very rough cut

I have an animated tennis match being played in my head. Both players are beyond good. They are Wimbledon status. Can you hear the hollow pop of the fuzzy rubber ball? On the near court is, uh... oh, let’s call him Ron… Ron tells us with his furious backhand that Acme can pull this whole movie thing off; On the far court is Jackass-the-naysayer with a serve as fast as a thrown fist. He’s saying that Acme is insane to think such a large volume of work can be pulled off in such a short amount of time. The volleying has been quite constant for quite sometime and, crap, if these games aren’t evenly matched. With each game’s victory going to the server, so goes my frame of mind. How ridiculous to think that we could have gottenthe film ready for Sundance. Oh well, it will have to be another time, another movie. Anyway... Since we have a first rough-cut, game and set goes to Ron tonight. Way to go Ron! Hit the showers, buddy. Refrain, please, from snapping your towel at everyone’s ass this time around, would you? Thanks, Ron.

Sundance has granted us a 2 week extension (thanks to Gill Holland) for us to submit the rough cut of the our film.
Not that this allows me to breathe easy, as they say, it simply allows me to breathe.
Quite simply, we need another 3 months (5 months!) -- so the chances of us even sending a cut to Sundance is quite slim...
Let me just say it'll be a minor miracle if that happens.
I'd rather save the submission fee and buy lunch for our interns (and me).
Plus, what use is it to bludgeon the footage?
So Sundance, even with the extra 2 weeks is out.
Sorry Bob... er, Rob, crap, I mean, Mr. Redford.
We also just hired another editor, Doug Abel, the very same person who edited The Fog of War, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster.
I believe that he first thought this whole project was insane, he's right, too.
But after we showed him the footage he heaved himself into the quagmire full force.