Rethinking Roger Corman, new/old distro model

Tonight I got lucky and stumbled across "Machete Maidens" on cable. A doc that chronicles Roger Cormans B movie odyssey across the Philippines in the 60's and 70's. http://www.thedocumentaryblog.com/index.php/2010/09/12/tiff-2010-machete-maidens-unleashed-review/

When I was a kid I'd go to downtown LA and watch 3 or 4 low budget kung fu movies for 99 cents.
Corman's formula is still valid: hot chicks and action sells. So can someone shoot a few holes in why the grindhouse theory couldn't work today? All the inclination goes toward web distro or a web series on youtube bur I never hear about people successfully monetizing those models. It's always "Yeah, it's on Netflix..." and Netflix seems to have become a euphemism for the Elephant Graveyard of indie films.

How about going old school: 3 pg-13 actioners for a dollar, and somehow figure out how to get a cut of a the popcorn and softdrink revenue. You could sell a lot of popcorn over 6 hours of exploitation movies. Kids would love it. I did when I was a kid. Presumably, you'd need to 4 wall it somehow so you could control the concessions.

Anyway, probably been discussed before, just throwing it out there for discussion.
 
Personally, I love the idea. But...

The strictly B-movie exploitation prod. companies are all direct-to-video, with occasional overseas theatrical or US TV distribution (SyFy channel buys broadcast rights to a LOT of this crap). It's much cheaper to print 20,000 units of a half-assed low-budget sci-fi movie than to arrange for theatrical distribution, even of higher quality digital video. Since all of this stuff is at Blockbuster (their new section is filled with junk you've never heard of), as well as on Netflix, it's more convenient for people to see them at home.

Plus, the economics of movie theaters are terrible. Their margins are so tight that they want guaranteed butts in seats. The only people who might run with this idea are indie/art house theaters, and they are closing in droves.

One of the few ways I know of to successfully program grindhouse movies is to be an exploitation festival that runs one week out of the year (with new films only), which is obviously not a good model for filmmakers since festivals don't pay you to show your film.

But who knows -- maybe it could be done in the right place with the right marketing. It would be cool.
 
It's a cool thought, like anything else at the theater it would rely a lot on advertising. Back to the question "Why would I pay to see this when I've never heard of it or the actors?".

Of course, in your situation you're advertising the experience. "4 hours of non-stop action for $4. Come and sit in our AC and eat some popcorn."
 
Tonight I got lucky and stumbled across "Machete Maidens" on cable. A doc that chronicles Roger Cormans B movie odyssey across the Philippines in the 60's and 70's. http://www.thedocumentaryblog.com/index.php/2010/09/12/tiff-2010-machete-maidens-unleashed-review/

I also just saw the same documentary! It is truly enlightening and a must for fans of Corman and/or the genre. If you want to see how this model is actually working in today's market - take a look at the "RAW" section of TLAvideo (sorry, I'm at work and I don't want to set off red flags copy visiting their page for the hyperlink). Look at the top selling DVDs - works from guys like Bill Zebub, IndieTalk alum Shane Ryan, etc. These guys are doing exactly what you're talking about, only they are getting the distribution through direct DVD rather than theater.

Now, if you could find a private old-school theater, or even a location that could serve as a theater, you might be able to rent it out for a night and host a grindhouse double (triple) feature. I am aware of one such organization that does this in the Philly/NJ area - I believe it is Exhumed Films, although their focus is more on horror. Still, the concept is essentially the same and they've been doing it for a while.
 
I also just saw the same documentary! It is truly enlightening and a must for fans of Corman and/or the genre. If you want to see how this model is actually working in today's market - take a look at the "RAW" section of TLAvideo (sorry, I'm at work and I don't want to set off red flags copy visiting their page for the hyperlink). Look at the top selling DVDs - works from guys like Bill Zebub, IndieTalk alum Shane Ryan, etc. These guys are doing exactly what you're talking about, only they are getting the distribution through direct DVD rather than theater.

Now, if you could find a private old-school theater, or even a location that could serve as a theater, you might be able to rent it out for a night and host a grindhouse double (triple) feature. I am aware of one such organization that does this in the Philly/NJ area - I believe it is Exhumed Films, although their focus is more on horror. Still, the concept is essentially the same and they've been doing it for a while.

John, happen to know if the theater owners keep the concession revenue? That's where the money probably is.
 
It's a cool thought, like anything else at the theater it would rely a lot on advertising. Back to the question "Why would I pay to see this when I've never heard of it or the actors?".

Of course, in your situation you're advertising the experience. "4 hours of non-stop action for $4. Come and sit in our AC and eat some popcorn."


Yes, that'd be the hook, a full day of Guns, babes, monsters and buckets of popcorn at a cheap price.
 
A few years ago a local theater tried exactly this idea. Sometimes
a double feature, sometimes three films. All low budget actioners
or martial arts or horror. They programed a couple of my movies.

It failed. Kids today just don’t go to the movies like kids did
even 10 years ago. A double or triple feature - spending all day
in a movie theater munching popcorn, guzzling Cokes - just isn’t
interesting to them. At least that what the theater owner figured
because after losing money for four months he stopped doing it.

If he got a bill of Sonny Chiba or Jackie Chan or Jet Lee movies
he did okay. Once again, the names sold the tickets.
 
Just curious. An LA theater? Which one?

A few years ago a local theater tried exactly this idea. Sometimes
a double feature, sometimes three films. All low budget actioners
or martial arts or horror. They programed a couple of my movies.

It failed. Kids today just don’t go to the movies like kids did
even 10 years ago. A double or triple feature - spending all day
in a movie theater munching popcorn, guzzling Cokes - just isn’t
interesting to them. At least that what the theater owner figured
because after losing money for four months he stopped doing it.

If he got a bill of Sonny Chiba or Jackie Chan or Jet Lee movies
he did okay. Once again, the names sold the tickets.
 
At one point we had discussed using a "roadshow" approach to small 4 wall distribution.

If there was a way to own the concession sale$...

What I've heard about the music industry is the you have to make it locally first, be it Dayton Ohio or wherever. and you build out from there. Local TV airtime is cheap, run trailers, flyers, build it and they will come...
 
I think my thought was to split box 50/50 as the theater would actually come out better on this by not having to purchase the rights to show the movies... and let them keep concessions as this is where they make most of their profits.

A team with a film taking it from city to city, book a theater while in the previous city, arrange for press etc... then show the film at night and move on to the next city where the process repeats... each time you save cost by keeping the phone calls to the next venue local across the whole region ;) and living out of a van :P
 
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