In Time For Prom

It hit me like a sonic boom, thinking of ways to pick up speed in getting InSearchOf seen by more and more people. By this time many people know of our film’s message, of taking sexual responsibility, aka safe sex. In the beginning of May I would like to host free screenings of InSearchOf around the country at any theater who will have us in time for Prom. We all know the antics that can happen after Prom so I figured it would be a great time to promote our film’s message.

What we are looking for are theaters who will hold a free screening of the film for any student who is seventeen years or older. The student will get in free with a high school ID.  People from the film will appear at some of the screenings. We are also looking for organizations to partner up with to make this a smashing success.

Distribution

Upon writing this, we now have over 100,000 views on Hulu, http://www.hulu.com/in-search-of. This is amazing and exciting that so many people have seen the film thus far. The only thing that we have done to drive traffic was mention it on our profiles on facebook. We are building a fan base for the film which we’re thrilled about. Now we have a plan for those fans to make money on our film.

Fans of InSearchOf can earn 20% of whatever revenue traffic they generate to our store for the film. We have DVD’s, downloads, t-shirts, etc in the store. We created an affiliate program where fans can market the film to their friends, create banner ads and create links. We have seen about a 400% growth in our program since its inception. For more information visit http://299.insearchofmovie.com click on the become a partner and it will guide fans through the sign up process.

With your help we will be able to make future films.

Hulu

I have been finding the chatter about InSearchOf quite interesting on Hulu, http://www.hulu.com/in-search-of. People seem to be hating the commercial interruption, would they rather the censored version on Youtube by an organization that felt our film a little too “mature”. Some people think we didn’t go far enough, some too far. Some get the point, others not at all. Art is up for interupetation, I constantly need to keep reminding me of this. Art is like a muscle, it takes resistance to grow.

attempting to go viral

In an attempt to go more viral, we decided to put the first half of InSearchOf online. Right now you can view it on Youtube and Facebook, more outlets to come in a few days, Vimeo, Viddler, Blip, etc. We are looking for help on this. Here’s what you can do,  if you like what you see there and want others to know, please follow this three easy steps:

1) On Youtube, favorite the video, rate the video, comment on the video. (This will help us get featured). On Vimeo and Viddler you can add your own tags. You can watch the video and post your own comment. This is a pretty cool things, add your own popup dialogue box.

2) Send the links to your friends, and ask them to send it to their friends and ask them to favorite, rate and comment the video on the various sites.

3) Post the video on Facebook, MySpace or other social networking websites with the youtube link using the URL box. Don’t upload using the embed mode as it won’t amount to youtube hits. Lot of ways to do this, best thing is probably posting or getting it on somebody’s wall. This is the link from Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJrI47dYA3o

STAY TUNED FOR THE INTERACTIVE MARKETING CAMPAIGN.

Good Deal Bad Deal

As I review the past year and plan for the years to come, I keep shaking my head over a deal that was offered to us for InSearchOf by Cinetic Media. I wanted to get the word out. FILMMAKERS BEWARE! For those who do not know who Cinetic are, they’re the bull in the China shop in the indie film world. They’re big guys, the ones who made the careers of Kevin Smith, Edward Burns and the like. They do a good job representing filmmakers at places like Sundance but this is why I am dismayed of what they are currently offering filmmakers who pour years of hard work, talent, and copious amounts of money into their vision.

Out of the blue Cinetic called me and stated that they wanted to represent our film. I had sent them an earlier version of InSearchOf in hopes of representation. But wait! They passed before, why the sudden change? They established Cinetic Rights Management and felt that our film was a great fit. I felt elated! John Sloss liked my film and was interested in representing it. JACKPOT!!! I guess they weren’t doing their homework, all they had to do was read Indiewire’s announcement to know that I was already working with a couple of distributors through the From Here To Awesome Film Festival. None-the-less I wanted to see what their offer was. I was excited until I got the e-mail of their “deal”.

Why would Cinetic try to pull the wool over the eyes of so many filmmakers by offering an exclusive 10 year deal with no advance, take 50% of total receipts, have the right to assign the film to whomever, with no specific details of their intentions and then have an indemnification clause holding them not responsible for their actions? Greed perhaps? The entire deal wreaked of “grab as many films as possible then sell the library to a large entity for gobbs of money” benefiting CRM. I am not an attorney but even I smelled this one out

The current state of independent film is a fragile one and Cinetic may be destroying what is left standing because of their own greed. FILMMAKERS BEWARE! Seek out companies that offer non-exclusive deals, empowering the filmmaker to promote their work over as many platforms as possible. They should work with companies/aggregators that are filmmaker friendly such as Indieflix, who ask for less then 30% of gross receipts, promote films, and create other opportunities for filmmakers. There has been so much talk about what is right and wrong in the independent film world and some people are offering ways to fix/change it. If there is one lesson that was learned it is greed is not good. Filmmakers can’t be greedy, expecting seven figure deals, representatives can’t be greedy wanting more and more of the pie and distributors can’t be greedy expecting every film to be a million dollar hit. Instead all forces need to work together in making a film a success. Sometimes it takes years, with Cinetic’s deal it would take a lifetime.

History of InSearchOf

1995 November Sitting at Thanksgiving Dinner conceived idea for Affairs

1996 August Committed idea to script, wrote in two days

1996 December Refinanced Jeep to get funding to make Affairs

1997 January Shot Affairs over weekends for three weeks

1997 November 7 Premiered Affairs, broke box office records at 19th Street Theatre (single night gross) fourth night of run. film burned up, lamp housing too close to print, had to have 4 reels remade for the next night’s screening, one of the biggest criticisms besides I still had a lot to learn, people wanted more

1997 December Began to rewrite Affairs script, calling it InSearchOf, based off of InSearchOf ads

2000 June Met Matt Blum who would become my right hand man, confidant, tech guru, most importantly friend

1998-2005 Re-drafted script 67 times, felt it was finally ready to put into production, abandoned In Search Of ads idea for people searching for different things in their life using sex as their vehicle

2005 September Team that I’ve worked with for years strongly tried to discourage me from going into production with InSearchOf, fearing it was too controversial, Blum stuck with me, Nick Luciano climbed on board

2005 October Friend suggests Mike Rady to play Jack, sent him the script, Mike cast later that day

2005 November Approached Amanda Seyfried to play Cathy, loves the script, excited to be a part of a film shooting in Allentown

2006 January Begin raising money for InSearchOf, feel strongly that I want to shoot in the appropriate season, producing partner Gill Holland thinks I’m nuts. Kyle Kapetanakis joins the team.

2006 February Begin casting process

2006 March Amanda Seyfried’s “people” state that Amanda shouldn’t do InSearchOf, feel like I was punched in the gut, love her

2006 April Raise an eighth of production budget, have a “big” investor commit enough to get us through production, we can make this happen!

2006 May (early) Casting shuffle continues, some actors who committed to project back out because they are unwilling to carry out my vision, I refuse to sacrifice the integrity of the script and my vision as a director, except that I agree we will shoot over 5 weeks, one day off a week and deal with the visual look in post

2006 May (late) Casting finally complete, crew in place. excited and exhausted! People hired begin to come into town.

Go to get paper work and check from “big” investor. They back out. I call everyone into my office, look them in the eye through tears, and tell them the news. Jaws drop, everyone in disbelief. Carpet ripped out from underneath us.

2006 June-July Not sure how I can regroup, feeling so close to realizing my vision, I spend a lot of time alone, doing what I love, writing. I decide that I am going to make my film the way I want to

2006 August Refinance my house to get money to get back into production. Those who truly believed in me and my vision are still with me: Matt, Nick, Kyle, David Tumblety, Mike Rady, Dan Lauria, Keith Nobbs

2006 September Shoot opening of film, open Bible to the passage that I quote, pencil note *start here (have photograph) I can make this happen. Baruck haShem

2006 October Begin re-casting rest of film.

2007 January Start shooting winter scenes, run out of money, call brother.

2007 March Refinance house second time

2007 May Shoot spring scenes. Grueling two-week shoot.

2007 July Get a call from Nobbs’ agent, Keith is going to be working with Spielberg, sorry can’t finish film in August… HUH? Call brother

2007 July We make it happen! Pull production team together for a weekend shoot. Dave Tumblety, director of photography, not available shooting big feature, Chris Seivard pinch hits as DP. I cater.

2007 August The final days. Wrap shoot with exterior of the Sterling, exactly the place where I started shooting Affairs, 10 1/2 years earlier. Can’t believe we did it! No way in hell could I have done this with over 600 people who believed in my vision, and those who did not.

2007 September Begin heavy post production. Trying to finish film for festival circuit. Prematurely send to Sundance.

2007 October Pat Wilson starts score. Sound edit begins

2007 November Get rejection e-mail from Sundance. Editing not finished.

2008 January Attend Sundance, wonder why we weren’t accepted. Keep editing.

2008 April Test screen at PSU, Audiences wonder what just hit them.

2008 May 1 Test screening at Rave Motion Pictures, Accosted hours before on the Hamilton Street outside office, lip required 30 stitches

2008 May (late) Pat Wilson finishes score

2008 June Find out that I need to replace all source music in film, problem clearing all rights, replace all music except for Pat’s score

2008 June Get first good review, by respected source: “Zelker is the type of DIY filmmaker who represents everything that IFD stands for. Zelker’s brilliance of vision, creativity, and money-saving tactics are reminiscent of Robert Rodriguez’s indie classic El Mariachi. The production built their own dollies, car mounts, hood mounts, and lazy susan dolly, among other things. Even more amazing, Zelker is a completely self-taught filmmaker. His film isn’t just a good first attempt, it is downright brilliant. From the acting to the writing and direction, InSearchOf isn’t just a watch able film, or even a great one. ISO is an essential film. The film is an experience, as it leaves the viewer both stunned by the storyline and affected by its message.” –Independent Films Direct

2008 July 26 Take part in From Here To Awesome Film Festival, a festival where films are challenged by audience participation and peer evaluation. Filmmakers retain their rights as their films are offered on a variety of sources.

2008 August We receive the most votes on MySpace get screening of InSearchOf in San Francisco, can’t afford to attend.

2008 August (late) Hear from the last of the distributors, tired of “love the film, not sure how to market it” response. GOING IT ALONE! TEAM STANDS FIRMLY BEHIND DECISION.

2008 September Trying to figure out how in the hell I am going to distribute InSearchOf myself, go further into debt. Start booking theaters.

2008 September (mid) Neil redesigns web site to its current state.

2008 September (late) Find out that InSearchOf was voted by peers, audiences and fans as the best feature of From Here To Awesome, going to London

2008 October (early) Get posters back. Stu, a man behind the scenes, does a bang up job as he always does, guys all stare, can’t believe we’ve gotten this far.

2008 October 22 InSearchOf’s World Premiere at London Film Festival’s Power to the Pixel (wearing protective head gear). Sold out London and New York City.

2008 October 30 Venue holding premiere decides to violate my copyright and slaps a note on our poster stating: FOR MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY No one under the age of 18 permitted. This is absolutely ridiculous. They never asked me about this, nor did they screen the film prior. They have no right to do this. Hurt and dismayed.

2008 November 1 InSearchOf’s Lehigh Valley Premiere. Very excited and still in disbelief. I will be pacing outside as the film plays inside. Will still have a lot of debt as we start screening around the country. Need to thank Matt, Nick, Kyle, Dave, Mike, Gab, MOM, Steve, Doc, Ken, Tim, Aunt Cath, El and most of all my brother who bailed me out at 11 at night so I could make payroll. I have always looked up to him and always will!

CENSORED

Last evening I walked down to Allentown Symphony Hall to see my movie poster in their window. I found that they disgraced my poster by putting a note on it that reads: “For Mature Audiences Only, no one under the age of 18 will be admitted”. Who in the hell do they think they are? They can not censor my film or the audience. We spent $3,000 to rent the theater and will have to pay for about $1700 of other expenses. I have a signed contract from them, holding them harmless. Yet they feel they can tell who is appropriate to see it? I do not agree with the MPAA but they even have a NC-17 rating. Where do they get off stating 18? I feel very strongly that directors and producers should take on the responsibility of their work. I feel that anyone over the age of 16 should be allowed to see my film. THEY HAVE NOT SEEN MY FILM! This is a violation of my first amendment rights. I have the right to express my self and I have with this film. There is no sex in it, yes there is nudity. Nothing more than you won’t see in a museum. 

I made two attempts to call them to speak with them about it. They never called me back. I am very frustrated!

NEW WEBSITE

We are excited that we are launching our new website! Check it out. It’s a combo of the things that we’ve learned from FHTA and other Hollywood type films. We would love to get your feedback. New videos will be posted soon! CHECK IT OUT!

New Poster

After months of deliberation we finally came up with a poster that I love and I hope you do too. The poster design for InSearchOf has proved incredibly challenging. How do you convey the feel of the film and telling the viewer something about it while not revealing too much. I love poster art, collecting old movie posters, I wanted to design something I would love to hang on my wall. Our new poster features Mike Rady, scenes from the film (you have to love Dave’s images),  a sheet and words of what the characters are searching for in the film. STU DID A KICK ASS JOB WITH THIS! I can’t wait to see it in its 27×41 glory!

Where are we

It’s been an interesting couple of days. I have no idea which way is up, which way to turn, what makes sense, what I want to do. Everyone has their opinion. One person can dash hopes, dreams, but should it deter you from your mission? FUCK NO! I must say that is is a bitter pill to swallow when people in your own community do not accept your work subjectively, instead ruling that others will not like it? Who do they think they are? Are these the same types of people who would have prevented the filmmakers I look up to from having long careers. What state is the filmmaking community really in?

If Lynch, Altman, Kazan, Scorsese, or Stone were trying to break their careers today would they have succeeded? Oh, and I can’t forget the great French and Italian filmmakers as well. No one is giving a unique voice the opportunity to be heard. I am not speaking just myself here, I’m speaking for a lot of other unique filmmakers. I understand that when you make something that is different,  people may react adversely. Then when you throw sex into the mix watch out, everyone better take cover, who knows what kind of shit they will throw at you.

Am I to assume that the gatekeepers to reaching the public are trying to create a homogeneous “safe” environment for their consumers? Isn’t there more beauty in difference than sameness?

It is days like this that I applaud, look up to, those people who foster creativity. I am seeking balance.