29 Days of Vengeance Trail - Countdown to Memphis Premiere on April 23!

Each day, I'm going to post a little behind the scenes on: The Making of Vengeance Trail, or The Remaking of the Movie using Artificial Intelligence. As well as an update on progress planning the theatrical premiere on April 23 and sharing connections local to Memphis, TN.

You probably didn't get a chance to see Vengeance Trail the first time around. Who remembers Blockbuster? Blockbuster and Walmart is as far as Vengeance Trail got distributed, so I'd love to meet someone who saw it on the shelf and rented or purchased it.

If you like period-accurate Westerns, you're going to love this classic tale of good vs. evil! Nominated for the 2006 Golden Boot Awards "Best of the West." Al Frisch of Hollywood Guns and Props has all the props, costumes, screenplays, and even some horses and standing sets, to make many new Westerns. 

Tomorrow, I'll tell of how a film professor persuaded a historian and collector that Western movies can't lose and that he and his students could make a $10K feature with the resources of two Western buffs and their friends. Lot's of dreams were on the line!

Today's challenges:

• Start the process of building relationships with Memphis influencers by polishing and updating the EPK (electronic press kit).
• Then, I can approach media and bloggers for guest articles.
• Create the art for the t-shirt from the poster art, and send for a test print.

Which t-shirt design do you prefer? 

Today's Successes:

• A Memphis podcaster wants to interview me, stay tuned.
• I submitted the premiere screening event to HappeningNext for $5. 
• I negotiated with The Auteur Club for them to show my promo April 14, in return for showing their promo before Vengeance Trail on April 23.
• I booked a talk show with Anfra Boyd: April 21, 7pm Central on YAMS TALK RADIO.
• I also booked Anfra to live-stream the Premiere. She will bring so much energy!!!

Time to enjoy my family and get to bed on time!

Thanks for your support!

Ian Max

Are Billboards Still Valid? - Indie Film Advertising

First time for everything. I noticed a digital billboard near my house that said BLIP, so I looked it up. Blip Billboards sells freeway billboard space by the moment with a self-service model. And since I'm sharing the space with many other advertisers, the costs are super reasonable compared to committing to a billboard 24/7 for a month. 

I created an ad for Vengeance Trail, to start building awareness in my hometown for a theatrical screening at the end of Summer. I signed up to spend $20 per day and yesterday was my first day.

Each impression lasts 8 seconds and I got 117 blips. The billboard I chose is at the corner of two interstates. The goal is to get people to remember VengeanceTrail.com

Here are some more analytics:

The proof will be when I get a sale from someone who's not on my friends and family network.

I'm experimenting with Twitter and Facebook (Meta) ads as well, but the learning curve is steeper. Anyone have any experience? For the first while, I will be spending all my pre sales on grassroots advertising until sales take off.

Ian Max

Crowdfunding is for Interacting, NOT Begging

I have lots of friends. Some of them like my movies. Some want to support me no matter what the movie. Some are just fine-feathered, patrons of the arts. But I don't have a million friends! Yet!

Crowdfunding often seems like begging friends and family for a favor. But pretty soon, those favors are used up. I don't want my social media to have daily reminders of my projects. Where's the value added?

Business success comes from creating and delivering value!

Now, if you like Westerns and want to see more Westerns, then the value-add is me helping ensure more Westerns get made. Quality Westerns, morality tales, battles between good and evil.

So, here's a crowdfunding effort to Pre-Sell my Western, Vengeance Trail - to finish creating the extra value allowed by new digital tools, and deliver it to the world.

And interact with the fans! So, leave a comment and I'll respond.

I just want fans of Westerns to learn about Vengeance Trail and tell their friends. And, if enough fans are found, my friends at HollywoodGunsAndProps.com and I will make more Westerns.

I will be sending out an EPK (Electronic Press Kit) and finding bloggers and podcasters who want to discuss the movie and the making of Vengeance Trail. If you know any, please send them my way.

Thanks, Ian Max

Cancelling CANCEL CULTURE with LOOR TV

Ever heard of Shark Tank-like pitching for Faith Driven Businesses? I just spent two days in Dallas with the winners of the Tampa Lion's Den pitch competition, LOOR.TV. The Lion's Den connects investors with faith driven entrepreneurs. LOOR.TV is creating a game-ified, equity-crowdfunding, streaming platform aimed at funding and sharing movie, TV and documentary content that young people actually want to watch.

The business model for independent filmmakers is broken. It's a winning-the-lottery mentality where they beg, borrow and steal to make a movie that's hopefully not too compromised in apparent production value (making $100K look like $1M) and then sells for a profit at film festivals or to streaming channels. The chances of making money this way is super low, and I keep meeting exhausted filmmakers that are sad when they can't find a distributor that will spend the same kind of sweat equity selling their movie as they spent to make it. So, they give their precious baby away, but at least the movie they slaved on for years is out there for people to see. Repeat after me: It's a movie BUSINESS.

The smart (and Biblical) way to finance a movie is to count the cost in advance and pre-sell the movie before making it. Kinda like a high-rise apartment complex will determine a need and start pre-renting apartments first. Ideally, filmmakers copy the model of Angel Studios and raise the fans in advance who pre-purchase tickets to the movie. LOOR TV is pursuing this model. This is hard work. I helped produce two features that are upside down for the investors. I intend to remedy this.

The problem with most Christian movie distributors is they don't know how to reach young people, nor do they even try. So we have generations of film goers who are being spoon fed junk food by a Hollywood world view that is in conflict with Biblical values. There's some good content out there, some neutral, but tons of woke content that clearly contradicts God's truth, goodness and beauty.

And young people get all the content they want on social media for free, so why should they pay for my movie? What's my value-add to them?

Eyre Films and LOOR TV have a lot in common. How to cancel Cancel Culture with slightly irreverent movies that appeal to young people (likely mostly to young men, but niche down to find those super fans). As I reactivate the fans who have watched "Run Cholo Run" 2.2M times, but with music I didn't license :(, and promote the digitally enhanced re-release of Vengeance Trail, I will be learning to find superfan audiences for Prey For Mason, Smash and Run, and Puberty From Heck! all in various stages of development. Stay tuned. 

Meanwhile, here's Jason Farley and Marcus Pittman enjoying a pitch I made for a Romans 6:23 monster comedy that might have to be hosted in Finland, lol! It will definitely cause Cancel Culture to get triggered!

Ian

TBT: "Run Cholo Run" Already Has Super Fans!

Every so often, I get a note from FaceBook; “Run Cholo Run has 141 new views," or. “21 others liked your page 5 days ago. I don’t pay that short film very much attention because I haven’t had much to talk about. I've been working on the feature screenplay for years and only post a vague update every few months as proof of life. I can't/shouldn't keep teasing that audience forever.

As I learn about building a niche audience for my Western and my teen thriller, I realize I already have an amazing built-in audience for "Run Cholo Run." I knew the short film had 2.2 million views with 10K subscribers, but I didn't notice the Facebook Group has grown to 6,600 followers! There's a few super fans in there, probably mostly fans of the lead actor Alex Arredondo aka Sleepy Brown of Cholo Adventures, but isn't that why you cast stars!

Every few months, I post a vague update about Tanya ChaCha Sandoval-McMahon adding authenticity from her Mexican-American sensibility. She finished her rewrite last year before I moved across country, but relocating and then the blessing of a full-time job for 5 months and juggling other projects, blah blah blah. Life is full!

How can I serve my audience? It's time to brainstorm some value I can give to the RCR fans to renew their enthusiasm. Here are some ideas:

-post bios of the 3 writers. I will see Korstiaan Vandiver in person this weekend, so we will video some BTS narrative about where the story came from.

-create a live, in-person event in Los Angeles, along with some other gang-topical short films from filmmaker friends.

-create swag and sell the posters I had printed.

-post pages of the screenplay and get feedback from those most interested. Perhaps a subscriber option.

Thoughts?

Ian

Movie Poster Design for Vengeance Trail

I've recently learned that one of my top strengths or giftings is Craftsmanship. When it comes to metal or wood fabrication, or filmmaking, I have a commitment to excellence that can border on perfectionism. The trick is to know when to stop majoring on the minor details.

I once asked for a job at a Special Effects company. The shop foreman said they had a scene where a keyboard was to get shot and they were carving keyboards out of foam. He asked how I would do it. My initial thought was that keyboards are cheap so why not find some junk keyboards to squib, but I fumbled through an answer about materials and tooling. Later, I thought, my first questions should have been to ask how close would the camera get to it. 

My opinion on the difference between low budget and big budget movies is attention to detail. Attending to the details takes time, resources and manpower. You know the Fast, Good or Cheap Project Management Triangle. You have to pick your battles. 

But sometimes you find an artist who loves what they do, and they keep making suggestions - good suggestions. And that keeps presenting me with choices. James Burns is a movie poster artist who just loves Westerns, and he can't stop pitching ideas for Vengeance Trail unless I stop him. 

So, what do y'all think about all these options? BTW, James actually started with the better versions, but over time started presenting sketches for options to present ideas more quickly with less effort. Disclaimer: we don't have many high res photos to choose from, so some of the images had to be taken from the video tapes, uprezzed as much as possible using AI software.

The original poster and DVD art:

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly influence:

Options A vs. C:

Barbed wire border, light vs dark options:

Ultimately, story must dictate the design. Who's the hero, who's the villain? Who wants vengeance? Is it unified to have all the guns point one direction? Does the story demand unity? Is the fact that they're all holding guns enough? What's the best use of negative space and color or contrast? Watch the trailer, read the synopsis, and leave your comments below.

Thanks, Ian

Slate of Films - Plan of Action

When I moved to Los Angeles in 1999, my goal was to be an action director. There are two routes: 1) stunt performing > stunt coordinating > 2nd unit directing > directing, and 2) screenwriting > producing > directing. I pursued both concurrently.

I started my screenplay journey in 1997 with my teen abstinence comedy. That writing sample got me accepted into ActOneProgram.com in 2001, but the standard of excellence they taught was so high that I felt handicapped. So I focused on my bread and butter, which at the time was special effects and stunts. 

The advice I received regarding screenwriting was to have three screenplays ready to go before shopping any around. This took me two decades.

I was invited to help produce two features, Vengeance Trail in 2002 and Acts of Violence in 2006. I wasn't a part of developing or selling, and I didn't really want to learn then because producing was hard work. There are so many learning curves in this business and I picked my battles; stunt performing was fun, paid the bills (eventually), got me health insurance, and even had backend participation that was like manna from Heaven. Three cheers for passive income.

I tried to quit three times. As I aged, I realized some of my injuries from stunts were chronic, and I started planning for my career after 50. By this mid-life marker, I had had half a dozen feature screenplays to shop, half with business plans. And I'd tried my hand unsuccessfully at crowdfunding and equity crowdfunding.

I made lots of short films (my film school), and they made me some side money through Ad Sales on YouTube. But the no budget feature became the calling card, and the prevailing indie film advice is to make a slate of films to spread the risk. 

Vengeance Trail started as a $10K student film, then grew many times over with reshoots. It landed in Blockbuster and Walmart in 2006, but many mistakes were made such as not having stars and shooting on MiniDV, and it didn't find much of an audience. Fast forward to today, I now have a 1080p streaming version with an updated trailer, titles, music, etc. (I'll explain in another post about how, using AI software). It's time to exploit the movie.

Eyre Films' goals are to make a slate of genre movies. Vengeance Trail will be my trial to build momentum and prove I can make money at it. Above are a few posters to get you excited.

I've been studying indie film marketing. The old way of selling a movie at film festivals and to the streaming giants is gone. The new way is changing every year, but includes branding, targeting a niche audience of super fans, four-walling, direct sales funnel, targeted international sales, blogging, building an email list, etc. And also festivals and streaming in their proper place.

If you're a filmmaker, ask me questions and challenge my reasoning.

If you like horses, I'll dig up behind the scenes horse footage from Vengeance Trail. 

If you like guns and Western movie history, we already made a documentary about the vintage movie guns used in Vengeance Trail.

Best, Ian

VengeanceTrail.com

PreyForMason.movie

SmashAndRun.com

RunCholo.com

FoolCircleMovie.com