Loyal Friends Are Essential!

(Day T-10 Count Down to Worldwide Theatrical Premiere on April 23!)

Recently, I've enjoyed getting to know an actress, writer, and singer, Judi Stiner Gray, and she has offered to help me with the Vengeance Trail theatrical premiere -- twice. The second time, she made herself clear; "I'm volunteering. How can I help?" Wow, it's great to not be alone in marketing this screening. Thank you, Judi, for reaching out. The screening theater is near her house, so today she started displaying Vengeance Trail posters in her area:

• 2 Starbucks.
• 2 Paneras.
• Wings 901.
• Cordova Farmer's Market International.

Meanwhile, I got permission to post at the Agricenter Farmer's Market, then I went to the Bill Pickett Rodeo. Well, I stood outside the walkway with my posters, greeted everyone with a warm "Howdy," and asked who likes Western movies. I was surprised: only about a third of the carloads expressed interest, about 1 in 10. individuals Some people even expressed dislike for Westerns, so I wished them a happy rodeo. Two people said they used to watch them with their grandpa. But quite a few would stop and chat and take a picture of the poster. One guy, in fact, has always wanted to be an actor but was taking care of his father, and he was so excited and encouraged to meet someone in the movie business. I've connected him to the local acting school and all the Memphis networking groups on Facebook.

I've been in Memphis almost two years and made huge efforts to network in the film industry here and be a good citizen by giving back and creating opportunities. In fact, last night and tonight, a local student film shot in my house. I love this town and the creative hustlers all around. It's great to be making loyal friends here.

Ian Max

Excitement Brews as Memphis Gets Plastered with Vengeance Trail Posters!

(Day 11 Counting Down to Memphis Premiere on April 23!)

The last few days, I have been busy asking establishments if they have a classifieds section for displaying local events. I've had a mostly positive reception and some very enthusiastic; "I love Westerns" and "I'm absolutely coming to this [screening]." Very encouraging!

I've been plastering the poster at various venues. Some have obvious cork boards for local events. Others surprised me by taping a double sided poster to their front glass.  You can't assume, you just have to ask.

No one mentioned the guns on the poster, but I learned that if the guns aren't pointing at anyone it's more okay. And this is Memphis where everyone seems to have a gun. I was told today that the difference in gun laws between Tennessee and California are "night and day." In Los Angeles, we worried that other parents or teachers wouldn't approve of our kids playing with Nerf guns, and Getty Images wouldn't approve footage from my "Nerf for Noobs" short film, when my DP tried to sell the footage.

Yesterday's successes:

• 1 out of 4 mom-and-pop coffee shops. The chains don't have a classified section.
• 2 out of 2 public libraries. Admin had to approve.
• 2 out of 3 bars or breweries. One owner doesn't like fliers and posters.
• 2 out of 2 pizza joints.
• 1 running shoe company.
• 1 video rental store with 30K movie archive. They didn't have the DVD so I gave them one.
• 1 out of 2 guns and ammo stores displayed the poster, but much interest from employees.
• 1 playhouse and 1 ballet company.

Today, I spread out south, including just across the border into Mississippi.

• 4 Western clothing stores.
• 1 film gear rental company.
• 1 Army surplus store.
• 2 Gun stores.

The last store I found by accident, actually a gun repair shop. We got to chatting for a long time because these guys were Navy vets and SASS (single action shooting society) shooters, and they knew all about chain guns, gatling guns and howitzers. My experience was from working as a special effects assistant on The Last Samurai and We Were Soldiers. Then I learned that one of the men worked as an extra on Andersonville. I earned my SAG card on that movie in 1993 after 51 days as an extra. Man, did we have memories to share. Set life!

And, I learned about the Bill Pickett Rodeo tomorrow at the Memphis Agricenter, 10 miles from me!

Ian Max

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

I picked up 100 posters to place around town. I'm very pleased with the quality and turnaround time from 901 Print Shop. 

Nearby, was an RV dealer that I had frequented for a while when caring for my father-in-law's camper. I thought about the foot traffic they would get from affluent types who might like Westerns. I wrote a note on the back offering one free ticket if they would publicly display the poster. Inside, they were friendly and interested, but had to ask corporate for permission. Either way, they said they'd share it among the employees.

This got me thinking. I need to ask mom-and-pop stores to display the poster. And, if I give away a ticket for each poster, that's potentially $2000. I will save that as a backup plan and see how many store owners will display the poster for free, willingly, and how many are ruthless entrepreneurs. 

Also, if each poster leads to one ticket sale, and I post all 100, I'll quickly and hopefully need to book a second  screening time. What a good challenge that would be -- first-world-problems!

So, now to brainstorm about 90 strategic places to ask for the poster to be displayed. On the way home, I saw this Western clothing store billboard:

So, I'm brainstorming a list:

• Western and boot clothing stores.
• Restaurants.
• Theater troops.
• Stores within a mile of the theater.
• Veterinary and animal feed stores.
• Equestrian stables.
• Motorcycle dealers, for those steel steed riders.

Then (NOSTALGIA ALERT) I'll plot a large loop around the county, like I used to do in Los Angeles in the 90s with a stack of headshot Lithographs, a copy of the Shoot Sheet from the Stephen J Cannel Building in Hollywood, and a Thomas Guide Street Directory. 200 miles later I would have snuck onto 5 sets and met one stunt coordinator. And the ratio of getting hired that way was one in a hundred, ish.

Ah, memory lane!

Ian Max

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

Today, I created a 300dpi 11"x17" poster for the event, and sent it to 901 Print Shop, which was recommended by Rex Oatis of OTS Films who's been advising me generously. Rates were 50 for $100 and 100 for $160. I decided to print 100 and if I don't use them all, I can cut out the middle image and have a smaller poster to giveaway, or maybe sell, at the screening. 

I had hoped to accomplish more today, but I had several meetings that ran long. It is enough for one day.

Ian Max

P.S. Part of the reason I'm posting names and places is, to give others a starting point but also to create an FAQ so that on my next movie I can pay someone to go through this blog and do it better. If it's helpful to you, I'd love to hear.

Prey for Mason NEW LAUNCH SOON

Brandon and I excitedly prepare to announce a major advancement for Prey For Mason. Stay tuned for the launch of a new opportunity, hopefully in the next few weeks. A contract has been signed!

Another amazing poster by James Burns:

The script is finished with rave reviews from the actors of a table read:

I just listened to this Filmmaking Stuff podcast and Tom Malloy said there are four genres that are most marketable, that he remembers with WASH - Westerns, Action, Sci-Fi and Horror. This is exciting to me, because Prey for Mason is Action and Horror - AHhhhhhh. (And Vengeance Trail is Action and Western, and Run Cholo Run is Action and Thriller, and all my movies have action scenes for trailer moments). If you're an indie filmmaker, I highly recommend Filmmaking Stuff.

Exciting times!

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