The Hunger Grows

(by Rishi Thaker)

At a time when book-to-films conversions reign supreme at the Box Office I pondered what really makes a financially successful film?

‘The Hunger Games’ is currently leading pack on the back of successful ‘Twilight’ (vomit) and ‘Harry Potter’ series and critically all of the films that represent those franchises probably give you and average of 2 out 4 stars (i.e. you’ll get some good ‘Potter’ films netted off by some awful ‘Twilight’ ones and no doubt ‘The Hunger Games’ sequels will be sh@t) – on a quick side note, do you know what they call ‘The Hunger Games’ in Paris? ‘Battle Royale’ with Cheese (sorry I couldn’t resist).

So I thought about critically panned efforts that have smashed Box Office figures like ‘The Devil Inside’ ($100 million at the box office and counting) and ‘Chronicle’ ($117 million). Why? They’re supposedly awful according to you out there so why didn’t word of mouth stop this? Because word of mouth on the internet got there long before you could signal the warnings! Viral marketing is a huge part of promotion these days and distributors are now more and more investing their time to be innovative in this. To that end Dan and I discussed a piece we produced in 2010 called ‘The Plumber’ which went viral extremely quickly. If we had concentrated more on the viral potential it showed I believe ‘The Plumber’ would be something most would have seen by now. Instead we got excited and made the feature ‘Slaughter is the Best Medicine’ instead. Here we have no regrets because now we have a large product to back any interest that the viral potential of ‘The Plumber’ can reach. So I say to all of you. Go forth and make your selections! Play on-line, get involved, have fun and tell all your friends! Stickmen Pictures are coming to town via your laptops, tablets and phones!

It is also time to say good bye to the gloomy winter nights and hello to the bright summer days. You all need to throw off your gloves and take your best shots so we can see what you’ve got, because whether it is the dawn of a new day at work, or a fight with a formidable adversary, or even preparation for another day with your demanding kids – every day is an opportunity!

Finally, I just want to say Happy Birthday to Dan! He recently turned 19 but looks like 31 because of how much he has aged with the film process! Hope you had a good one.