BANNED IN UTAH!

Fulfillment company Vervante has discontinued sales of Spirit Camp because... you guessed it... it's too SCARY, SEXY, and FUNNY! I'm not making this up... After stocking and fulfilling a TON of orders for Spirit Camp, I received a notice that they will no longer fulfill my DVDs because it contains nudity, violence, and adult language. Hmmm... what part of HORROR FILM did they not understand when I contracted them to fulfill Spirit Camp?

Not to worry, Spirit Camp is still available on DVD at SpiritCampMovie.com

Don't you want to see it even more now? ;)

WORLD PREMIERE!

WOW! What an AMAZING event!

SOLD OUT in a matter of days! I am so thankful for all the love and support of the cast, crew, family, friends and fans for making this such a great experience. There is nothing like seeing your film on the big screen with a packed house, cheering all the way.

I look forward to more screenings and more films! Stay tuned - I'll be announcing details soon. You don't want to miss this on the big screen - the picture and sound are amazing at The Studio Movie Grill, and they were great to work with!

DVDs are also available SpiritCampMovie.com, and we will be selling and autographing DVDs at future screenings and conventions!

Thanks again to everyone who helped make this such a memorable experience!

Best,

Kerry

CRYPTICON DAY 2!

Lloyd Kaufman of Troma visited out booth, watched a clip of Spirit Camp and gave it the thumbs up! We talked to Courtney Gains (Malekai from CHILDREN OF THE CORN) about his upcoming projects, and he gave a shout out to Spirit Camp on our videoblog - check it out on Facebook. The girls were a hit in their cheer costumes, meeting fans, signing autographs and taking pictures. We had a great time and look forward to meeting more fans tomorrow! Follow all the exclusive action on Facebook!

CRYPTICON FIRST NIGHT!

The first night at Crypticon was AMAZING! We screened exclusive footage to a packed house with rave reviews! The support was overwhelming! The stars, Roxy Vandiver, Julin, and Denise Williamson were on hand to sign autographs and give away free prints. They will be there Satruday the 17th as well. So many icons of horror were there... Michael Berryman (The Hills Have Eyes), Adrienne Barbeau (Escape From New York), Courtney Gains (Children of the Corn), Duane Whitaker (Halloween II, Pulp Fiction), the whole Troma team... So many fans stopped by to say hello, and we made tons of new friends. Looking forward to more Crypticon tomorrow! Check the Facebook fan page for all the videoblogs from Crypticon! Spirit Camp Facebook

CRYPTICON!

We will be screening 20 minutes of EXCLUSIVE footage at CRYPTICON horror convention in Houston at Reliant Center Oct. 16th at 6:20PM. It's gonna be a SCREAM!

Stars Roxy Vandiver, Julin, and Denise Williamson will make an appearance Saturday Oct. 17th to sign autograph and give away free prints (while supplies last).

Join us!

Swimming With Sharks

When I first finished Spirit Camp, I was in a panic... "I've got this great film, now what do I do with it?" You may have read the other blog posts about producer's reps... if not, check it out... but let me tell you, I am so glad I didn't sign on with a producer's rep. I have been able to consistently bring deals to the table without one... and it saves me ten percent.

I'll tell you how I do it later, but I'm very excited to have several offers, both domestic and foreign, to sort through... and I've only approached a handful of companies. The blood is in the water, and the sharks are starting to circle (and I mean shark in the nicest possible way, because I know you guys read this blog, lol). I decided to start with a small push allowing myself to adjust my approach if need be. There are pros and cons to this technique... the deals tend to stagger in, instead of all at the same time - and it seems everyone is in a hurry to lockup rights. Fortunately, I don't have investors to pay back, and I can take my time and negotiate a good deal - or walk completely.

Part of my plan from the beginning was to have a self distribution option, and even a hybrid type situation with traditional distribution. Fortunately today, self distribution is a viable option, provided you have a reasonable marketing budget to support a small DVD release.

It is a very interesting time, to say the least, and an incredible learning experience. I have talked to hundreds of filmmakers lately, researching the companies who have made offers, and I definitely recommend doing that before signing a deal. I have found that most directors and producers are very supportive and willing to give their time. Many thanks to all of you who were kind enough to take my calls and emails.

Win, lose, or draw, this whole experience has given me valuable insights regarding the qualities that make a film marketable, but that is the subject of another article...

Stay tuned...

Script Clearance Report – Why You Need One!

I can’t tell you the number of filmmakers I run into who have put their life savings into their film, only to find they can’t sell it. Not because it isn’t any good… but because they didn’t get the proper clearances before they shot.

I’ve talked a little about clearance before, but it boils down to this:

You can’t put anything in your film that you don’t own, or control the rights to. Period!

That painting that hangs in the background of a scene, the family portrait that sits atop a desk, the product that one of your actors is holding… all of these need to be cleared.

The artist who painted the painting likely owns the rights, and you could be guilty of copyright infringement by using it without permission. Same with the photographer who took the family portrait (yes, even if it is your relatives in the photo, the photographer likely owns the rights.)! And to be really thorough, you will need releases from each person featured in the family photo… that means uncle Bob needs to sign off on it.

You will also need to clear the usage of any products in your film, and context is often a very important consideration. If your film depicts something negative happening in, around, or as a direct result of, a recognizable product, you are likely to run into clearance issues.

And it doesn’t stop there… character names are equally as important. A filmmaker can open themselves up to all kinds of lawsuits, including defamation of character and invasion of privacy, etc. Say you name the villain in your story “John Doe,” and he does unsavory things… and there just happens to be a person of the same name, in the same area that your film takes place in, with the same profession… you might be at risk for a lawsuit.

I know, what are the odds of that… but it happens more often than you think.

So, what does all this mean? Well, if you are not careful, your risk of a lawsuit may be high, in which case you may not qualify for E&O insurance, or your rates may be exorbanant. It’s like trying to get health insurance with a pre-existing condition.

What is E&O, you ask? Errors and Omissions… it’s basically a media liability policy, so if someone does bring a lawsuit, the insurance company will pay for they defense and any settlement.

No distributor or broadcaster will touch your film without it. Let me say that again… NO DISTRIBUTOR or BROADCASTER will touch your film without it. It will usually be requested as part of your “deliverables.” (I will talk more about deliverables in an upcoming article – but in short, it’s all your master versions of the film that the distributor will use to make DVDs, etc.)

It is possible to negotiate that the distributor pays for E&O, but your film still needs to meet the clearance requirements. Enter the script clearance report…

There are a handful of approved clearance agencies that will go through your script and point out clearance issues, and make suggestions that can save you thousands of dollars later. They will check every character name against a national database, and let you know if there are any conflicts.

But it’s not cheap! Script clearance can run anywhere from $1000 to $1500… and it usually takes a week or two. Once you have a final shooting script, get the report done BEFORE you shoot. Have your attorney look over the report to make any final suggestions, and give you the go ahead.

Look for my upcoming book, where I go over all this in detail, list several clearance agencies, and tell you simple things you can do to improve your odds of staying in the clear, so to speak. Keep in mind, I am not an attorney, and this is not legal advice, so always consult with an experienced entertainment attorney first.

So, save yourself some heartache, and clear your script!