Maxim Media wants Dark Light
In some surprising news, US company Maxim Media Marketing Inc. has asked specifically for our old vampire movie Dark Light. This puts the movie in with a shot at being televised here, there, and everywhere, and maybe even released officially on DVD. I stress that this is not a distribution contract; it’s is a marketing contract - for seven years, no less! Maxim Media will take on the responsibility of trying to sell the movie, and profits (if any) will be divided between them and Midnight Pictures (Andrew Harrison and myself, with Paul Barton, who was co-producer at the time).
Long-time visitors may recall the Mexican deal we had with Saul’s Pupils. Andrew and I always wondered what happened with that. We had an uncommunicative agent at the time. Turns out the company never got off the ground. It’s something of an embarrassment, because we had major publicity on that one, in the Observer newspaper, no less.
So, until the cheque’s in the post, I’m not going to get over-excited about the Dark Light news. I am, however, going to give it my all. And that means putting together an effective trailer to help sell the movie. Here’s my attempt:
Partial credit for this trailer must go to Philip Topping, specifically for the computer-generated titles. These are from Phil’s original teaser. I felt that Phil’s version didn’t show nearly enough clips from the movie, so I had a go at incorporting his work into a longer trailer.
The whole movie (roughly 65 mins) can presently be watched on YouTube. That may not be the case for long, depending on what requirements Maxim Media stipulates. So, if you’re interested in watching the movie, don’t dawdle.
March 12, 2008 at 11:24 am
Love the new titles! Brilliant. Good news about a potential new lease of life for the film. It is worth a release! I certainly enjoyed watching it again recently.
I like the trailer, but I do feel it is missing a bit of drama - the human element. I don’t mean for you to attempt a US spell-it-all-out-for-them style trailer, but it does distance you from the drama, when you don’t hear voices and simply hear music. And I found the film is rich in good characterisation…. just my thoughts on it.
But congrats again!
March 12, 2008 at 11:50 am
You are right, but sadly, the lack of voices is purely down to a technical constraint: we no longer possess separate sound channels for vocals, music, etc. It’s all a single mix. So, including vocals in the trailer would mean the viewer hears jarring snippets of various music tracks along with it.
March 13, 2008 at 11:58 am
Right, sure. That would make it tricky. Thought you might still have the raw files.
March 29, 2008 at 9:02 am
Dark Light has its weaknesses, but does (like all the best thrillers) deliver one excellent surprise moment at its conclusion. As sharp and twisted as a fish hook, it sticks in the memory even a year after I’ve last seen the film.
Plus, the good-looking chickie!
Congrats and continued best of luck, Darryl! With Dark Light and Chion both.
Mick
March 30, 2008 at 2:12 pm
I’m certainly not judging you, so don’t take this the wrong way- its great that finally a company is taking you seriously as filmmakers and I’m hoping you might get a few quid out of it to recoup some costs over the years- but MMM sell (and I assume market) ‘Traces of Death’, which contains scenes of real torture, suicide etc.
Surely there’s a moral can o’ worms of the highest magnitude? I’m interested to hear what the born again Darryl has to say on the issue, and once again I’m not judging you and I have a seen clips from TOD. If it were me, I would find the decision an extremely difficult one.
April 1, 2008 at 10:25 pm
Thanks, Mick. Glad you liked our little vamp movie.
Hi, Ed. Guilt by association, eh?
I’ve thought about this, and it does make me slightly anxious, but if I start making myself responsible for the sins of others, where do I draw the line?
I could probably pick any marketing/distribution company and if I scanned their catalogue, I would discover many titles that I consider to be morally bad on one level or another. Even Dark Light contains some things that wouldn’t fly with me today.
If I start down that road, it will end with me abandoning all support for every Midnight Pictures film prior to Don’t Look in the Attic.
Ultimately, I have enough actual sin in my life to contend with without worrying too much about the business practices of the company that’s marketing one of our films.
April 2, 2008 at 10:18 pm
Fair point Mr S… there are way too many factors to weigh up here, I just wanted to know if you thought about it.
A girl in my work (Gemma) mentioned you guys today, sent a photo of her with a clapperboard working on Encounter at Black Ridge.
I like the new trailer. Good job