The journey home from Cannes was long, but it gave me some time to evaluate the whole trip. The most shocking realization was how little we knew about the European film industry simply because we live in the USA. Even attending the American Film Market didn’t prepare us for what Cannes was all about. The focus at AFM was on making a marketable independent film, while Cannes was about how to co-produce with other countries and get in tight with film fund managers, all to take advantage of government subsidies.
via Final Thoughts from An Action Filmmaker In Cannes – European Film Financing.
For our director, Eric Jacobus, to say that the Cannes Marche du Film was a “shocking realization” for us is a huge understatement. Not only did we gain new perspective on the international marketplace and how the rest of the world makes movies (which is almost entirely through co-productions), we also learned how much of a disadvantage we face being in the weird position of American independent filmmakers. Although our type was in abundance (as far as we could see), it was clear we were considered the underdogs, the outcasts, excluded from the in-crowd and forced to mainly only socialize (and collaborate) with ourselves.
But regardless of the discouraging discoveries on international co-production potential, and access to Europe’s extensive public funding, we still walked away with a strong confidence that what we are creating (cost-effective action films with quality story) is incredibly unique, and has an extremely momentous demand that no one else is really attempting to fill.
So now we are back and pumped to get Death Grip finished and out to all of you! We are nearly there, so in the meantime, make sure you get your tickets to our Theatrical Premiere event on June 30th. And enjoy these newly released behind-the-scenes videos:
Painting the “Lair” set, Benny Hill-style.
A stuntman is always a stuntman, even in his sleep.
Death Grip Movie 