PRIMER

[cowboykurtis]

this is a first time feature that Just won the grand jury prize at sundance -- this guy claims to have shot this for 20 grand - he wrote, directed, shot, composed, edited, etc -- go to primerthemovie.com -- i can tell you one thing -- this film costed much more than 20 grand --and his claim that he had "no idea what he was doing" is bullshit -- any thoughts?

[cine]

http://primermovie.com/

[edison]

I read he made it for around 7k.

[Ghostboy]

I read the 7k thing too. I think that's BS, but he probably could have done it for 20 if he pulled a lot of favors (this is judging by the trailer, which is admittedly really well done and could be fooling us with its flashiness). I'm surprised I never heard of it...I try to keep track of most indie productions made in Dallas (just scoping the competition, you know).

Anyway, I've read a lot of reviews of it on AICN and such and most were mixed to negative. I think I remember one positive review out of the whole lot.

[Weak2ndAct]

I've heard varying reports about the budget, but that's not the issue to me.  The fact that a bunch of nobodies scraped a film together, got it into sundance (I mean, that itself is an accomplishment), and then won the grand jury prize... sheesh, that's the dream!  The film sounds pretty intriguing, I'll definitely be checking it out, provided it gets picked up and not Public-Access-ed.

[MacGuffin]

A film for $7000? The director of "Primer" tells you how:
http://www.primermovie.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=14

[cowboykurtis]

A film for $7000? The director of "Primer" tells you how:
http://primermovie.com/ipw-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?t=14

i wonder if the budget was "in the can". i truly can not believe that it was 7000 all included -- i know he mentioneed that it was not including the print -- but even processing/transfer costs would be well over 7,000 -- the last short i shot with many many favors costs 3000 -- it was 20 minutes on super 16 -- all i paid for was film and processing. i think the story of "young filmmaker comes from no where and makes movie for cicken feed" is a publicity stunt.

[MacGuffin]

Trailer here.


THINKFILMS HAS MADE A DEAL WITH DIRECTOR SHANE CARRUTH FOR THE SUNDANCE WINNER, "PRIMER"
Source: dallasobserver.com

So whatever happened to the hi-tech thriller “PRIMER,” which was shot for only $7000 dollars and took the Grand Jury prize at this year’s Sundance?

Well, after a long-time of dealing and wheeling, software engineer-turned-filmmaker SHANE CARRUTH has made an “oral” agreement with THiNKFiLMS, the distributor responsible for such pics like the Oscar-nominated documentary “Spellbound” and the Jodie Foster drama “The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys”

Originally reported on Dallas Observer, the report claims that Carruth was even willing to shelf the Sundance-winning film if a distribute deal was not done within his own terms.

"I hoped, like everyone hopes, that somebody wants the film enough to buy it and put the money that it takes to distribute it, but I never thought about the fact I was gonna have to sell it to somebody and lose it and give up that control. And I think that's part of what's making these talks last so long, the fact I am having a hard time giving it up."

Carruth later adds, "What I'm thinking about is the DVD boxed set that comes out in 10 years, and I don't wanna be hassling with these guys for the rights to this film."

The terms of the deal with THiNKFiLMS have not been disclosed and a release date has not been announced.

Click on the link here for the Dallas Observer article, where Carruth' also talks about his experience in Sundance and how he made the film with literally no money.

[cowboykurtis]

this guy is going to fuck his movie -- gaining control of the filmmaking process is one thing, but also obtaining control over distro. is a whole nother story -- if hes not willing to give his film up, itll die a very quick death -- i saw it happen to my friend who had a feature at sundance last year. he had every aquisition heavyweight calling him, making him offers and  he kept on holding out -- soon the phones stop -- never was bought and will never be seen -- a sad tale.

[SoNowThen]

Can you give up distribution rights, but retain the right to keep the cut as is, so they can't alter anything? I'm thinking that would be key...

[cowboykurtis]

Can you give up distribution rights, but retain the right to keep the cut as is, so they can't alter anything? I'm thinking that would be key...

that can be included in the contractual sale -- but i think the "control element" of distro. is less about the actual film and more about how it is marketed. you dont have control over trailers and taglines and posters -- your film is being represented by people other than you, I.e.: marketing firms who think "this is how to sell your film." some filmmakers may argue that a bad trailer or distasteful movie poster can do more harm to a film than cutting a scene...

[tpfkabi]

so did anyone ever see this?
the main character lives about 15 minutes from where i live. there were a few articles on him in the paper.

[El Duderino]

this trailer is great, which makes me want to see the movie.

[Ghostboy]

I saw this this morning and I really liked it. I'd compare it in an instant to Chris Nolan's first film, Following. It's very much along the lines as that. Maybe Shane Carruthers will direct the sequel to Batman Begins.

It is almost incomprehnsibly dense, in terms of subject matter -- it's just about impossible to know what's going on half the time -- but if the plot were made any clearer, it might not have worked. The thrill of the film is trying to decipher the incredibly authentic techno-babble and figure out just what the hell is going on. It takes a lot of work to follow, and while it's not entirely rewarding (I think a lot of that techno babble is used to effectively cover up the fact that the story is basically a Twilight Zone episode with massive plot holes), it's a lot of fun to watch. Technically, it looks and sounds great -- I still don't know how it was made for 7 grand, and I have a feeling a lot of sound work was done on it since it got picked up for distribution, but it's got that gritty-but-slick indie style we haven't really seen since the late nineties, before DV took over.

[Sal]

Ghostboy I just read your posted review of it on AICN -- this is the first time I've heard of this movie and just went through reading several interviews with the filmmaker.  What is it specifically that you found so engrossing?  Were the performances by the actors (and the director) convincing?  Obviously all of the elements in the film have to be working together to produce a gem, but was it the plot that you tried to untangle that made it so interesting?  In other words - is the film much like doing a crossword puzzle you're enjoying, performances or flaws be damned?