AMAZON PRIME THE BIG INDIE SUCCESS
2017 was a year that proved successful in film terms, on a number of fronts. In January Amazon Prime had launched itself heavily for Independent film makers in a new system called Amazon Direct. It meant to stay on Amazon we had to get all our previous products on it with new sub titles in English which meant paying hefty deposits for each film for this work. However we decided it was worth it and our decision paid off by March we could see that in total our titles had generated over one million minutes watched by faithful Amazon audiences. It began to generate meagre monthly income to pay the office rent and phone, something that had been denied by previous distributors. As summer progressed this income stayed with us, though we thought it may be a flash in the pan, as you do. However other indie film makers confirm that audiences like to view Indies Film products almost as a release and means of rebellion against a constant diet of dumbed down, mainstream fodder, which has flooded the film markets since the 2008 crash. People like local authentic stuff which is not pushing one diagnostic view point or political force. The diversity, people power, and public accountability spawned by internet distribution is forcing old style distributors to re-evaluate their formula for audience participation. Great bring it on! With over 18 films of ours on Amazon Prime we are not complaining. Sadly I also expect other distributors will try to derail Amazon.
You can catch up with Palm Tree Films at this link for the list on the UK Amazon Prime. These titles are available on USA Amazon and in Germany and Japan HERE
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=robbie+moffat+films&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Arobbie+moffat+films
DOCUMENTARY ON PASCHENDAELE 100 COMMEMORATION
This year also saw a move towards my own independent voice by the making of a documentary about my mother's father PRIVATE JOHN SMITH who was at the battle of Paschendaele in World War One. It is a 'Work in Progress', but I have created an assembly cut of most of the material. Now the challenge for me is to create a final of an hour long in length about John's contribution to the battle. I learned how to edit final cut pro 7 for this documentary. It has been a long process of trial and error over many months in a new environment of an office that was not fully operational due to technological challenges in an old building. Along the way like many more professional editors I ditched buying the new final cut express 10 software, because of the very very poor reviews of it and the number of respected film editors who stuck to the earlier final cut 7. Editing developers must think hard about the changes they had to make to amend final cut 10 back to the early more successful final cut 7 interface. New is not necessarily always better just for the sake of it. You can see the new promo trailer about PRIVATE JOHN SMITH at this link by hitting HERE
It was a privilege to listen to other stories of descendants of the battle, then to record their important personal stories, which will also feature in the long version. The full documentary will be available next year 2018.
More films are in are in development and I have no intention of giving up producing yet but I have also begun a return to acting when time permits. A small comeback was seen earlier in the year. Mostly I will be producing some projects for Palm Tree Universal and some others I am developing on my own. The most popular being a feature film drama about the life of the scientist William Murphy who discovered the cure for Pernicious Anaemia, resulting in his team getting the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1934. I am also continuing to develop a screenplay about the life of the film maker Jenny Gilbertson as well as some others than are too early to say much about here. The development slate of Palm Tree Universal can be seen HERE Elephants will feature highly in the early part of the year.
Mid year I met the name sake Kiefer Sutherland at a concert and that was inspiring because his performance was magic. Hopefully he will have more concerts in the future to aim towards and maybe some new songs? It was a bright patch in the year to experience his dedication and determination to fulfil his musical career. Cool.
Photo by Mairi Sutherland (Lol)
RETURN TO ACTING
2017 also saw a return to acting with 2 roles in 2 short films by March 2017. It was hard work, to keep going for both the students of the Screen Academy Scotland and the University of the West of Scotland. Below the photograph is of myself in the pink with actress Patricia Elliot for the story called Lianne and Brenda by director/writer Jodie MacArthur. The story was about 2 friends who had gone to the wrong funeral of their friend in brightly coloured clothes only to discover that they had attended the funeral of someone else whose friends were all in black. The comedy should have been called 'All things Bright and Beautiful' as this photograph shows with an appropriately seasonal flavour.
I'm not ignoring the SEXUAL HARASSMENT scandal and in fact I will be hosting a series of workshops in 2018 on the subject for film makers. Watch this space! Get your diaries out now!
