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BASE UNVEILS FIRST AWARDS NOMS
JUDGES PRAISE INDUSTRY “INNOVATION”
INDUSTRY STALWARTS PASS
ED RAMSAY RIP
“IRONSIDE AND LUNDGREN OWE HIM A LOT”
ANDREW PALMER RIP
“NEVER HAPPIER THAN RELEASING FOOTBALL PROGRAMMING”
FRIGHTFEST REPORT
“WE PULLED IT OFF”
SWEETIE IS AUDIENCE DARLING
CENSOR DIRECTOR WINS RISING STAR GONG
BODYGUARD ICE CREAMS UP FOR GRABS
JUMP TO IT
BOY MEETS RETAIL
AFTERLIFE IS WORTH PAYING FOR
GOVERNMENT LAUNCHES VOD CONSULTATION
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
AT THE MOVIES
TWEET OF THE WEEK
TRAILERS OF THE WEEK
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The BASE Awards are on the way – November 18 at the Roundhouse in north London, for those not fully conversant with the date of this year’s event, and the trade organisation has unveiled the first raft of shortlisted titles for this year’s event as the countdown to the awards night – the first to be held in person for two years given 2020’s pandemic-related issues – continues. BASE is revealing the nominees for the 2020 awards in batches, with further announcements due in the coming weeks. The first tranche includes three nominees in Campaign of the Year – High Value/Premium/4k New Release, for Star Wars Skywalker Saga (Disney), The Irishman (Criterion Collection (Sony) and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy own 4k (WarnerMedia). In the Reactive/Debut/Premiere New Release category the shortlisted titles are A Christmas Gift from Bob (Lionsgate), Archive (Universal), Bloodshot (Sony) and Trolls World Tour (Sky Store’s pvod campaign). The shortlist in Campaign of the Year for TV includes Strictly Come Dancing: Shirley & Craig’s Perfect 10 (BBC), The Crown: Season Three (Sony) and Top Gear: Motors, Mischief & Mayhem (BBC), while the quartet of titles nominated in the Campaign of the Year Special Interest category are Audrey (Universal), Finding Jack Charlton (Noah Media Group), Les Misérables: The Staged Concert (Universal) and Pet Shop Boys: It Couldn’t Happen Here (BFI). Also announced were three shortlisted companies in the External Team of the Year category, the trio being ASG Spark, OC and Visual Data.
Comment on the nominations and the forthcoming awards came from BASE chief executive Liz Bales who said: “We are proud to kick off this year’s BASE Awards shortlist announcements with the first five categories, including our new categories celebrating 4k and Premium releases, as well as the campaigns that had to radically modify their release plans due to the exceptional circumstances 2020 brought us. This year the overwhelming feedback from our esteemed judges has been the sheer amount of innovation seen across all the entries, and it is that endless dedication and creativity shown by our industry colleagues that we are so excited to celebrate this November.”
It’s been a sad week for the older members of the industry – and many who have moved don elsewhere – as two of the kind of people who personified the pioneering and entrepreneurial spirit of the business during its VHS and DVD heyday have sadly died. Veterans and stalwarts of the business, those with a long memory and more were left reeling after Ed Ramsay, formerly at Vestron/First Independent, later at straight to DVD indie operator Film 2000, and then Andrew Palmer, perhaps best remembered for his work across football and other special interest titles at ILC both passed away within days of each other and, as ever, tributes came in to The Raygun.
Ed Ramsay, a warm and genial Scouser, was one of the great wits of the rental business, always there with a smart quip and a hilarious story about the antics, he and his contemporaries had got up to, as well as having a good nose for a potential hit and way of dressing something up to make it more attractive to buyers and consumers. Former colleague and friend Trevor Drane – the pair worked together at Vestron and First `Independent for years – paid tribute to his old pal. He said: “I was a colleague of Ed’s at First Independent, in fact he hired me. It happened like this: I went to a meeting with him to talk about my suitability for a role he was developing within the company and, in typical Ed style, we initially met in his office at New Oxford Street, a nicely appointed corner room, but he was keen to move on to the Bloomsbury Tavern where he ordered a pint of Mickey Mouse, a drink I had never heard of which turned out to be a half of lager and a half of bitter mixed – Ed was a Scouser, and apparently this was a regular drink in Liverpool. That was the first thing I learnt from Ed, but far from the last – you cannot speak of Ed without mentioning his Liverpool roots, it informed every aspect of his character, outgoing, quick witted and charming, add to that a brilliant insight into what film viewers wanted to watch and you’ve got an ideal sales and acquisitions man, that was Ed, born to his role as Sales Director and board member at First Independent Films. Ed had a story for every occasion, I recall one he told on one of our endless trips to the US or Cannes, Ed was working for a TV rental firm in Liverpool as a repo man, and because it was almost impossible to get the TV renter in arrears to answer the door to him (they knew by the tone of the knock the telly was going back), he developed a method to gain access to the home and the TV. He would find the cable on the outside of the house and pierce it with a safety pin which caused the picture to break up. He would give it a while then knock on the door dressed as a TV technician (brown lab coat I think) and say ‘We are have reports of faulty TV signals in the area, I’ve got to take the TV out to my van to test it, leave the door open I’ll be back shortly’, he had acquired a sign-written van painted up with TV Technician, this scam worked more often than not and Ed, or Birken Ed as we called him, would load the TV into the van and just drive off, it took a while for the renter to realise they had been repo’d. That level of bravado and subtle cunning marked Ed out when he entered the fledgling video business, at MGM I think, at least that’s where I first met him in 1987, and helped propel him to the very top as a board member and a key player running one of the UK’s most innovative and successful film distributors of the early 1990’s. The list of hit movies he is associated with is long, but includes Dirty Dancing, City Slickers, Lawnmower Man (Or Grass Clipper Man if your reading this in Sweden), Dumb and Dumber, as well as many many straight to rental films, where Ed showed he had a particularly keen eye for a populist film and genre - Michael Ironside and Dolph Lundgren owe Ed Ramsay a lot as it was him who saw that they could deliver significant rentals. In this Ed was one of the prime movers in the straight to rental markets direction, That’s not to say he was limited to just one aspect of movie releasing, far from it, he and the late great Michael Myers (yes that one) acquired the Hanna Barbera library for UK distribution when Ed felt the company should make a strategic move into sell though [aka the retail market]. That was the role I ‘interviewed’ for, so I ran that side of the business and Ed’s move paid off handsomely, first out we had a huge hit with Tom and Jerry the Movie, as well as doing amazing business with the classics from the HB library. We were Channel 4 Films’ partner, which was great for me, as I got to renew my acquaintance with Mike Leigh and Ken Loach, but much better for Ed who met the women who would become his wife, Anna Jaskolka, who starred in Ken’s Raining Stones which we had in competition in Cannes where they met and fell in love. Ed was from the school of ‘work hard and play hard’, some of the stories from the latter are not or a family newsletter, but I know everyone who knew Ed back then has at least one story. We had a Friday Club, that was Ed, Mike Flello, John Gavin, Bob Mercer and me. This was based in the bar of the Blue Posts on Berwick Street, and would convene at 1pm and adjourn at about 6pm when Norman Humphries of Palace Picture would come in before getting his train back to Reading. Our agenda was basically a few drinks, some cards and the football fixed odds, while we put the industry to rights. In old record company A&R terms, Ed was right up there in the movies he signed, he was also a great manager of people, all the staff really adored him, I loved my time at First Independent, and a big reason for that was working with Ed, he was class act at work and at play, may his soul rest in peace.”
Paying further tribute to him, Garry Elwood, now in charge at Lasgo, but a mainstay of the business for years, notably during his time at S Gold and Sons, said: “I first met Ed at CIC in the VHS and Betamax days, he had a great dry sense of humour which he continued to harvest throughout his video career. He attended many of the legendary Golds oversees conferences representing the likes of Vestron and First Independent and it was in his role as sales director for First Indie that I hold my best memory. Upon arrival into Palma Airport for a Golds conference, I had an accident and chopped off the top of my finger at the baggage carousel… there was blood EVERYWHERE! Jump forward two days with me now having a wodge of bandages on my finger and Ed was ‘wheeled in’ to the Golds conference room to present on a hotel luggage trolley absolutely head to toe in bandages, like a mummy, splashed with tomato sauce! Farewell Lord Ramsay of Ramsay.”
And so on to Andrew Palmer, another from what could be termed the old school of the business, a fervent West Ham supporter who translated his love of the Hammers and football in general into a thriving business specialising in football releases, as well as other special interest sectors such as fitness. Close friend Alan Jones, formerly of Pinnacle among others, paid tribute to his old pal, He said: “I first meet Andrew in the 90s when working for NTV (Tony Taglienti and Nigel Wood) and through our love for West Ham, we become close friends and spent 10 years sitting together at Upton Park and had shared great times over the years at trade event, MipTV, VSDA etc. After NTV he formed ILC and ILC Sport with Nigel; he was never happier than releasing and producing football programming through ILC sport which included Club videos for his beloved West Ham, player profiles and Euro and World Cup programming, however, with the release of The Big Match series and all the FA cup finals he was at his best because of his love of retro football from the 60’70’s and 80s. In more recent years ill health caused him to step back from this and he had a heart transplant in 2015, he recovered well from this and again went back to his love of retro football and published a regular magazine Football Masters. Unfortunately he contracted Covid and failed to recover form this and passed away on Wednesday September 1. He was won of my dearest friends and one of the nicest people you would ever meet and I will miss him deeply, God bless you Andrew!”
Another old industry name, Jules Gammond, once of Green Umbrella, also paid tribute to his old friend, saying: “Andrew’s enthusiasm for life was as strong as his love of West Ham United. He thoroughly enjoyed producing programmes that he would want to watch, whether it was England beating Germany 5-0 or a profile on Paulo di Canio. This made him a joy to work with - as I did on numerous football programmes - and a great loss as a friend of some 25 years.’
To Leicester Square in the heart of London’s film-going district over the August Bank Holiday weekend, where Arrow Video FrightFest was returning to its home for an actual in-person film festival. The genre-based event, as noted here previously many times, one that provides the perfect platform to launch a film, was deemed a success by those we bumped into, and the physical, live event was followed by a five day digital festival for those who couldn’t make it in person, offering horror fans the best of both worlds. Live at the event we watched 101 Films’ excellent No Man Of God, starring Elijah Wood (and due out in October, with Wood and co-star Luke Kirby doing interviews to support the release when it lands to the wider public), and these really are awards-worthy performances. We’ve also caught up with a fair few online as well, with the likes of Signature’s Demonic, the excellent Broadcast Signal Intrusion, produced by long-term FrightFester and industry staffer Giles Edwards under FrightFest’s First Blood banner, and 101’s bonkers Sweetie You Won’t Believe it, all catching our attention.
We’ll have more going on one of the websites we contribute to shortly (keep an eye on our Twitter for more details), but in the meantime, FrightFest co-director Greg Day said: “We went ahead with a physical FrightFest event with some trepidation but the enthusiasm of the fans, the guests, the press and the staff at the Cineworld Leicester Square meant we pulled it off. We are humbled and grateful to everyone for their support and passion, whilst remaining safe and responsible towards others.”
We also sought comment from 101 Films, well represented at FrightFest with a couple of the most-talked about films and also catching up with loads more with a view to potential acquisitions and deals for those titles not yet picked up for distribution. The company’s Tim Scaping said: “As long-term attendees of FrightFest we're always keen to support the event in any we can, and this year 101 Films was able to provide two of the genuine highlights of the weekend in the form of riotously entertaining Kazakh horror-comedy Sweetie, You Won't Believe It and chilling psychological drama No Man of God, starring Elijah Wood as FBI profiler Bill Hagmaier and Luke Kirby as serial killer Ted Bundy in an astonishing and uncanny performance. Both films played extremely well at the festival, garnering overwhelmingly positive reaction on social media and from festival goers we spoke to in person, along with fantastic reviews. A common theme in the responses to No Man of God was praise for the genuinely award-worthy performances from the two leads, and the responsible manner in which the disturbing subject matter was handled. Meanwhile 'Sweetie' delivered huge laughs and more than enough gore to satisfy the always-demanding FrightFest crowd. Horror fans will have to wait until early 2022 for the home entertainment release of 'Sweetie', however No Man of God arrives on digital on September 13, with a Limited Edition Blu-ray featuring stunning newly-commissioned artwork following on October 25. Elijah Wood is supporting the UK release with a full slate of press interviews, and we can't wait for this incredible film to be available to a broader audience.” While we’re on FrightFest, it’s worth noting that Censor continues its strong journey to eventual home entertainment release this autumn as an all-singing, all-dancing Blu-ray release from Second Sight (Vertigo is releasing theatrically) with an award under its belt after picking up the Screen Genre Rising Star Award for director Prano Bailey-Bond. The director and writer of the film, herself a FrightFest regular attendee, joins a roster of talent that has won the gong in previous years, including Revenge star and director Alice Lowe. Screen’s Nikki Baughan, said: “With this year's shortlist being as strong as ever, it takes a truly special talent to be crowned our Screen International / FrightFest Rising Star of 2021. With Censor, writer/director Prano has created a truly exceptional film that leaves an indelible mark on first watch and reveals ever more of itself on multiple viewings; an impressive feat for any filmmaker, let alone one making her feature debut.”
Also in stores is the latest from Picturehouse, returning to the home entertainment fray after its cinemas and theatrical distribution operation were hampered by the lockdown. Its latest title, The Reason I Jump, was one of the first to air at its cinemas and earned not just stellar reviews but a strong word of mouth too. The documentary has wowed audiences, not least for its award-winning sound design, and the Blu-ray comes complete with a Dolby Atmos version for the audiophiles. Commenting on the release, Martin Hearn from Picturehouse Entertainment said "We're incredibly excited to be releasing Jerry Rothwell's acclaimed documentary on DVD, Blu-ray and Digital this Monday - based on the book by Naoki Higashida, it's a truly stunning piece of work. It was wonderful to see the film win Best Documentary and Sound at the British Independent Film Awards but also brilliant to see the film release in cinemas back in June. When the film released theatrically, we created a specific version of the feature that was used for relaxed screenings; this version of the film included subtitling of dialogue as well as warnings of potentially challenging or difficult moments in the film, both visual, aural and emotional (with symbols alerting viewers to the imminent approach of any such moments). We've been able to include this version of the film on the Blu-ray release which is great and we hope that it will help provide even greater accessibility to this amazing film.”
Monday also sees the release of the latest from indie imprint Peccadillo, with the release of the “Before Sunrise meets Weekend” Berlin-set flick Boy Meets Boy, where a party-monster fresh from 48 hours of clubbing meets a dancer and the pair, with half a day to kill, wander the streets. The film has earned rave reviews, among them The Digital Fix saying: “A valentine, a travelogue, and a manifesto combined, and a magnificent achievement.” The company’s Tom Abell said: “We’re very excited to bring this festival favourite Boy Meets Boy to DVD and transactional VOD. It’s a conversation that audiences around the world have found riveting. It’ the first of our expectational titles for this autumn and winter and sets it all off with a breezy summer vibe.”
The Industry Trust has returned to cinema screens with a new trailer once again reminding consumers about the importance of watching films legitimately in cinemas rather than illegally downloading. The specially filmed segment features stars from Ghostbusters: Afterlife ahead of its November 18 release, with the talent from the Sony feature extolling the virtues of seeing a film properly and legally on a big screen. You can see it here, in the meantime, Industry Trust chief Liz Bales said: “The new Moments Worth Paying For trailer presents a warm welcome back to cinema from the cast of Ghostbusters: Afterlife, the perfect message for our second campaign in 2021! The new trailer reminds us that cinema is the best way to experience the biggest new films, and audiences agree – the latest Industry Trust insights confirm that families are keen to return to the big screen this year. Tapping into the nostalgia of the Ghostbusters franchise, we hope this campaign resonates with viewers young and old, and continues to inspire them to support the industry by paying to watch the content they love. The Moments Worth Paying For campaign is truly back with a bang, and I look forward to the exciting slate of clips set for 2022!” Ian George, md, U.K. & Ireland, Sony Pictures Releasing International said: “Once again we are delighted to be partnering with The Industry Trust on this terrific clip for Ghostbusters: Afterlife. The film is full of heart and adventure, and will delight audience of all ages. We recognise the importance of campaigns such as this to ensure the movie-goer understands the link between their support and our on-going ability to provide content that is of such high quality.”
Ask any independent or boutique label what their current problems include and they’d probably tell you that among those are the cost of classifying something with the BBFC. And while physical home entertainment distributors are bound by law to submit titles, their contemporaries on vod channels, including all the big guys, don’t have to. Some, such as Netflix, have an agreement with the BBFC, others don’t. Not only is it a problem for distributors, but, on a wider scale, it’s parents and families too. All that may, however, change as a result of a newly announced consultation from the government, which may see the likes of Amazon, Apple and Netflix being subject to tougher rules. It is asking the public and interested bodies for their thoughts in a bid to level the playing field between svod operators, traditional broadcasters and others and to ensure that parents (and children) have the same kind of protection across the different offerings. A government statement noted: “Ofcom data shows a huge growth in popularity and use of on-demand services in the UK. The number of households that subscribe to one rose by almost 350% between 2014 and 2020. In 2021, 75 per cent of UK households say that they have used a subscription VoD service. Viewers have access to thousands of hours of VoD shows and content at the touch of a button. However, services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ are not regulated in the UK to the same extent as UK linear TV channels. For example, except for BBC iPlayer, they are not subject to Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code which sets out appropriate standards for content including harmful or offensive material, accuracy, fairness and privacy. This means there is a gap between existing protections for audiences watching traditional TV and those watching newer VoD services. There are some protections for under-18s but minimal rules exist to regulate content. There are very few rules to protect audiences, for example, from misleading health advice or pseudoscience documentaries.” Commenting on the consultation, culture secretary Oliver Dowden said: “We want to give UK audiences peace of mind that however they watch TV in the digital age, the shows they enjoy are held to the same high standards that British broadcasting is world-renowned for. It is right that now we have left the EU, we look at introducing proportionate new rules so that UK audiences are protected from harm.”
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Now that the new Premier League season is in full swing, some venues may be tempted to look elsewhere for live sports content. Our advice to them is that there is only one way to legally show Sky Sports programming and that is through a valid commercial viewing agreement from Sky Business. Streaming or sharing unauthorised TV content, film or sports content is illegal. Anyone selling, distributing, or allowing access to content without the permission of the copyright owner is committing a crime. But what licensees need to know is that anyone who is accessing content in this way is also committing a crime. We would like to encourage anyone approached by a supplier attempting to mislead them with illegal systems to report suspected illegal broadcasting confidentially at www.pubpiracy.com.”
Fact director general Kieron Sharp
“We take illegal use of our programming very seriously because it’s important to ensure our legitimate Sky subscribers are not left short changed. Live sport helps bring communities together and with Sky Sports you can continue to bring your customers the best live sport experience with more of the drama and excitement from the sports they want to watch, including – the biggest names and the biggest games from the Premier League, with first picks every matchday weekend, alongside the Women’s Super League, EFL and Scottish Premiership; returning fan favourites including golf, Formula 1 and international cricket; game-changing partnership discounts and a great range of money-saving options and access to our easy-to-use digital support tools, with everything you need to promote live sport.”
George Lawson, Head of Commercial Piracy at Sky
The pair were speaking to pub landlords and other commercial outlets persuading them of buying dodgy subscriptions and illegal streams to sporting events…
AT THE MOVIES
The spread of the Delta variant in the US and ongoing pandemic issues continue to hold up the release schedule, with Paramount putting back its next Tom Cruise outing, the Top Gun sequel Maverick, until 2022. It will now come out in May next year rather than its originally scheduled (after previous postponements and shifts) November 2021 date. This too has had a knock-on effect for Cruise’s next outing for the studio, another sequel, the currently filming Mission: Impossible film. This will now arrive in November next year, rather than the May slate, now taken by Maverick.
Moving out of a big theatrical release and on to streaming meanwhile, is the forthcoming Texas Chainsaw Massacre sequel. For the film, produced by Legendary, is now officially going to Netflix. Like the recent Halloween revival, the film will pretend the numerous sequels and remakes didn’t happen and will instead follow the original outing. Fede Alvarez and Rodolfo Sayagues, the team behind Don’t Breathe, are producing and David Blue Garcia directs. The film takes place years after the original, although Leatherface is still out there, somewhere…
Not content with projects such as his Outsiders restoration announced last week, Francis Ford Coppola is keeping himself busy with his dream project, Megalopolis. He’s now revealed that his long-standing desire to make the film is continuing, even though he’s in his 80s. What’s more, cast names bandied around by Coppola and sources has suggested the likes of Oscar Isaac, Forest Whittaker, Cate Blanchett, Zendaya, Jon Voight and James Caan are all in line to appear. Coppola told US trade Deadline: “I think the big news here is that I am still the same as I was 20 years ago or 40 years ago. I’m still willing to do the dream picture, even if I have to put up my own money, and I am capable of putting up $100 million if I have to here. I don’t want to, but I will do it if I have to. I’m committed to making this movie, I’d like to make it in the fall of 2022. I don’t have all my cast approved, but I have enough of them to have confidence that it is going to be a very exciting cast. The picture’s going to cost between $100 million and $120 million. Needless to say, I hope it’s closer to $100 million. I’m prepared to match some outside financing, almost dollar for dollar. In other words, I’m willing to put my money where my mouth is.”
TWEET OF THE WEEK
Follow us on www.twitter.com/theraygun…
TRAILERS OF THE WEEK
The final Bond international trailer…
And the final US one…
Not about the Boney M song of the same name…
https://youtu.be/nydCNUw7yZE The Rock heads to Netflix…
THE OBLIGATORY GDPR BIT
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