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BASE AWARDS: THE WEEK AFTER
MORE REACTION TO ONLINE AWARDS…
MORE ON LIONSGATE WINS
PRAISE FOR UNIVERSAL AFTER RECORD RUN
ASDA: AWARDS “A POSITIVE MOMENT IN CHALLENGING YEAR”
BBC STUDIOS PROMISES MORE SUSTAINABILITY IDEAS
POLL GOES BACK TO THE 80S
HONESTY PAYS FOR SIGNATURE
DAWN RELEASE “THE BEST EVER”
HOST FINDS A NEW HOME AS PHYSICAL RELEASE
HATE STILL RULES
FRIGHTFEST HALLOWEEN EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS
BUILDING INTEREST
DOGWOOF SCORES WITH BASKTEBALL DOC
ACORN’S NEW MATERIAL
GEMINI, MAN…
AT THE MOVIES
TWEET OF THE WEEK
TRAILERS OF THE WEEK
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The dust has settled after last week’s online-hosted BASE Awards event (good to see a few people we know struggling on Friday, as if they’d had an actual real night at the awards), so we thought we’d seek out opinion not just on the events but some of the key elements that emerged on the night, as well as offering up our views on this year’s Covid-affected event. Regular readers of this newsletter, and, indeed, our Twitter feed (the bits where we're not banging on about irrelevant or pointless stuff, or forgetting our responsibilities as an industry-related account) will know the admiration that we hold a company such as Lionsgate in. The distributor topped the BASE Awards last week, picking up four gongs on the night, making it the evening’s most successful entrant. Keeping track of its performance over the past year or two, and following this newsletter, you might have noticed why it has performed so well this year. Over the past 12 months and beyond, the company has refused to give up on physical media, while also becoming a successful digital distributor too. Better still, it has injected an enthusiasm and dedication to releasing titles. From keeping extras at a premium, still making the effort with moving menus and packaging, right through to keeping full colour on-body discs rather than the one colour favoured by some big studios, and on to enacting exciting launches, hosting events (such as the award-winning John Wick event in the autumn) and throwing parties, it has shown a belief in and commitment to physical home entertainment product that should be applauded. Furthermore, it has reaped rewards with an enviable streak of success with home entertainment releases, giving a new lease of life even to titles deemed theatrical misfires. After its success, Lionsgate’s Marie-Claire Benson this week said: “We're glad that our focus on physical is noticed by our peers - we really do work hard to ensure that the category remains healthy whilst there's still a strong demand for the physical format. Throughout the year, we've pivoted in strategy to bring entertainment to consumers in the most effective ways we can, including the acquisition of several DTV lines which are perfect for the DVD-buying audience. Lionsgate will continue to evolve and grow, and we strive to ensure we do the best for every content format as part of our plans."
Universal too, earned plaudits on the night for its efforts over the years in anticipation of Warner taking over its home entertainment distribution in the UK and other territories as part of the inter-studio pact. Universal’s belief in the worth of home entertainment awards, its efforts to highlight its achievements when submitting entries, shows a wider belief in home entertainment and our business as a whole. Its track record is unbelievable – including some 65 awards since 1993, an incredible feat, as well as winning Distributor of the Year for five of the last 10 years. Comment came from all sides paying tribute to its efforts over the years, with BASE chief executive Liz Bales saying: “2020 not only marks the 40th anniversary of the BASE Awards, but also sees a significant change to the UK distribution landscape as Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group embrace a global collaboration designed to drive sustainability in the physical sector, with Warner delivering distribution in the UK. Universal has long been viewed as a trailblazer when it comes to the BASE Awards, so we’re taking a moment to mark just some of its achievements. At the same time we’d also like to acknowledge the scale of the contribution the team has made to the industry at large, a contribution typified by the dedication of Managing Director, Ian Foster, one of BASE Council’s longest serving and most dedicated members. Their collaborative spirit has become a cornerstone of exactly the kind of successes the awards were created to celebrate. We hope you’ll join with us in wishing each and every member of the talented team all the very best for a future that we hope will continue to feature many of them within our fabulous category as it continues to evolve.”
Further tributes to Universal and its successes over the years came from BASE vice chair and Elevation md Kevin Dersley who said: “In my 25 years in the industry I’ve been fortunate to experience the UPHE team from all angles – as colleagues, as a customer and as a fellow content distributor. The team today encapsulates everything that has been great about UPHE for over a quarter of a decade – trailblazers, innovators, leaders, driven, never afraid to shake things up but, above all, seriously good fun to work with – and even more to party with. You leave behind a truly amazing legacy – be proud and good luck to each and every one of you in the future.” Some old friendly faces also paid tribute, former BASE chair and Fox md Robert Price said: "Universal’s physical home entertainment team have long set the industry standard. Driven by the irrepressible and dynamic leadership of Ian Foster, they have always been at the forefront of retail innovation, always pushed consumer marketing creativity and always just made it happen, whatever the market conditions. It is in their DNA to always compete aggressively and work incredibly hard to win wherever possible, but alongside this the Universal team has consistently worked with their peers and with BASE to push the industry forward collectively and positively. There is no doubt they are going to be missed and industry will not be the same without them.” Our old chum and another former BASE chair Anthony Peet, ex-Disney chief, added: “Universal consistently delivered creative campaigns for their blockbuster titles but they also championed back catalogue and niche sectors such as comedy and music and significantly grew the market as a result. I always remember they had some great people and were always fun to work and compete with. The UPHE physical team will be missed, they have been a pillar of the industry for as long as it has existed, great supporters of cross industry initiatives, as well as masters of driving the market. I wish those affected by the changes all the best for the future.”
As for the awards and the online event itself, BASE chief executive Liz Bales told The Raygun: “In the run-up to the Awards videos going live it was heartening to hear about so many teams from across the category gathering virtually for a drink and to replicate some of the fun of the live event we so sadly had to go without this year. Across studios, independent distributors, retail and agencies, Zoom was put to creative use to inject a bit of glamour and a good deal of fizz into our digital proceedings and the feedback we’ve received since thoroughly endorsed the approach we opted to take. Of course, it remains our sincere intention that the category gathers in person to celebrate our 41st awards next year but, in the meantime, I would once again like to applaud all the entrants and congratulate this year’s winners and encourage them all to share their success as the awards trophies start to arrive. Thanks again must also go to our wonderful judges and sponsors for their support and flexibility across the year.”
The biggest retail victor on the night was, as reported here, last week, Asda, which picked up two retail awards (one for physical retailer, the other for its DVD aisle revitalisation), and a Category Hero gong for its senior buyer overseeing video and other entertainment, Andrew Thompson. Many of the plaudits came for the retailer’s role in shaping the future of home entertainment retailing through the industry-wide Project 2020 work. Commenting on its success, Thompson said: “The whole video team at Asda were thrilled to be recognised with two of the retailer awards at the recent Virtual BASE awards ceremony. As a team we invested a significant amount of resource and energy into Project 2020 which led to major changes to the way we offer video products to Asda customers. We would not have been able to land all these changes and then resultingly be recognised in this way without the support and collaboration of Hidden Gorilla, BASE and all of the major studios, so a huge thank you to all of those involved. I am also humbled to have received a category hero award and am hugely grateful for Universal Pictures’ nomination. I would also like to congratulate Universal Pictures on their awards and all the other nominees and winners on the night. The awards ceremony offered a positive moment of reflection on the achievements of the whole industry following a very challenging year for the film and video industry with cinema closures and the resulting impact on the release schedule. Asda will be doing everything we can to continue to drive physical sales in Q4 and beyond – let’s hope cinemas can reopen as soon as possible and the industry can benefit from a successful release schedule in 2021.”
One distributor that scored a big win was BBC Studios, earning the prestigious Outstanding Innovation Of The Year award for distribution for its sustainable packaging initiative for Seven Worlds One Planet, which represented an industry first. Commenting this week on its success home entertainment director Lesley Johnson said: “We are delighted to have been recognised by BASE for our sustainability leadership, it's been a huge collaboration across our team and the industry to get this far. Since the release of Blue Planet II we have been on a long journey to improve the sustainability and recyclability of our products, and there is more to come. In addition to this we now off-set the CO2 emissions produced in the manufacture and distribution of our products, gaining us official carbon neutral status. We will not stop here and will continue to look into more sustainable ways of working.”
BASE has been busy this week and alongside its weekly bulletin outlining the Official Film Chart (The Nightmare Before Christmas and Hocus Pocus both returning for seasonal fun, The Tax Collector the only new entry on the back of its digital release), the organisation also revealed the public’s favourite film from the 80s. The reveal of Back To The Future as the nation’s choice, came after a poll through the Official Charts Company and findanyfilm.com as part of the Must See Movies 80s promotion running in tandem with ERA’s National Album Day promotion. The promotion is running through Amazon, Asda, hmv, Morrisons and Tesco and the poll was part of the PR push. Other titles in the top 10 included Die Hard, Blade Runner, Aliens, Goonies, The Empire Strikes Back, The Terminator, The Shining and When Harry Met Sally.
Meanwhile, as noted previously (ahead of the move into lockdown, of course), there have been plenty of independent successes at cinemas and chief among these towards the end of October at cinemas still open has been Signature’s Honest Thief, the Liam Neeson starrer. It was sitting pretty at number one after its opening weekend and marks another significant achievement for the independent. The company’s Jon Bourdillon said: “‘This is yet another incredible milestone Signature as we approach our 10th anniversary in 2021. We have managed to become one of the UK’s leading independent film distributors over the years through a dynamic approach to film distribution. We are so pleased at this remarkable time to now have a UK theatrical number 1 and we believe we will repeat this with Come Away on December 4. Thanks to all our theatrical partners and the outstanding Signature team!’
Review and upfront copies of Second Sight’s lavish boxset for what promises to be the definitive edition of George A Romero’s zombie classic Dawn Of The Dead have landed this week and the set, available in 4K Ultra HD and standard Blu-ray SKUs, has earned plaudits across the board for Second Sight. It’s been a labour of love for the independent, which has pulled together a mammoth set BD (or 4K UHD) discs and soundtrack and score CDs as well as two books within the package. It contains every version of the film as well as a raft of new extras, many of them made by Second Sight exclusively for this release. It really is a sumptuous package, with rave reviews from those in the know, many of which were unboxing clips. One went as far as to say it was the best release ever –Film Juice said: “Words cannot begin to do justice to what is easily the finest physical release in the history of home entertainment”, while Cave Of Cult noted: "Second Sight’s restorations are, simply put, mind blowing…the finest CULT BOX SET of the last five years and the most exhaustive and extras packed Horror release of the decade”. It really is that good, and not just because it includes a contribution from The Raygun’s own Tim Murray to its comprehensive accompanying book looking at different aspects of the film (we wrote about the film and its history in the UK, from theatrical release through the VHS era, the BBFC and more). Commenting on the release, Second Sight’s Chris Holden said: “I couldn’t be happier with the incredible feedback and reviews that are coming in. In releasing a film as venerated as this there was always going to be a lot of pressure to get it right. We knew fans, quite rightly, would want something special and everyone involved worked towards that. We first announced the acquisition nearly two years ago so fans have been extremely patient while a lot of painstakingly detailed work has been in progress. The reviews are a testament to a great team of people that have worked passionately and under very difficult circumstances this year.”
More from Second Sight, the company has revealed one of its big releases for 2021 too, and what a belter it’s going to be. We’ve been tracking Zoom-style horror Host for some weeks now, after the homegrown, low budget shocker became one of the streaming success stories of the pandemic via its first port of call horror svod service Shudder. Director Rob Savage and his team have gone on to become in demand genre specialists, lining up more projects and the film is, as noted here, getting a theatrical release via Vertigo. And now Second Sight has announced that it will be getting the kind of treatment the label gives to titles, with an all-singing, all-dancing release, packed with a raft of extra material, is to be released on January 25, Commenting on the release when it was announced via Twitter, director Rob `Savage said: “I treasure my Second Sight Blu-rays, so I’m insanely excited to be working with them on a special edition Host release packed with never before seen material and behind the scenes.” More on this in the coming weeks…
Another forthcoming release that we reckon will be rated as among the year’s best is La Haine, the BFI’s anniversary edition of the tough urban French drama. It’s a lavish double-disc set, complete with book and comes off the back of a theatrical release of the restored edition which looks amazing and still packs an incredible punch some 25 years later. Commenting on the release, the BFI’s Ben Stoddart said: “After a great run on the big screen, November 23 will see a brand new release of Mathieu Kassovitz's blistering 1995 film La Haine on Blu-ray. Featuring two-discs, more than five hours of new and archive extras and an 80-page book, we're expecting the limited run of 5,000 copies to sell out fast! Be it existing fans, those discovering it for the first time, or people gifting it to someone else, there's no shortage of people who are looking forward to its release.”
Back to horror, last weekend saw Arrow Video FrightFest hosting its second big digital event of 2020, as its traditional Halloween event went online after Covid-19 issues again put paid to its planned live events. Despite the move, the event still managed to engage with fans and bring atmosphere to its screenings, as well as providing a perfect platform for UK distributors to launch their wares ahead of theatrical and eventual home entertainment release (Signature's Relic for example, which comes highly recommended). Commenting on the weekend, FrightFest co-director Greg Day said: “The October event surpassed our expectations and we couldn’t be more pleased with the support we got from fans, the industry and the media. These are challenging times but we’re looking forward to planning how we present FrightFest in 2021.”
Out on Monday is the feature film adaptation of Caitlin Moran's bestselling tome How To Build A Girl, which boasts a top name British cast (Paddy Considine, Sarah Solemani, Alfie Allen, Chris O'Dowd and Emmas Thompson et al) alongside Booksmart star Beanie Feldstein in the lead role of what product manager Abi Golding described as “an irreverent coming of age comedy about what it's really like to be a girl”. Outlining the campaign, Golding continued: “We'll be running a social campaign across Facebook and Instagram with quirky and fun assets, which highlight the coming of age story and the creation of the legendary Dolly Wilde. We're also running a PR campaign with incredible support from Caitlin Moran – highlights include Caitlin Moran and director Coky Giedroyc participating in a Curzon Q&A on November 3 at 6:30pm, we've also liaised with Ebury publishers to arrange for Caitlin to sign 10 books, and we have created an bundle prize including the signed books, a bespoke tote bag and a copy of the DVD for a competition prizes.”
Heading to Blu-ray for the very first time in the UK from Monday November 2 courtesy of Dogwoof, in partnership with Violet Pictures, is the 20th anniversary restoration of the 1994 basketball classic Hoop Dreams. Famously snubbed for an Oscar nomination upon initial release, Hoop Dreams has since gone on to define the sports doc genre, as well as influencing recent hits such as Netflix/ESPN's The Last Dance. Here's Dogwoof's Daniel Green on the film's long-awaited UK Blu-ray debut: "It's been a dream come true - if you'll pardon the pun - to give Steve James, Frederick Marx and Peter Gilbert's monumental 172-minute documentary the high-def release it so richly deserves. A huge thank you must go out to our UK partners Violet Pictures and the team at Kartemquin Films for entrusting us with this stunning 2014 restoration. We have some great extras to accompany the film, including a new intro to Hoop Dreams by the legendary Steve James himself and an exclusive essay booklet from moving image curator and writer Karen Alexander.”
Another arrival on Monday November 2 is the much-talked about Channel 4 series Adult Material, a drama with dark laughs about the adult business in the UK. The series earned rave reviews and drew strong viewing figures. Commenting on the DVD and digital release, Acorn’s Helen Squire said: "We first heard about this drama in 2019 and really believed it was something special and different, asking important questions while being in turn shocking, heart-breaking and hilarious. We loved Hayley Squires’ Joleen Dollar from the off and we’re so delighted that viewers took her into their hearts. The amazing cast includes Joe Dempsie as Joleen’s very understanding husband and he’s supporting our release with interviews thanks to Aim Publicity. Watch the drama unfold again on disc and digital from Monday.”
Also out on Monday is the latest release from Asian film specialist Third Window, returning to the prolific well of director Shinya Tsukamoto, the man behind original “live action Manga” hit Tetsuo, still one of the most shocking films we’ve ever seen. Commenting on the release, Third Window’s Adam Torel said: “Even though Shinya Tsukamoto being popular in the UK and overseas since TETSUO: THE IRON MAN and despite it being one of his highest budget films and selected to the Venice Film Festival, GEMINI has never actually been released in the UK before! So, 21 years after its original release, Tsukamoto’s Meiji-era horror gets both its UK debut and its first Blu-ray release in Europe, packed full of great extra features! The 11th film release of Tsukamoto from us, so we’re very happy to keep his status as one of Japan’s finest cult directors going.”
AT THE MOVIES
Loads of Blumhouse announcements this week as the horror and gentle specialist hosted the Blumfest event to talk about its hugely successful dare. Chief among them was the news that A new instalment if Insidious is on the way. What’s more, the fifth instalment will be directed by Blumhouse regular actor Patrick Wilson, making his debut on the other side of the camera. It’s from a story by franchise creator Leigh Whannell and Wilson said: “"I’m honored and thrilled to be at the helm of the next Insidious installment, which will provide an amazing chance to unpack everything the Lamberts went through a decade ago, as well as deal with the consequences of their choices. Directing the movie is both professionally and personally a full circle moment for me, and I am extremely grateful to be entrusted in continuing to tell this frightening and haunting story. Into the further we go…"
More news is emerging about Disney+ and its plans for another series based on a Marvel character. Moon Knight is a crime fighter who assumes different aliases to take on the baddies and. As if that wasn’t enough, he’s also some king of Egyptian god. Oscar Isaac is strongly rumoured to be talking about the lead, while Mohamed Diab, director of last year’s festival hit Crash, is to direct.
SITE OF THE WEEK Here's The Raygun's Tim Murray interviewing Phil Lynott documentary director Emer Reynolds about the title, out at cinemas now…
TWEET OF THE WEEK Follow us on www.twitter.com/theraygun…
TRAILERS OF THE WEEK New Clooney…
Olivia Colman narrates…
New Crown trailer…
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