Indie film makers have come a long way and have now merged on an even keel with the majors with respect to recognition for outstanding film making as seen in the large numbers of indie releases on the schedule to be screened this year.
Indie films that are set to screen include Allison Bagnall’s “Funny Bunny,” and Josh Mond’s “James White.” On the side of major films, Sony Pictures is conducting a special screening of Will Smith’s upcoming Christmas release, Concussion. The film, directed by Peter Landesman, is a biographical account of the story of Dr. Bennet Omalu played by Smith. The film tells of Omalu’s challenging task of exposing the effects of concussions to the NFL.
Another piece of news generating buzz during AFI week comes from top industry executive Eddie Gordon, who is also taking front and center this week. After much success with the launch of Kings of Spins in the music industry, Gordon is catching the attention of film producers across the board with the announcement of the upcoming premiere of Kings Of Movies, a new movie online marketing platform that will promote the work of independent and major films. According to Gordon, this new platform will promote new releases globally to a KINGS global database linked to social media giants, Twitter, Facebook and a global base of movie bloggers. Gordon is partnering with Cheryl Schayer and Belinda Foster in this new venture with an official scheduled launch of the service in January 2016.
The first film to debut under Kings of Movies is the independent feature film Under the Blood-Red Sun, directed by Tim Savage. The film is based on Graham Salisbury’s best-selling book, Under the Blood-Red Sun, just reprinted by Random House in a Special 20th Anniversary Edition.
In a recent interview, Gordon shared this: “We are looking forward to rolling out this new method of promotion for independent and feature film-makers who will love seeing their great work circulating around the world via radio recommendations and social media in the same light that Kings Of Spins has successfully shone. It’s the logical step with Kings Of Spins to Kings Of Movies” especially with the love affair that has always flowed between music and movies. So many great movies have great soundtracks too.”
