Straightblog

Straightheads trailer is now a PODCAST on iTunes!

Just wanted to give everyone a heads-up about the trailer now being available to download as a PODCAST on iTunes - search for it in the "podcasts" menu, you won't find it in movies or videos. I've been excommunicado - or is that incommunicado - this week as my office is being redecorated. I should say decorated as it's the first time the walls have seen fresh paint since we moved in. Anyway I can't get to my computer and my laptop's f**ked, I'm out and about so I'll keep this short. And we should have the final poster as a JPEG sometime soon.

Oh, and by the way Verve have moved the UK release date back a week to the 27th of April - but that's now CONFIRMED by Verve. And they're opening on LOTS of screens so it should come to a cinema near you!

the new poster (in progress but almost there)

There's still some phutzing to be done but I've prevailed on Julia to let me post this draft version as I didn't want to keep you all waiting for another week, especially since I'd promised to post it last week! I'll post the finalized poster as well, as soon as I get it.

I've also got some clips from the shoot which I think you'll like, I'm going to get those digitized and post them for you over the next couple of weeks.

Thousands of people worldwide have been watching the Straightheads trailer on YouTube (24 000 in the last week) and on the various other sites which have it (my thanks to those of you who have suggested alternative sites). It was #11 worldwide last week and is now #56 this month, and what's more, judging by all the comments, people are going wild about it. I've lost count of the number of people over in the USA who have written saying that they'll get on a plane and fly to the UK to see this movie. That excites me, and I wouldn't be surprised if a few die-hards go to the extent of doing exactly that. Anyway, I'm praying and hoping that all the internet buzz generated here and on YouTube etc... will translate into "bums on seats" during the all-important opening weekend here in the UK.

To those of you who are asking whether the film will come to their territory, it's really too early to tell. Like you, I'm crossing my fingers that it will. I'm pretty sure Straightheads sold all over Latin America as well as N. America but I reckon Sony and the other distributors in overseas territories will be waiting and watching to see whether this little movie can punch way above its weight on its UK release...

this week...

.. has been somewhat exciting in the world of Straightheads. The trailer has been up for a couple of days and is already getting some serious attention on the global behemoth that is YouTube (Straightheads Trailer stats for the obsessive: #16 - Top Favorites (This Week) - Entertainment - All and #42 - Top Rated (This Week) - Entertainment - All)  Once again, a big thanks to all of you for your support. Isn't the internet a surreal and wonderful place? I'm being helped by a constellation of total strangers, spread over five continents, I have no idea who anyone is or what they look like yet we're all buzzing about the same thing!

















Now, I've seen drafts of the new poster, and it's pretty similar to the old, but fwith more of a horror feel, which I guess is appropriate given the nature of the movie. Amazing what you can do by changing fonts, colours and textures to give the same images a whole new message... I'm hoping to show you that next week. In the meantime, have a great weekend, wherever you are.

the response to the trailer...

... has been fantastic, and pretty much unanimous: you love it. I can't tell you how pleased I am and also how thrilled that so many people from this blog community clearly showed their support on YouTube. More than 8000 people have watched the trailer so far online and today it rose to 5th Top Favourite globally, before transferring to the "This Week" pages. So far so outstanding... I'm over the moon that the trailer is out there now and people everywhere can start getting a feel for Straightheads.

Other news: There's a new poster design on the way, Verve felt the old one didn't quite work anymore, so let's see what Empire Design come up with now. I should get a preview tomorrow, and of course as soon as I've got an approved final design from Verve I'll post it, which could be next week, I'm guessing. I'll update again as soon as I have any news...

a small favour you can do for us...

What a great response to the trailer! I've noticed that on YouTube it's climbing the "Top Favourites" ranking fast. So the favour I'd like to ask - but no pressure, mind you, if it's not your thing -  is that as many of you as possible go onto YouTube and add the trailer to your "favourites" (you have to register for this but it's easy and doesn't cost a penny). The higher we go up the rankings, the more people will see the trailer, the more will come to watch the movie in cinemas the world over and the happier we all will be, right?? Straightheads is a low-budget British movie which is coming into the world kicking and screaming as hard as it can, but without anything like the colossal marketing budget of a studio PR machine, so every little push from you, my friends, will help tremendously...

THE STRAIGHTHEADS TRAILER

Yes! Courtesy of Verve Pictures - thanks Julia. And exclusive to this website for one week, er.. and YouTube apparently, as they're hosting the clip. It'll turn up there anyway within 20 nanoseconds of being posted on this page, so I guess we've saved people the trouble.

Have fun.

See the TRAILER on YouTube here.

moving closer..

Saw the trailer today on the big screen - there were a small army of people with me in the preview theatre, all of whom were involved in making it. Actually far more bodies at the check screening for the 90-second trailer than we had back in July for the movie itself! I asked for a few tweaks which I hope they'll be able to squeeze in before it's finalized and the prints go to cinemas, which needs to happen by early March. The Quicktime file for this blog should still be with us next week - fingers crossed. I'll upload it as son as I get it.

Oh, and the very latest from Verve is that we're still looking at an April 20th release date here in UK.