There is a difference

#5 Nonlinear Film School - now what?

You’ve made a movie. Now what? You have to promote, promote, promote it. You’ve got to do all it takes to get it out there. On Friday we crossed yet another milestone. Our film “Kaval Park” began its theatrical run across Bulgaria. I’m learning that there is a difference between how people feel after they watch the film - overwhelmingly tears and smiles, and how they get to the movie theater in the first place. Is the audience response a metric of success on which a film company should base such a wide release? Or are there other factors to take into consideration? Factors such as genre, talent attached to the film, number of screens it’s released on, date, time slots and so forth.

We will get attendance numbers later next week at which point our team will start analyzing how we did and where we could have done better. We will share what we learn here in an attempt to continue to decipher the process and guide fellow filmmakers on their journey.

My friend Vasil Denev, who gave the idea for “Kaval Park”, arrived to Bulgaria ten days ago to promote the film with me. He is now flying back to Seattle. Over five days we were guests in fifteen or more national radio and TV shows. The challenge was to keep telling the story in a way that was fresh every time. Always adding another detail, another question asked, another answer given. After each appearance Vasko and I checked in with each other to orient ourselves. Most importantly, we tried to strip down our interviews of fluff and get to the core of why people should come see this film.

One of my favorite interviews was on Bloomberg TV where we talked about film finance and AI in the entertainment industry.

Another one that touched me deeply was a conversation for Christian Orthodox TV station on YouTube. If you are Bulgarian you can watch it here after minute 40.

We put a photo collage for you to illustrate the breath of our efforts.

Last but not least, we were guests on one of the most famous talk shows in Bulgaria where Vasko got to perform with the Coo Coo Band. This is the equivalent of performing on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno back in the day. It also happened to be his birthday. This visit prompted me to reflect deeply on the state of affairs in Bulgaria, but those thoughts I leave for my next blog post. Enjoy!

If you happen to be in Bulgaria you can find all of our showings here.

Stay tuned! Stay inspired!

Bogdan