Friday, August 04, 2006

Should this make me feel better???

The other night I was flipping channels, actually, since we have Directv I was paging through the guide and I saw a tantalizing entry on Showtime. Actually, it might not have been Showtime itself, it might have been The Movie Channel, but given that they are part of one cuddly media conglomerate I'm going to lump them together.

Now - a little backstory. Back when I finished my first film I decided it would be a good idea to head up to Sundance and press the flesh a little. So as I'm riding the shuttle up from SLC, I start chatting up one of my fellow passengers and it turns out he's the acquisitions guy for Showtime and he asks about my film. I tell him and he says, "We love William Katt," (who is in my film) "send it to me," he says.

So I did. Months later I was given a call by someone's assistant's assistant and was told that they were passing. No explanation, just a pass. Thanks, but no thanks. (did I mention I'd received this call after months of calling them (after a suitable waiting period?))

Then comes the other night and I'm flipping around as I mentioned and come across this tantalizing entry:

The Witches of Breastwick.

Now given that I tend, on occasion, to write with my tongue firmly implanted in my cheek, I should pause for a moment to explain that NO that is NOT a JOKE.

Well, there was no way I could let a film like that pass without at least taking a gander at it. You know? And so I did.

Now I understand porn - BELIEVE me, I understand porn. And I understand that there's a place for porn (soft core) on Showtime - heck - I think that's where my 2nd film wound up. I understand porn. But this was - - uh - - it was - - uh - -

Look - let me put it this way. I've watched some serious crap in my life because there was some naked on screen. (I mean I've actually sat through the dialogue of Dr. Penetration (mmm, this is worth three more dollars...for those of you who know - you know...)) But... well, I think I finished the remained of the hour watching Good Eats on the Food Network.

So my question is, should it make me feel better or worse that this network turned down my film?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

There's nothing to feel bad about, as you said, fill a movie with enough skin and people will watch anything. There is definately a segment of Showtime's market that subscribe just to get fresh softcore on a regular basis, they have to cater to that audience. As a filmmaker, it's tempting to try to shoehorn some of the stories you want to tell around a lot of nakedness, if only to get the thing picked up. But then you have to wonder: is your story just annoying the majority of viewers with their puds in hand?

Anonymous said...

Shhhhhhhhhhhhit, beyotch. That was definitely wo'f three mo' dollah.