Ottawa 2009

[Paul Fierlinger]

I have an update on the distribution of Tulip which is of course both good and less good news. The good part is that Tulip has been picked up by Apparition, a fairly new and important distributor out of NYC specializing in independent films for the U.S. market. They take on only about 7 films a year and have a solid reputation for being among the best, so this means a lot to us.

The less good part is that they won't release Tulip until September, giving the reason that they have other films in their pipeline to which they have to pay all their current attention and they also claim that the fall season is the best for the release of animated features, giving a list of all the other successful releases, starting with the Triplets of Belleville etc. (I can't remember any of the rest even though I just got the news ten minutes ago). Another reason is that they need a lot of time to plan and research marketing strategies since they also have the home DVD , direct TV, Pay per View and other venues, and want to specifically target dog lovers; a large but very spread out niche segment of the population. They are committed to matching the production budget in their marketing expenditures.

So there we are -- a theatrical release in just two years after the completion of the film; about the average for indie films, so I've been told thus I'm happy.

[Klaus Hoefs]

CONGRATS !!!!

[Svengali]

That's wonderful, Paul... As for me, I can't wait to see it again!

Sven

[Fabrice]

excellent news Paul ! you deserve it !!

[slowtiger]

Congratulations!

[ZigOtto]

Slow business is sound business !
"September" ... 2012 ?
if it's for 2010, it's not so long, considering this contact has happened so lately,
(it could have come sooner imo, in the middle of the production time).
anyway, that's a great news !
and you can tell him to make an effort and extend its distribution area oversea,
after all, Europe is just the suburb of NYC !

[Paul Fierlinger]

Thanks,guys. I had nothing to do with it. Our job was to make the film and what is done with it after that was made clear to us as none of our business. I'm not saying that we were treated in any unique way -- as Ackerly says to Tulip when rejected by a mutt she adores, "I'm afraid it's the way of the world, dear" and he gets her a couple of real German shepherds, only to finally get screwed by another dirty mutt.

[Sewie]

Congratulations and good luck with that, Paul !
Hopefully your film can now find its audience. And vice versa.

[slowtiger]

It was just announced on Cartoonbrew.
http://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film ... butor.html

[CartoonMonkey]

Very nice Paul! Can I ask, how Isabella Rossolini came on board? I'm a big fan! Hope to catch your film sometime soon.
C

[Paul Fierlinger]

She's a big dog lover and practically a dog activist. She heard from someone that the book is being made into a film so she found us out and offered us her services at union scale. She understands perfectly well that it's her name that will help us the most so it was truly generous of her.

We ended up going to her apartment to inconvenience her as little as possible and recorded her on a laptop in her kitchen. We sat behind the kitchen table and I could see that she felt uncomfortable about her performance but we worked through it one line at a time. When we were wrapping up she said she never acted sitting behind a table as if she were talking to a dog at the other end of the table, that she always has the partner there and she'd be in this case standing and looking down at the floor. If she had said that right away we could have put the mike on a stand for her.

I felt a bit embarrassed because I've always known that actors do much better standing at a mike but because it was her home I just thought she feels at ease at the kitchen table and never gave the issue a thought until we were done.

[CartoonMonkey]

What an excellent story! Ha! Of course it's only now that we can do these types of recordings at home, with excellent quality. What an amazing story. Thank you for sharing it.
Much success to you and your films! I can't imagine the amount of work it takes to make a feature. ( Or can I? ) With a little help from TVP..

Best,
C

[Paul Fierlinger]

I can't imagine the amount of work it takes to make a feature. ( Or can I? )

Sure you can, if you can imagine what it takes to make a 5 minute film; it's like making 16 of them, or just eight 10 minute films. That's not so hard to imagine is it? And you don't have just weeks or months to get it done in, but years. Years of steady work is a pretty picture, I'd say.

[mox]

Good news Paul and Sandra! Let's cross fingers Tulip will come overseas to reach a wider audience!
And thanks for sharing the anecdotal story with I. Rossellini :]

[Elodie]

Congratulation Paul and Sandra ! That's a really great news =)