Home Media Magazine - May 11-17, 2008 - (Page 26)

PIPELINE www.homemediamagazine.com DVD to Finally Feel the ` Love' Formerly held up by distributor and music-rights issues, music doc `All You Need Is Love' at last comes to disc By Billy Gil You can't fault Tony Palmer for swiping the title for his 17-episode music documentary ªAll You Need Is Loveº from The Beatles. After all, the series, due May 13 in a five-DVD set from MVD Visual ($99.95), was John Lennon's idea. ª I first met him at Cambridge when The Beatles came to give a concert in November of 1963,º said Palmer, who was working at Cambridge' s student-run newspaper. ª He asked, would I show him around Cambridge?º The two struck up a longtime professional friendship. Three years after their meeting, Palmer, who was working for the BBC, visited Lennon in London, where Lennon first brought up putting rock stars on television. ª He said I really had a duty, he put it, to get onto TV a lot of groups of musicians he admired who simply couldn' t get onto TV because rock ' n' roll was not taken seriously by the BBC or by TV generally in ' 66-' 67,º he said. ª Or, if it was, you were surrounded by gyrating nubiles, and he thought that was disrespectful to what these guys were achieving. ª I said, ` fine, who?' And he gave me a list of names.º Those names included Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Frank Zappa and Pink Floyd, whom Palmer began filming in 1967 for his first pop music doc, All My Loving (on DVD from MVD). Years later, in New York in 1972, Palmer said he ran into Lennon, who asked, ª Are you doing anything useful these days?º recalled Palmer. Over lunch Lennon made another suggestion. ª He said to me, what we' re really missing is something that sets the whole of the development DOCUMENTARY of American popular music into some sort of social and political context so we understand where all these different strands came from, how they influenced each other and, most importantly, how they eventually gave birth to rock ' n' roll,º Palmer said. Palmer got to work chronicling the development of pop music through its disparate predecessors, from ragtime to musicals to rhythm and blues. Each episode of the series takes on a genre or theme; one episode is devoted to The Beatles. Palmer said most artists were glad to be recognized after so many years. Palmer and his crew had to trek around the globe to find some of the musicians, finding one in particular playing piano in the lobby of a Holiday Inn Ð that was Jerry Lee Lewis. The series aired worldwide from 1976 to 1981, but it had never been brought to home video because of distributor and musicrights issues. Palmer said the series hasn' t been seen in the United States in about 30 years. ª When someone would look at the music cue sheet, you could see their brain frying at having to sort it all out,º Palmer said. After 10 years, the series is coming to DVD, with all of its performances and interviews intact with the likes of Stephen Sondheim, Benny Goodman, Bing Crosby, The Beach Boys, Tina Turner, Dizzy Gillespie, Muddy Waters, Phil Spector and more. The set comes with a booklet and a message from Lennon, culled from a telegram he sent Palmer when the series was completed. ª It says, ` A mighty achievement. Thank you,' º Palmer said. Allumination Turns Web Short `305 ' Into Feature-Length DVD By Thomas K. Arnold DTV With the major studios' rush to launch direct-to-video initiatives and dedicated labels, indies that once claimed DTV as their own are feeling the squeeze. After all, they don't have libraries of high-profile theatrical features to mine for DTV sequels, as the studios do. Allumination FilmWorks is taking a novel approach to this dilemma. The supplier' s next big DTV release, due July 8, is 305, which began as a five-minute video spoof of 300 on YouTube Ð where it racked up nearly 4 million views. ªF or Hollywood these days, direct-to-video is very viable, and it's because of the Web,º said Cheryl Freeman, CEO of Allumination. ªEv en though audiences are now more segmented, the Web offers an effective way to reach them, both for majors and for indies. ªB ut the new reality is that there also is some wonderful programming that begins its life on the Web as a viral video. These videos arrive with more excitement and energy than many spinoffs of existing franchises, and we need to be on this wave.º 305 hit the Web around the same time 300 hit theaters and finished July 2007 as the month' s most viewed comedy on YouTube. It popped up on MySpace TV and Yahoo Video and became one of the 400 most-viewed Internet videos of all time, as tracked by VidMeter.com. The short was created by aspiring filmmakers David and Daniel Holechek as a parody of 300. It was an immediate hit on the Web and soon attracted the attention of Rivet Productions, which asked the filmmakers to expand the idea into a full-length feature. ªAft er YouTube and MySpace catapulted the short into 4 million views, we thought, `H ey, let's see what our team can do if we give them three or four months and a little bit of cash to work with,'º said Tim Ellis, executive producer with Rivet Productions. Three or four months? One month was all it took to shoot the entire feature, using the same onscreen talent as the short. The film Ð which details the misadventures of five not-so-brave members of the Spartan army charged with guarding a seemingly ordinary goat path who, due to a twist of fate, are forced to become real warriors Ð premiered at the Palm Beach International Film Festival. It subsequently was screened at the Newport Beach Film Festival, the Indie Spirit Film Festival and other U.S. festivals. Recently, it became an A&E Indie Spotlight Finalist for 2008. ªT he result is hilarious and has blown our minds,º Ellis said. ªW e'r e already well into our next three projects.º Ellis said he believes 305 represents the future of entertainment content development. Freeman agrees. ªT his movie would not have been possible without the millions of fans that supported the online short,º s he said. Extras on the 305 DVD includes bonus scenes, a commentary track, a blooper reel, three featurettes and, oh yes, the original 305 short. FAVREAU HAMMERS OUT A FEW IDEAS FOR THE ` IRON MAN' DVD By Fred Topel obert Downey Jr. was an unconventional choice to play the title character in Iron Man because of his personal setbacks and his unproven box office clout. A decidDVD PREVIEW ing factor was Downey' s performance in a screen test. Director Jon Favreau, who fought to cast him, hopes to include the audition on the eventual DVD. ªWe had some fans within Marvel, but there were a lot of people who were wringing their hands and were nervous, and I understand that,º Favreau said. ªI said, ` If R we do this screen test, it might be the tool to help me get this accomplished.' And Robert went on camera and just crushed it. It was obvious that he was perfect.º Clearing such materials for exhibition can be a challenge, but Favreau is hopeful. ªI want people to see it, because it' s just as good, if not better, than anything that' s in the movie,º he said. With two years of production ending just as the film hit theaters, Favreau has had little time to think about home video. ªI definitely want the screen test, and there are a couple of alternate takes that would be cool for people to see because Robert did a lot of improvising,º he said. ªS o there are some different versions of scenes, particularly in terms of the dialogue.º Favreau has been involved with bonus features on his previous films Ð Made, Elf and Zathura Ð so he is game to contribute to the Iron Man DVD. ªI love [DVDs], both as a movie fan and a filmmaker,º he said. ªL ike other moviegoers, I think fans enjoy hearing about and seeing the things that go on behind the scenes to make movies.º Iron Man opened in theaters May 2. Home Media Magazine May 11± 17, 2008 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://VidMeter.com

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Home Media Magazine - May 11-17, 2008

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