mentatDUKE
Veteran
Kholi's right. Just saw the 2nd trailer. What a difference a trailer editor makes. 1st version was good, second version seemed more like a trailer I'd see in a theater.... ok on a DVD rental. 
FEATURE: Immigration Tango
- Thread starter Martay
- Start date
Martay
Veteran
Kholi & mentatDUKE,
For Immigration Tango and as well for Step Off...the earlier trailers were done by the producers (in Step Off's case it was Battle and I oversaw it) while the later trailers were done by the distributor.
I have to assume they were both actually contracted out to a Trailer House for each of them. That's the modus operandi.
I like both NEW trailers for lots of reasons (in particular the LOGOs of Roadside Attractions and Lion's Gate respectively) and see why they did them the way they did.
I think it's cool that while Step Off gets the "trailer voice" that's most common in our minds...that dramatic one..."It happens at night, underground..." all so serious...I totally dig it. Conversely Immigration Tango got an equally familiar "trailer voice" that doesn't actually pop to mind right away but one we hear all the time as well. The ROM COM voice. "Elena and Carlos had it all..." etc. I was really happy to hear that and I have to admit I should have guessed it. After all, it is a Romantic Comedy...of course that voice is on it.
I wouldn't be surprised if the same company didn't actually cut both trailers...since Roadside Attractions partners with Lion's Gate for Home Video releases...I was teasing the producer of IT when I heard their deal was that we were LABELMATES in the end which I find very cool as well.
I still have great affection for the original trailers as well. I think they both were pretty darn good. It's just hard to compete with the PROS...which is who did both trailers after the deals were made.
Anyway, thanks guys for taking the time to check it out and definitely spread the word. mentatDUKE...I Think HOUSTON might actually be one of the cities that Immigration Tango will be released in early on...so definitely go see it rather than wait for the rental
-Martin
For Immigration Tango and as well for Step Off...the earlier trailers were done by the producers (in Step Off's case it was Battle and I oversaw it) while the later trailers were done by the distributor.
I have to assume they were both actually contracted out to a Trailer House for each of them. That's the modus operandi.
I like both NEW trailers for lots of reasons (in particular the LOGOs of Roadside Attractions and Lion's Gate respectively) and see why they did them the way they did.
I think it's cool that while Step Off gets the "trailer voice" that's most common in our minds...that dramatic one..."It happens at night, underground..." all so serious...I totally dig it. Conversely Immigration Tango got an equally familiar "trailer voice" that doesn't actually pop to mind right away but one we hear all the time as well. The ROM COM voice. "Elena and Carlos had it all..." etc. I was really happy to hear that and I have to admit I should have guessed it. After all, it is a Romantic Comedy...of course that voice is on it.
I wouldn't be surprised if the same company didn't actually cut both trailers...since Roadside Attractions partners with Lion's Gate for Home Video releases...I was teasing the producer of IT when I heard their deal was that we were LABELMATES in the end which I find very cool as well.
I still have great affection for the original trailers as well. I think they both were pretty darn good. It's just hard to compete with the PROS...which is who did both trailers after the deals were made.
Anyway, thanks guys for taking the time to check it out and definitely spread the word. mentatDUKE...I Think HOUSTON might actually be one of the cities that Immigration Tango will be released in early on...so definitely go see it rather than wait for the rental
-Martin
Martay
Veteran
Now THIS is more like it...very snazzy
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/immigrationtango/
-M
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/immigrationtango/
-M
totitefilms
Well-known member
Now THIS is more like it...very snazzy
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/immigrationtango/
-M
The trailer looks good
mentatDUKE
Veteran
Thanks for the info, Martay. Now that you mention it, I actually will go out and watch it in theaters. What did they shoot on? Red or DSLR? It has that "look", unless I'm totally wrong and they shot on a Cinealta or something.
Martay, I'm really impressed that you've come this far getting scripts sold, films produced, and especially trailers (both of em) on apple's site. How did you pull this off? Was it personal relationships w/ producers in Atlanta who wanted to buy scripts from undiscovered writers? Is it a strategic thing as far as avoiding WGA price inflation as far as the minimum they can buy your scripts for? I'm talking specifically Battle and Immigration Tango (or did you write some other scrips also).
Well done. Thanks for reminding me that I need to grind harder!
Martay, I'm really impressed that you've come this far getting scripts sold, films produced, and especially trailers (both of em) on apple's site. How did you pull this off? Was it personal relationships w/ producers in Atlanta who wanted to buy scripts from undiscovered writers? Is it a strategic thing as far as avoiding WGA price inflation as far as the minimum they can buy your scripts for? I'm talking specifically Battle and Immigration Tango (or did you write some other scrips also).
Well done. Thanks for reminding me that I need to grind harder!
Martay
Veteran
mentatDUKE,
It's all grinding. Immigration Tango was just having a great network and relationships. Immigration Tango was a celebrated script (well, as celebrated as it comes around my way) it was a Project Greenlight top 50 it was a top 3 at the Atlanta Film Festival's Perfect Pitch competition one year, and it attracted several reads and was "considered" but not ultimately bought by a few Hollywood producers.
A couple years later, a friend came across one of those infamous "scripts wanted" posts online somewhere (I run a screenwriters group in ATL and often post leads like this to members with the warning that not all of them will be legit) because he knew I had a script focused on immigration issues which is what the producer was looking for...
Now, here's usually where the story ends for a writer...I sent an email query and ordinarily that's the end...or I get on rare occassions a "pass" reply usually 6 months later
However, this one was legit and within two days they wanted to read the script. They liked it (well, you know the story...they "LOVED IT") and said they thought they wanted to "do it"...what I wasn't sure at that time. It turns out, the "it" was MAKE IT. So about a week later they negotiated and we sold the script (I was at the AFM trying to make deals for a few features I was repping or had produced).
Now, they LOVED IT so much that they immediately put another writer on it for re-writes
I took that in stride and tried to keep a positive relationship with the producer...so much so that I helped with casting ideas and was even brought back to do a major "re-write" of the RE-WRITE (which I was very glad to do)
So, I was given an Associate Producer credit for all the follow-up I did on the project and I still have a good relationship with that producer and hope we'll do more work in the near future.
The film was shot in Miami, completed about 9 months later, spent 2010 on the festival circuit winning a few awards and now has been acquired by Roadside Attractions for a limited theatrical release.
So, it's a fairy tale really compared to most of my career thus far. However, some might have become frustrated if they consider how long that script took from conception to sale (much less completion). It just takes that long, period.
As for Battle/Step Off...that's all me (hope that doesn't come off wrong). I've become a producer of low budget stuff and a decent one. I get hired to produce shorts, etc. And I produce my own projects as well.
We financed Battle/Step Off with screenwriting money though as my writing and producing partner and I get a fair number of re-write and script doctor assignments from producers in L.A. (again with the networking) that we rarely get credit for (and in some cases, thank goodness we don't as sometimes they ignore the re-writes and go back to the s**tty scripts they had to begin with) but we do get paid for (nothing major but it adds up)...so we had a decent year of work that allowed for us to finance our own feature film ourselves.
So, with that, it was just a matter of us writing the script and producing it.
In the end, I think we've got a niche for the moment with the off-Hollywood LA-based world that gets us paid some for our work. Not WGA rates as yet but hey, we'll be there pretty soon.
However, it's taken years of just grinding as hard as possible in my own stuff as well as traditional "query 'em all" work to build the minor network I have that has allowed for some of these opportunities to take shape.
And as far as what they shot Immigration Tango on...it was the RED.
Hopefully this comes across as thorough and not just long-winded
thanks again for the posts,
Martin
It's all grinding. Immigration Tango was just having a great network and relationships. Immigration Tango was a celebrated script (well, as celebrated as it comes around my way) it was a Project Greenlight top 50 it was a top 3 at the Atlanta Film Festival's Perfect Pitch competition one year, and it attracted several reads and was "considered" but not ultimately bought by a few Hollywood producers.
A couple years later, a friend came across one of those infamous "scripts wanted" posts online somewhere (I run a screenwriters group in ATL and often post leads like this to members with the warning that not all of them will be legit) because he knew I had a script focused on immigration issues which is what the producer was looking for...
Now, here's usually where the story ends for a writer...I sent an email query and ordinarily that's the end...or I get on rare occassions a "pass" reply usually 6 months later
However, this one was legit and within two days they wanted to read the script. They liked it (well, you know the story...they "LOVED IT") and said they thought they wanted to "do it"...what I wasn't sure at that time. It turns out, the "it" was MAKE IT. So about a week later they negotiated and we sold the script (I was at the AFM trying to make deals for a few features I was repping or had produced).
Now, they LOVED IT so much that they immediately put another writer on it for re-writes
I took that in stride and tried to keep a positive relationship with the producer...so much so that I helped with casting ideas and was even brought back to do a major "re-write" of the RE-WRITE
(which I was very glad to do)So, I was given an Associate Producer credit for all the follow-up I did on the project and I still have a good relationship with that producer and hope we'll do more work in the near future.
The film was shot in Miami, completed about 9 months later, spent 2010 on the festival circuit winning a few awards and now has been acquired by Roadside Attractions for a limited theatrical release.
So, it's a fairy tale really compared to most of my career thus far. However, some might have become frustrated if they consider how long that script took from conception to sale (much less completion). It just takes that long, period.
As for Battle/Step Off...that's all me (hope that doesn't come off wrong). I've become a producer of low budget stuff and a decent one. I get hired to produce shorts, etc. And I produce my own projects as well.
We financed Battle/Step Off with screenwriting money though as my writing and producing partner and I get a fair number of re-write and script doctor assignments from producers in L.A. (again with the networking) that we rarely get credit for (and in some cases, thank goodness we don't as sometimes they ignore the re-writes and go back to the s**tty scripts they had to begin with) but we do get paid for (nothing major but it adds up)...so we had a decent year of work that allowed for us to finance our own feature film ourselves.
So, with that, it was just a matter of us writing the script and producing it.
In the end, I think we've got a niche for the moment with the off-Hollywood LA-based world that gets us paid some for our work. Not WGA rates as yet but hey, we'll be there pretty soon.
However, it's taken years of just grinding as hard as possible in my own stuff as well as traditional "query 'em all" work to build the minor network I have that has allowed for some of these opportunities to take shape.
And as far as what they shot Immigration Tango on...it was the RED.
Hopefully this comes across as thorough and not just long-winded
thanks again for the posts,
Martin
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Martay
Veteran
Thanks.The trailer looks good
mentatDUKE
Veteran
Thanks for the detailed response. Grinding indeed. Note to self: Query 'em all!
stan harrington
Well-known member
Congrats Martay!!! Good to see you movin on up!!!
Cheer s mate,
Stan The Man
Cheer s mate,
Stan The Man
Martay
Veteran
Well, It's now on the trailer page of Dark Horizons which is pretty cool.
http://www.darkhorizons.com/trailers/
I used to do reviews and other news for this site in the late 90s but can't get them to pick up my other movie's trailer just yet, even after iTunes ran it last summer.
Congratulations to distributor Roadside Attractions on its 6 Oscar Nominations. Feels cool that my movie is associated with a company with 6 current nominations. However, I wonder if their attention will shift back to Winter's Bone and Biutiful (and you can't blame them) causing a little "dropping of the ball" when it comes to Immigration Tango's release.
Hopefully not.
The other cities I'm hearing other than LA, NYC, and Miami...are Dallas, Houston, and Phoenix?? Not exactly sure but as soon as I know I'll post it here. Don't worry...only 22 days til the release so my updates won't be that annoying...well, until it hits DVD like Step Off (March 15th!!)
thanks,
Martin
http://www.darkhorizons.com/trailers/
I used to do reviews and other news for this site in the late 90s but can't get them to pick up my other movie's trailer just yet, even after iTunes ran it last summer.
Congratulations to distributor Roadside Attractions on its 6 Oscar Nominations. Feels cool that my movie is associated with a company with 6 current nominations. However, I wonder if their attention will shift back to Winter's Bone and Biutiful (and you can't blame them) causing a little "dropping of the ball" when it comes to Immigration Tango's release.
Hopefully not.
The other cities I'm hearing other than LA, NYC, and Miami...are Dallas, Houston, and Phoenix?? Not exactly sure but as soon as I know I'll post it here. Don't worry...only 22 days til the release so my updates won't be that annoying...well, until it hits DVD like Step Off (March 15th!!)
thanks,
Martin
JacksonCade
Member
Wonderful work, the movie looks great. How much did they spend on production? It doesn't look low budget at all.
Martay
Veteran
I'm not sure what the actual cost was, and it wasn't Ultra-Low Budget like my production "Step Off" (see below releases March 15th on DVD) but it was Sub $1 Mil for sure and likely a good bit under that. However, the actual budget is something I'm not privy to.
Thanks for checking it out.
An UPDATE...I'm told that in the 6 Cities I've listed (New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas, Houston, Phoenix) for the FEB. 18th Release it'll likely land on roughly 20 - 38 screens. I'll be posting a theater listing for DVXusers in those cities in hopes it will make it convenient for you to go out and see it in the theater (opening weekend preferably) so it might rate an expansion.
Thanks,
Martin
Martay
Veteran
Okay here's the list of theaters thus far that are confirmed.
In Miami:
South Beach, Miami
Paragon Coconut Grove
Sunset Place, Miami
Aventura, Aventura
In Houston: Looking at you MentatDuke
Studio 30, Houston
Gulf Pointe 30, Houston
Willow brook 24, Houston
Deerbrook 24, Humble
In Phoenix:
Arizona Center 24, Phoenix
Deer Valley 30, Phoenix
Harkins Arrowhead Fountains 18, Peoria
Shea 14, Scottsdale
Arizona Mills 24, Tempe
Mesa Grande 24, Mesa
Gateway Pavilions 18, Avondale
In New York:
Regal E-Walk
AMC Village
National Amusements Farmingdale NY
AMC Palisades W. Nyack NY
National Amusements Showcase Bridgeport CT
AMC Jersey Gardens Elizabeth NJ
AMC New Brunswick NJ
So L.A. and Dallas haven't got specifics as yet but this is a good start.
Let me know which theater you are going to
And thanks in advance for the support!!
-Martin
In Miami:
South Beach, Miami
Paragon Coconut Grove
Sunset Place, Miami
Aventura, Aventura
In Houston: Looking at you MentatDuke
Studio 30, Houston
Gulf Pointe 30, Houston
Willow brook 24, Houston
Deerbrook 24, Humble
In Phoenix:
Arizona Center 24, Phoenix
Deer Valley 30, Phoenix
Harkins Arrowhead Fountains 18, Peoria
Shea 14, Scottsdale
Arizona Mills 24, Tempe
Mesa Grande 24, Mesa
Gateway Pavilions 18, Avondale
In New York:
Regal E-Walk
AMC Village
National Amusements Farmingdale NY
AMC Palisades W. Nyack NY
National Amusements Showcase Bridgeport CT
AMC Jersey Gardens Elizabeth NJ
AMC New Brunswick NJ
So L.A. and Dallas haven't got specifics as yet but this is a good start.
Let me know which theater you are going to
And thanks in advance for the support!!
-Martin
mentatDUKE
Veteran
I love AMC Studio 30. I'm there. What are the screening dates? Or opening weekend I should say. I'll be sure to go opening weekend. Congrats again for the theatrical!
mentatDUKE
Veteran
Ok Feb 18th in your sig.
Martay
Veteran
Cool. Thanks a lot. Glad it's in a good theater.
Bring some friends
Seriously, I appreciate it.
-Martin
Martay
Veteran
In Miami:
South Beach, Miami
Paragon Coconut Grove
Sunset Place, Miami
Aventura, Aventura
In Houston: Looking at you MentatDuke
Studio 30, Houston
Gulf Pointe 30, Houston
Willow brook 24, Houston
Deerbrook 24, Humble
In Phoenix:
Arizona Center 24, Phoenix
Deer Valley 30, Phoenix
Harkins Arrowhead Fountains 18, Peoria
Shea 14, Scottsdale
Arizona Mills 24, Tempe
Mesa Grande 24, Mesa
Gateway Pavilions 18, Avondale
In New York:
Regal E-Walk
AMC Village
National Amusements Farmingdale NY
AMC Palisades W. Nyack NY
National Amusements Showcase Bridgeport CT
AMC Jersey Gardens Elizabeth NJ
AMC New Brunswick NJ
Anyone else near these theaters?
Let me know. I would love to hear a report if you are able to go.
Thanks,
Martin