FEATURE: STEP OFF (was "Battle") - Narrative Feature

Martay said:
It's sad, but yeah, they'd still rather see Fast Five than Step Off. It is what it is. Now when Vin Diesel does Step Off 2, then I might get friends and family to pay for a seat.

-Martin
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I think that's a big statement. My marketing idea is kinda like that...well it was until the few mini-majors that I knew of stopped taking interest letters from non-agents/lawyers (ex. 2920 and Rainforest). I can't remember many first films that didn't have at least a "b actor" in it while having an "a-lister" take over for the sequel but I feel that it can work. I wanted to do the first one on a micro-budget and gain grass roots traction. Turn that script into majors that wouldn't know about it and see if they would bite. If they did then I could say "We did that one but here's the sequel." Then more talent can be added. I imagine if they see a good product derived from a 14 day shoot with $20k that they may want yus to helm the next one or at least buy the franchise. Another choice may be to reshoot the original.

If anyone can think of films that fit that mold that I mentioned earlier, let me know. These come to mind but aren't exactly what I mean. The immediate sequel might not have been heavily touted".

Blairwitch (I think it had a sequel)
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Hostel (Cabin Fever came before this though)
Rocky (almost but not quite. Had a few known talents to begin with)

Tieuel Legacy! Motion
 
CRProductions said:
But then we realized, or are trying to realize..that people who have seen your ups and downs, are less likely to support your "up" because they feel like "yea yea, I'll believe it when I see it".

Where as when you meet strangers that only see you as the budding film maker with a promising vision, they feel compelled to support you...
but I do look to support people that I know worked hard to create something, for no other reason than to entertain me.
...but the greatest feeling will be when those people start calling, texting, emailing you etc saying "Dude I caught your latest movie on opening day and it was ****in Bananas, hit me back man!"...because once you can convince them to watch and support via trailer etc, the rest of the world is chopped liver!
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You said it better than I did!
I think that you supporting others will help you in the end. I can't help but think that if I stopped watching filmmakers that are considered ground level that I won't be blessed in the end either. I don't make it out to everything but I make sure to try to send people that say "Tieuel Legacy" sent me.
Once you hit it big, you'll need a stick to beat off all those "new fam-lee members'. Like the lotto.

Tieuel Legacy! Motion
 
Well I finally checked out "Step Off" from Netflix and overall I thought it was alright, but seemed like a lot of the scenes were all too long. First I'd like to say great job on getting the film made, produced and distributed. That really says a lot about the people behind the overall decsion-making involved with this project and you got it in the can. The artwork and promotions all look EXCEPTIONALLY GREAT in my opinion, in fact, it was the main reason I rented this film, not just because you're a dvxuser, but I was honestly intrigued by this because it felt like a MOVIE. Again congrats.

From an audience stand point, I see why your distributor wanted to cut off about 15 minutes of the film. I actually saw a good amount of places here and there where you could've cut that would not have impacted the film, mostly because the characters were saying the same thing over and over (not literally) where I was like "Okay, I got that in the last several scenes". Perhaps you guys may have been too close to the film to notice?

The title - your distributor really did you a disservice by naming this Step Off versus your original title Battle. Very misleading. Someone doesn't know their "urban slang" well enough. If they meant it in the sense of "Yo...my beats are better than yours so STEP OFF!" then I'd say they need to stop listening to the old MC Lyte and Big Daddy Kane tapes and wake up to the year 2011. If they meant it in the sense of Step Off like Stomp the Yard then they're just an idiot out of touch with the target demographic, lol. Everybody in the room with me thought this movie was going to be similar to Stomp the Yard in some sense until they looked at the art work i showed them of the guy in the hoodie behind a turntable.

The story - was familiar territory, nothing wrong with that, but it wasn't anything new and fresh. Again, not really a deal breaker because a lot of movies play off of their predecessors in the same genres. It felt like any other hip hop movie such as 8 Mile, Juice, Fresh, etc. That's not necessarily a bad thing either....however it was predictable form scene to scene.

The acting - I give them a lot of slack on this because I'm assuming the budget wasn't high and I know how hard it is to find good talent for cheap. However, the non filmmakers I watched this with did not. It was one of the main things that stood out to them along with the story. The girl shooting the documentary was the least favorite, sometimes overacting to get her point across. I'd say the manager was a close second but mostly seemed to be miscast. He felt like a token white guy cast for marketing purposes. I mean, this guy just didn't look or sound like he had ANY soul or that he belonged in that type of environment. I know plenty of white guys in that industry who aren't "wiggers" (not saying the manager played one) and there's typically something authentic about their interest in hip hop that shows through their personality. This guy didn't have it. The lead was okay, he just seemed to be overly pissed off beyond necessary in every scene. It actually made it hard to sympathize with him IMO because he was such a brat. Maestro seemed natural. Heat seemed pretty new at this, he was pretty stiff. Overall seemed like the majority of the lines were with the lead and his manager and the documentary chick and felt like they were just trading lines most of the time. No real emotion (outside of the lead being pissed off), no sublties, just say your line and I'll say mine.

The production - I thought the production overall looked decent, but the main thing that kept taking me out of the film was whoever your DP/camera man was and some of the editing. Man...a lot of the shots were all over the place and this comment was made by some of the people watching it with me who aren't in film and have no idea what "DP" even means. Every shot seemed to be an extreme close up and a lot of basic composition just seemed to go out the door. One scene where Maestro was talking trash to the lead character's manager before the beat competition tryouts -- the manager was half in the frame and half out while he was talking while the cam was still on Maestro...this happened in a few scenes actually. I get that the editor was trying to cut it and make it feel fast paced and upbeat, but on simple conversations he seemed to cut back and forth literally a second a piece..like he was overdosing on redbull or something, it may have been all he had to work with though in his defense - I definitely know how that is. If anything made this feel like a low budget movie it was whoever shot it. The quality was pretty good, the audio was pretty good, the lighting was okay....but whoever worked that camera...well, get somebody else next time. To me that was the MAIN thing that made the film feel and LOOK like a low budget movie.

All that aside, which is really subjective and based on my opinion (and others who watched it with me), I hope the film does well and takes you to the next level bro.
 
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Mickey,

Thanks for the comments. I appreciate you checking it out.

I'm definitely too close on some counts to say I agree particularly on acting etc. but I appreciate the feedback.

Our director also shot it. It was all hand held by choice to give it somewhat of a documentary feel to it. So, that may have been a mistake but we had to account for budgetary and time restrictions that would have hampered us making it in a traditional sense (with jyb shots, dolly shots, etc.) and we definitely didn't want static shots since we knew we had a "talky" movie relatively speaking for a Hip-Hop film. And wanted the frame to be slightly kinetic...hopefully that helped at times to compensate for the pace.

Definitely agree with you on the TITLE (obviously) and we've encountered a lot of rage from folks who figured it would be some kind of dance movie. However, none of the documented descriptions mention dance but I know folks judge books by their cover and associate STEP anything with Dancing.

Thanks again for the comments and especially for just checking it out,

Martin
 
tieuellegacy said:
Looks like Elvis is still doing the Treatment. http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/tt
I'm thinking that agents or your marketing people are the ones responsible for getting people like the ones you mentioned. If you don't have a relationship with them, it's really a numbers game like with some of the local grassroots stations that you may interview with. Send a press release and a copy of the film. It may get kinda costly but still cheaper than the fest route in many cases. Still hoping to get you a shot at the Double Down Film Show. Tonight is the last ep for this season though so you may get a chance next time around. I would contact them if I were you. Both guys are bleeding the block for their projects as well. Pete went through the same things with his feature although he did go the fest route. He landed Premium with Codeblack years ago. Now watches how the distro changes the marketing material for the most current releases of his film. Check them out tonight from 8pm to 9pm CST/9pm to 10pm EST on http://www.blogtalkradio.com/doubledownfilmshow/2011/05/12/episode-72-ladies-night.

Some of these smaller distro companies ask the filmmaker to choose the amount that they will allot for marketing. I saw one or two direct to DVD comps that asked specifically ($50k or $100k, check the box). They don't mention what will be included in those packages though. I can't help but wonder 1) whether they are using the amounts that the filmmaker selects and 2) whether or not any of that goes to distributing films to reviewers and critics. Did Lionsgate give you any idea on how they would market?

Tieuel Legacy! Motion
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I reached out to Double Down and they said they'd see about fitting me in. They had already recorded their eps for the year. We'll see if it works out.

As for Marketing. We had a cap on expenses (our request for financial integrity, I've been burned by lesser distribs who've charged ridiculous costs claimed for "marketing" that were bs. At least we've capped any of that).

We didn't get much in terms of how they were marketing. We know they've distributed copies to reviewers, etc. But we don't know the scope.

-Martin
 
Martay said:
I reached out to Double Down and they said they'd see about fitting me in. They had already recorded their eps for the year. We'll see if it works out.

As for Marketing. We had a cap on expenses...

...We know they've distributed copies to reviewers, etc. But we don't know the scope.

-Martin
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It will take a little work but nothing that you haven't done already. They're picking up in the fall. I would suggest going to Blog Talk, listening to a dozen or so shows, and then commenting on each. They usually check their comments. Get on the Facebook page and be a part of Double 7 Images blogs. It'll keep your name in their heads.

Tieuel Legacy! Motion
 
tieuellegacy said:
It will take a little work but nothing that you haven't done already. They're picking up in the fall. I would suggest going to Blog Talk, listening to a dozen or so shows, and then commenting on each. They usually check their comments. Get on the Facebook page and be a part of Double 7 Images blogs. It'll keep your name in their heads.

Tieuel Legacy! Motion
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Yeah, I'll definitely check in with them and hit them on Facebook.

In the interim.

Here's a little Internet Press with interviews with me, the director and the two leads.

http://www.zombiecatproductions.com/?p=4629

-M
 
Left my mark.
They didn't leave any stones unturned. Managed to interview just about every aspect of the Step Off film. Tieuel Legacy! Motion
 
Bottom Line Martay. We got your back and will do our part to spread the word and of course watch the film. My brother, my producing partners and I have been following your progress for a long time and we're excited to see the movie.
 
Zblock said:
Bottom Line Martay. We got your back and will do our part to spread the word and of course watch the film. My brother, my producing partners and I have been following your progress for a long time and we're excited to see the movie.
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Thanks Zblock!

I appreciate it.

-Martin
 
@Martay,

Hey did you ever catch up with the guy that did the doc Snowbluff or whatever? You mentioned giving a different review or interviewing them. Curious to read what was said. Tieuel Legacy! Motion
 
tieuellegacy said:
@Martay,

Hey did you ever catch up with the guy that did the doc Snowbluff or whatever? You mentioned giving a different review or interviewing them. Curious to read what was said. Tieuel Legacy! Motion
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I wasn't going to do another interview but thought that Paste Magazine or DailyFilmFix was going to do one. There is an interview after the "incident" at the ATLFF up at Daily Film Fix but I thought there was to be one more follow-up from both sides of that from DailyFilmFix but it seems it didn't materialize.

I actually know the Producer (he's a regular member at my screenwriters group here in ATL) and I gave them some advice and a contact for distribution (they've got a deal now for DVD) after the festival.

I'll dig around for other information and see what I get.

I'm still torn on my feelings on the film. I definitely have and will help the filmmakers despite my own misgivings about some of it.

They've started a push on social media so I think there will be a release announcement coming soon.

-Martin
 
It wasn't a great review but I felt that some of the review was a waste. What did the first paragraph mean? Who is the guy anyway? Is he a filmmaker? He doesn't seem to know indie film very well. Tieuel Legacy! Motion
 
Yeah that's awesome. I just sent my film out for 2 reviews. I'm nervous about what gets said but at least it's out and being talked/read about.
 
Good luck Zblock...yeah, I'm okay with it. Definitely just trying to keep the movie's profile up if possible.

Thanks Marlon and Tieuel Legacy!

-M
 
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