Kevin Smith is at an interesting point in his life. I saw Red State, followed by a three hour stand-up earlier this year at the Vogue Theatre in Vancouver. Smith gave an introduction to the film, stating it’s completely different than anything he has done before — no one had any idea what to expect.
There was a certain nervousness in the air, as Smith’s last film, Cop Out, sucked. Well, we were in for a big surprise. Red State is not only different from all of Smith’s previous work, it’s different from most horror films. A few months have passed since I saw the film, so I decided to revisit the event and determine how successful Kevin Smith’s distribution model was.
Red State is still entertaining despite its faults. Not a lot of average/above average films have that distinction. That’s why I believe Smith is a fantastic storyteller, even though he isn’t the best filmmaker. Heck, he realizes it and makes fun of himself over it. Smith started podcasting a few years ago and it has become a massive online media network. Smith realized he was making the same amount of money in the box office on each film and had a dedicated audience who listened to his podcasts. He decided to focus heavily on his niche and serve content his fan base wanted to see .
Smith then decided to market Red State entirely through Smodcast (and social media platforms such as Twitter). I paid $70 to see Red State followed by a few hours of Q&A. He did this all across America, travelling from city to city selling the film. By all accounts it was a success. Apparently Smith made a profit on the tour (IMDB.com estimates the film only cost US$4 million ) and this was before Video on Demand, DVD sales and theatre releases. For a guy with no mainstream media advertising and no movie studio behind him, this is impressive. Even indie films picked up at festivals get regulated to art house arms of major studios, like Focus Pictures, Miramax or Sony Pictures Classics. Smith went full indie, independently raising funds, taking the film to Sundance and distributing it himself.
The gaffer on my left at the Vogue Theatre thought Red State was “interesting,” but was more focused on the distribution model Kevin employed, and for good reason — he was witnessing film history. Regardless if Red State is any good, the distribution method is ballsy, something that hasn’t been seen before. Yes, Smith had an audience that was originally built by the fans of his studio releases, but he could have easily failed with this endeavour. For giving the middle finger to the studios and doing everything himself, Kevin Smith’s experiment appears to be, ultimately, a success.
Kevin Smith will be bringing his Jay and Silent Bob Get Old live podcast show to the Burton Cummings Theatre on Dec. 12. Smith’s regular co-star, Jason Mewes, has spent time in Winnipeg repeatedly over the past few years, filming on location for the Space Channel horror comedy Todd and the Book of Pure Evil.
