A Special Word on SXSW...

LCLs:
A quick word about someone we spent some time with Tuesday night in Austin (at the Hotel San Jose on Congress --super cool place with a nice patio and great beer selection): Janet Pierson. Janet has long been a supporter of Humboldt County, and earlier this year she took the SXSW reigns from Matt Dentler.

I remember when we first met Janet at the opening night party of this year's SXSW (at Buffalo Billiards on 6th, if memory serves), and she told us how she had loved the film and even had written the copy for it on the SXSW brochure. It was so kind of her to come up to us and let us know how much she enjoyed the film, and that really stayed with me. After getting the chance to spend some time with Janet on Tuesday in Austin, I honestly believe SXSW is in great hands moving forward.

Allow us to take a moment to blog about SXSW. When Matt Dentler decided to program Humboldt County for this year's festival, first opening night at the Alamo Drafthouse downtown and then twice more at the Drafthouse South Lamar (where we'll be opening next Friday, 9.26), we were a film on no one's radar. We had no prospects for any kind of distribution and practically no one had seen the film.

By the end of the fest, we had sold out all three screenings (and, as previously blogged about here, oversold the 2nd and 3rd by so many that they had to fill secondary theaters BOTH times and still turn people away), garnered interest from several distributors AND put our little independent film on the map.

As we've moved forward, along the festival circuit, into our distribution deal with Magnolia Pictures and now toward our theatrical release on 9.26 (and ultimately in 10 markets), we feel like we owe a special thank you to Matt, Janet, SXSW and the entire city of Austin. Without South By, we would not be on this promotional tour.

In the crazy independent film marketplace, where festivals like Sundance and Toronto are trying to live up to the hype of what they've done in the past, SXSW truly provides the filmmaker with an opportunity to stand out and succeed. And, to top it all off, it's one hell of a good time. It's difficult to conceive of our film having had a better outcome had it premiered anywhere else.

More blogs to come from Seattle, Portland, San Fran/Berkeley in the coming days. Take care, LCLs, and please remember to spread the word:

Humboldt County in theaters on 9.26.

www.humboldtcountymovie.com

-Darren