THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND Thread - 2015-2017

[RayKelly]

And so we end back at my original point: If 11-12 hours of rushes have already been digitized by Showtime, and the producers have access to them, a new demo real can be put together relatively quickly and, more importantly, cheaply. It will not be perfect, but it will be interesting. More importantly, it will help generate interest.

I have not seen the Showtime reels (and more importantly I don't know if they have access to them), but I have seen the 42-minute workprint and it is of subpar quality. I think it might harm the project to use subpar footage as an advertisement. I mentioned the AFI clip only because it looked substantially better. Truly, I don't want to see the limited available money wasted on test footage that is imperfect and cannot be used in the final product just because it would be interesting. Of course, footage will stir attention and I am certain Marshall, Rymsza and company know that too. There is a negative that needs to be scanned to do that. And they need money.

We can't just appeal to people's higher natures while droning on about the artistic and historical importance of TOSOTW. That and five dollars will get you an NPR tote bag. People need to learn about TOSOTW, become excited about it, begin to want it, crave it, demand it.

LOL for the NPR remark. A video pitch using some of the crew might be good. The TOSOTW panel Josh Karp out together at Sedona -- Larry Jackson, Pat McMahon, Mike Ferris, Frank Fiore and Rick Shore -- had warm, funny and engaging stories to tell about Welles and guerrilla filmmaking.

BTW, you have to give hem credit for the amount of quality print, online, radio and TV coverage they have gotten in the U.S. It was great Edgar Wright did a pitch for them. It would be wonderful if some of the other "supporting directors" listed on the campaign site did more supporting.

[RayKelly]

Off topic: Nice to see lively conversation on the board. Please, someone post that David Thomson was right and the film should never be seen -- just to get things fired up.

[Roger Ryan]

Well, The Projection Booth podcast did a nearly three-hour program on the film which debuted last Wednesday...

http://projection-booth.blogspot.com/

...and all three hosts weren't entirely convinced that the film should be seen, noting that the mystery of it is bigger and better than the film itself could ever be if completed. I don't buy into this argument (I'm thrilled to have a more-or-less completed SMiLE album by the Beach Boys/Brian Wilson to go along with the forty-year legend of it being the greatest album never released). As I noted before, the argument that the film should not be completed because it won't be Welles making all the decisions is also fairly ridiculous considering that AMBERSONS, JOURNEY INTO FEAR, THE STRANGER, THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI, MR. ARKADIN and TOUCH OF EVIL all ended up having as much of Welles' input in post-production as this film will (with forty minutes of work-print material edited by Welles, it's likely that a completed version of TOSOTW will actually have more input from Welles than half of his canonized directorial efforts).

[jbrooks]

Ray:

To pick up your call for controversy, I will state that, although I await the completion of Wind with great anticipation, I will be pleasantly surprised if some of it isn't terrible. The scenes I've seen from it that are trying to be comedic seem way overbroad. I'm thinking of the scenes with the journalist hanging off the back of Hannaford's car and Joe McBride being kicked out and having to ride the bus with the dummies. Maybe those scenes will work better when they're tightly edited, and have properly-mixed sound, etc. But if I were a betting man, I'd bet that those scenes will never be good.

[tonyw]

Well, you've. all seen Orson's comedy talents in FERRY FROM HONG KONG and WHATEVER HAPPENED TO WHAT'S HIS NAME. As he said, "they'll appreciate me when I'm dead" so he is hoping that his humor will stand the text of time so we will all have a good laugh when we see the finished work.

[Le Chiffre]

Here's an encouraging development: the producers of The Other Side of the Wind completion project just launched their own Facebook page last week.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Orson-We ... ef=message

Our own Wellesnet Facebook page is about five years old and we've got around 2,000 followers. The "Orson Welles" Facebook page linked above is only one week old and they've already got 132,000 followers! Not too shabby. If every one of those 132,000 followers gives just $10 they'll be more than halfway towards their goal!

[tonyw]

Let us hope that is the reason they are doing it since every amount helps.

[Wich2]

>Well, you've. all seen Orson's comedy talents in FERRY FROM HONG KONG and WHATEVER HAPPENED TO WHAT'S HIS NAME<

As well as in much broadcast work, from the Benny show and his own ALMANAC on radio, to the Carson and Martin shows on TV. He wasn't a stellar comedic artist, and sometimes tried to hard; but a genuine sense of humor does shine through.

-Craig

[Sir Bygber Brown]

I've backed it for a blu ray copy on indiegogo, really hope they manage to finish it, this could easily go south though, but its worth the risk to have contributed to the effort somehow.

[LostOverThere]

Not to be pessimistic, but is there any word on what's going to happen if they don't reach their $2M goal? I see they've got a flexible campaign, so they'll get the money anyway (sans the 10% Indiegogo cut), but will they still have enough money to go ahead with the project?

[L.W. Gordon]

Let's stay optimistic.

[Le Chiffre]

I agree, let's stay optimistic, although Lost Over There poses a fair question. We don't know what will happen if they don't make their goal, and judging from the campaign results so far, they won't even come close, unless some pretty big hitters start to step up. However, since Royal Road spent five years pursuing the rights to the film, and finally got them, achieving what no one else could before, they still deserve the benefit of the doubt.

[RayKelly]

Not to be pessimistic, but is there any word on what's going to happen if they don't reach their $2M goal? I see they've got a flexible campaign, so they'll get the money anyway (sans the 10% Indiegogo cut), but will they still have enough money to go ahead with the project?

The three producers have spent years, not to mention their own money, toward completing TOSOTW. I don't expect they will walk away if this drive fails to meet its goal.
Filip Jan Rymsza said one of the reasons they accepted Indiegogo's overture was because they realized crowdfunding would allow them to retain control over the project and partner with the distributors they wanted to partner with.
Rymsza and Frank Marshall made it clear that they have had offers, but obviously either they they were not fully satisfied with the terms or the money offered in exchange for distribution rights was insufficient.
Fellow producer Jens Koethner Kaul's has indicated elsewhere that some potential distributors wanted to see footage from the negative. Perhaps, the Indiegogo money can pay for the processing and editing of a few scenes?
The Indiegogo campaign is not even half over, but I admit have been disappointed by the lack of support. And I do not mean just the absence of heavy hitters, but the total number of participants (less than 2,000 people as I write this). More people need to get behind this. (I know I am preaching to the choir here).
While Indiegogo is important, it's not like the producers are watching https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/finish-orson-welles-last-film and doing nothing else.
Rymsza has been in Cannes drumming up support and they are continuing, like Jake Hannaford, to seek out that elusive "end money."

[Wellesnet]

TOSOTW drew attention this weekend on both sides of the Atlantic:
http://www.wellesnet.com/the-other-side ... -atlantic/

Aint-It-Cool-News supports the Indiegogo campaign for Wind:
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/71595

[jbrooks]

Anyone who saw the workprint screening care to describe it?