Saturday, September 25, 2010

Customers Outside (Da Box)!

My Website gets over 90 hits a day and 78% are new visitors. This seems huge because I am oriented to selling movies that are in the public domain. Rabid movie fans are welcome, but they generally don't care if a film is in the public domain, they are just looking for rare films or their favorites. As someone wrote me this week, "I have been collecting the Laramie episodes for 35 years, and am looking for the few I don't have." I don't have any Laramie because they are all copyrighted, but that's an example of the earnest collector I usually do NOT get.

Of the many who visit my site thru links or googling Public Domain Films, a few do contact me each week and usually with specific uses in mind for public domain films like showing them on their TV station or in their movie theater. A few have unusual ideas.

Check out Old School Horror website to watch a horror film every Saturday late night with two Horror Hosts harking back to the 1950s "Shock Theater" that played in most cities with local hosts. A new show debuts every Saturday night, but is then archived so you can watch it anytime, forever. The Dead never sleep. They will soon be adding the Boris Karloff TV show "The Veil."

Walking Shadows is another horror website showing films and selling films, some of which are their own releases. The DVD boxes are well designed and have appealing bonuses. I can vouch for the quality and contents of Reefer Madness, which includes the second dope film Marijuana and some weed shorts I have not seen before. The big challenge to any website is to attract traffic. It can be done. Good luck!

Rodeo TV on the Internet. Coming soon to your own computer. I just googled Rodeo TV and found 3 or 4 sites already operating. The one I am working with has big plans like connecting horse and steer owners with rodeos who need a large yearly supply. They plan to host a live hour Rodeo show every week and then archive them. They want to offer B-westerns and TV shows on the site as well to attract people back or give them more to do once they are there. I was surprised to hear there is a large audience for all things rodeo.

Saturday Matinee Website, again coming soon. In preparation for over a year now, this ambitious site will revive interest in the Saturday Matinee with hundreds of hours of programming.

Comic book videos in comic book stores. A long-time wholesaler with a link to comic book stores plans a new line of DVDs with comic connections, to be sold in comic book stores which currently do not sell DVDs. While the Max Fleischer Superman cartoons are easy to buy online, a young comic fan may not know this and buy a $5 DVD when he is in the store. I suggested Sheena, Queen of the Jungle and just put one of her comic book covers on the DVD case. TV Sheena's Irish McCalla does not disappoint in the scantily clad department.

Brainstorming, I pointed out that all the cowboy stars had their own comic books in the 1950s, but rather than offering Roy Rogers, etc., why not try Gabby Hayes? Once you get going in a local comic store, I said, try putting a few Gabby Hayes DVDs out for sale to test interest. Gabby had 59 comic books from 1948 to 1957. Hence I found the comic book here, which is the start of a DVD cover.

Others come to me with vague ideas about wanting to do something with public domain films. I advise them to think outside the box and find new ways to market or new audiences to market to. You can't sell to Walmart no matter how nifty your packaging is because others have cornered that market long ago and the prices are too low anyway. So think. I have lots of ideas to get you started. Next time.


Visit my website at Festival Films.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Keen(e) Stuff to Watch!

I have a YouTube channel and post occasional videos with links from this blog or from my Festival Films Website.. Last week I talked about the First Buck Rogers film and so could post a link to go watch it! It's very useful to be able to talk about movies and show them at the same time. Duhh, makes sense. In the last few days I have posted 4 films that link to archived blog posts for Matinee at the Bijou. You can go watch the videos I am about to discuss and then read the blogs. Argggh! It's talk like a pirate day, so Arrr, why do you need me when I'm just sending you elsewhere?!

While you are going elsewhere... that's mutiny, me maties... check out Movie Unlimited's Movie Fanfare daily blog about new news about old movies. Movie Fanfare has reprinted a number of the older Bijou blogs, including the ones that I posted videos for.

A Bijou Flashback: Remembering Will Rogers
The life and film career of legendary actor Will Rogers is remembered. I love the Will Rogers features from Fox in the early 1930s up to his untimely death. Judge Priest is one of the best, directed by John Ford, and also is the only one in the public domain. However, we enriched the Bijou article with a complete 2-reel Rogers comedy from 1924: Big Moments from Little Pictures. Will lampoons films of the day and stars like Fairbanks and Valentino. Why sit through the whole thing when there is only one good scene? You can watch the first half of Big Moments HERE, and then PART 2.

A Bijou Flashback: Forgotten Hollywood Treasures
Guest contributor Bob Campbell writes: Where on television today can you find short subjects starring Betty Boop, Laurel & Hardy, Our Gang or Flash Gordon? The short posted that you can view here is Star Reporter in Hollywood from 1936, that consists of 3 screen tests -- a young boy that never made it singing opera, a dance duo .. if you want to know who they are, go watch the film, cause I don't recall ... and then a long song by Dorothy Lamour in a glamorous dress and setting, miles from her sarong debut films. Well worth a look-see, and a link from the video will direct you to the article.

A Bijou Flashback: The Three Faces of Cowboy Star Tom Keene
Guest contributors Bob Campbell and Victoria Balloon write: Under the old studio system movie moguls groomed promising new stars by first creating for them ... Read the entire article after viewing an extended clip from Our Daily Bread. Tom Starred in this major depression era classic directed by King Vidor, as well as the star of a series of B-westerns through the 1930s and 40s, plus ... well, read the article.

Lou Gehrig Rides Again: Baseball Legend to Movie Star
Believe it or not, baseball great Lou Gehrig made one movie in 1938, a B-western in which he co-starred with obscure singing cowboy Smith Ballew. You can watch all the highlights right here, then link from the video page to the blog discussion. This is becoming a worn record stuck in a groove, but who's reading this far anyways! Arrgh! Go watch Lou, Tom, Will & Dorothy!



Visit my website at Festival Films.