You insist on ticketed premieres. Why?
Because an opening night is a promise that a film is an event, not an upload. When Gravel and Glass premiered, people arrived at eight, together, and the chat had that opening-night electricity. You cannot get that from a title quietly appearing in a catalog.
Doesn't a ticket shrink the audience?
It concentrates it. The people in that room chose to be there. The film joins the catalog afterwards and finds its slower audience — the premiere is for the people who want the night itself.
What would you tell a filmmaker pricing their first premiere?
Price it like a cinema ticket, because that is what it is. And do the Q&A. Stay for the questions. The distance between you and the audience is the thing this whole platform exists to close.
Published in The Cutting Room by Ben Halloway Pictures.