With the Sundance Film Festival closing out Sunday, many of the screened films have a few months before hitting theaters.
Anybody who isn’t a film critic or a member of the Hollywood elite would have to wait for wide release dates, and if it’s a smaller independent film, it might not even reach that wide of an audience.
That’s where “Bass Ackwards” strays from the norm with a marketing approach fit for its title.
The film was released Monday through major digital retailers including iTunes and Amazon.com, one day after Sundance closed.
Producer Thomas Woodrow said he knew the idea had never been done before, and that was part of the reason it sounded so appealing.
“It lines up with the hook of the movie,” Woodrow said. “The trajectory of the film is bass ackwards.”
Two companies, New York-based New Video and Zipline Entertainment, are handling the new, innovative distribution method.
The comedy, which Woodrow said was well-received at Sundance, centers on a man who takes his modified-VW bus cross-country after an affair with a married woman ended badly.
It stars little-known Linas Phillips, who also directs.
Woodrow said Phillips has been very receptive to different ideas throughout the process of putting the film together.
“Linas is a very collaborative guy. He’ll hear a good idea and take it,” he said.
He also acknowledged that part of the rationale behind such a bold marketing plan is to take advantage of a world where getting movies—even new ones—is just a click away.
There are still plans to release the film in theaters later in the spring.
Woodrow said that even these days the quality of the film and the thrill of moviegoing will always draw people to the Silver Screen.
“I take it as a complete misconception that digital platforms make people less likely to see it in the theater,” he said.
