"Ballast" Steadies Course Alone: Sundance Winner Chooses Self-Distribution

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LANCE HAMMER TRIES SELF DISTRIBUTION
Published 7/3/2008 by Scott Macaulay (noreply@blogger.com) at Filmmaker Magazine
Over at Indiewire Anthony Kaufman writes about Ballast director Lance Hammer's decision to withdraw from a planned distribution deal with IFC to self-distribute via his own Alluvial Film Company along with Required Viewing. From the piece: "IFC is a really good company," Hammer told indieWIRE last week. "The problem is the larger issue that's plaguing every filmmaker right now: The distributors don't really offer any money. That's not that big of a deal if they would allow you to have control of your project, but they don't." If the current art-house climate ...

I never told Robert Redford to suck it
Published 7/3/2008 by John at johnaugust.com
... A Sundance award-winner from this year, Ballast, dropped its deal with IFC and will self-distribute. The director gives a lot of good insight about why, and just how low the dollar figures are. If I were in his shoes, I might have done the same thing. With The Nines, we had Ryan Reynolds and Hope Davis, who were big enough names to generate some minimums. Without any stars, it’s tough to shake out more money. ...

Acclaimed Indie 'Ballast' Goes the Self-Distribution Route
Published 7/5/2008 by Peter Martin at Cinematical
Filed under: Drama, IFC, Distribution, Cinematical Indie Talk about conflicted emotions! In a very fine article at indieWIRE, Anthony Kaufman reports on filmmaker Lance Hammer's recent decision to pull out of a distribution deal with IFC Films for his Sundance award-winning feature, Ballast. While I'm heartened that Hammer is willing to place creative control ahead of financial concerns, I'm also discouraged that there appears to be little room in the current distribution landscape ...

Invisible People: Ballast At ND/NF
Published 7/6/2008 at [This Savage Art]
... another member commits suicide. Immediate and pulsing with a Southern Gothic bloodline the film deliberately ramps up into the desperate but dignified circumstances of this small collection of characters. The flat tone resembles the flat landscape but is never dull. Post-screening Hammer described his editing technique for this film as “using the moments in between” but he could have easily been speaking about his characters lives who seem to slip through the cracks. Recent film news reveals that Hammer will look to go it alone when it comes to distribution and film rights. ...

Old news: "Metropolis" found, Weinstein trash, "Ballast" solo.
Published 7/7/2008 by Alison Willmore at IFC: Indie Eye
... "Ballast," one of the best-reviewed films at Sundance this year, is taking the distribution road less traveled. Producer/writer/director Lance Hammer has pulled the film away from IFC Films in order to oversee putting it in theaters himself, Anthony Kaufman at indieWIRE takes a closer look and talks with Hammer: "The problem is the larger issue that's plaguing every filmmaker right now: The distributors don't really offer any money. That's not that big of a deal if they would allow you to have control of your project, but they don't." ...

Links for the Day (July 9th, 2008)
Published 7/9/2008 by Keith Uhlich (noreply@blogger.com) at The House Next Door
... 3. "Ballast Steadies Course Alone": Anthony Kaufman talks with writer/director Lance Hammer on his decision to self-distribute the Sundance prize-winning film. ...