Friday, January 13, 2012
Movies Can Cornerstore Re-Create Clerks' Magic?
Posted by Gabe Wardell on Fri, Jan 13, 2012 at 8:33 AM
The Detroit News quote at the top on the press release says everything you need to know about Cornerstore: "An affectionate, irreverent and goofy upbeat portrait of urban Detroit, Cornerstore is Clerks meets Barbershop at the Car Wash."
This low-budget indie comedy, opening in Atlanta today at the AMC Southlake 24 for a weeklong run, also invites favorable comparisons to Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing complete a Greek Chorus of three ne'r do wells who crack wise on the day's events; a sassy Rosie Perez talking Latina baby mama; and style to burn.
While filled with contemporary references to Droids, Obama, and Gitmo, the film looks and feels more like its predecessors from the late 80's and 90's.
Not only is Cornerstore an homage to such "day-in-the-life" indies as Clerks and Do the Right Thing, the film is also employing a throw-back platform release strategy.
The film performed admirably well when it played theatrically on a single in Detroit, grossing $12K in its opening weekend, according to Box Office Mojo. But it had home field advantage there. Whether this success translates to a single screen in a bustling AMC multiplex in Atlanta remains to be seen. The key demographic they are hoping to attract is (obviously) African American, but let's face it: to success, the film needs a specialty art house audience. The indie film audience this film needs is more frequents the Plaza, the Tara, and the Landmark Midtown Art. As an indie without a major marketing budget, the film is likely to be lost in the recesses of a mainstream multiplex.
Whereas Kevin Smith and Spike Lee rode the wave of micro-budget indie theatrical releases to great critical acclaim with Clerks and She's Gotta Have It, laying the foundation for solid careers as auteur filmmakers, one wonders whether this strategy can work today. Can a self-distributed indie comedy with no stars, a tiny marketing budget, and a distinctly quirky and off-beat point of view, opening with little fanfare (a quick google search reveals that this is the film's only official local press mention) find a theatrical audience in 2012?
Even Tyler Perry...
...cultivated his audience over time, first with his live touring stage shows, then with direct sales of DVDs of his live theatrical productions. By the time his film "overnight sensation" breakthrough film Diary of a Mad Black Womanopened on February 25, 2005 (Before 'game-changers" like Netflix Streaming and the iPad), with a shocking $21,905,089 take (#1 rank, 1,483 theaters, $14,770 average) the master had a well oiled marketing network in place, with a rabid loyal fan base.
Rather, the new path to indie auteur success appears to be a hybrid of festivals, live "event" screenings, Video On Demand platforms, targeted theatrical bookings, and a direct sales strategy. The Joe Swanberg and Cory McAbee have perfected the model. The current theatrical successes of Margin Call and Melancholia, despite their availability on VOD suggest that the model is evolving.
Even Kevin Smith circumvented the theatrical route with the release of his latest film Red State.
All that said, I am rooting for the film to do well. It certainly deserves an audience. Go see it if you can.
But if you don't, we all know that you'll discover it on Netflix, on your Roku, on your iPad, on Xfinity, or UVerse...
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