Spent a week in Canada visiting animation studios and primo Hellboy fans, Gary and Morna who own Starfish Galleries with their friend, Lisa. If you find yourself in Victoria, BC look them up. Great people and a gallery filled with amazing art. The glass rendition of the Right Hand of Doom is not in the gallery but in a private collection. We wound up the trip enjoying Canada Day and even got a chance to try some glass blowing myself.
So I came back and thought I'd get in a quick few hours in the office to adjust the artwork of the second DVD. That's it - badabing badaboom and out the door to get an early start on our own Independence Day. But there's this thing called email....
I won't bore you with minutia but there was cool stuff too. I saw a Hellboy Animated t-shirt. It has to be adjusted in a major way but it's neat that one exists.
I also watched the first pass at the teaser trailer. The guys really did a nice job considering the limited amount of footage they had to work with. I had a few notes about trying to get a little humor in it. Practically impossible given the short time but it is an important part of Hellboy. Not that the movie is a laugh riot but the big guy is famous for his dead pan lines. Without the humor it's still a great teaser so I'll make sure we touch on it in the trailer.
Here's the challenge about the selling and marketing of these DVDs: it's not about the fans.
Okay, it is sorta. You can't take the fans for granted because they are the engine that drives the excitement. If you're reading this there's a good chance that you're part of that engine. The first job is to convince you that we haven't screwed up the project. Hopefully this site has helped to do that. Then the teaser and the footage that you see between now and the premiere should get you excited, that we didn't just screw it up but have created a piece of Hellboy lore that you can't miss.
But the real challenge is to reach beyond the fans of the comic and reach the fans of the movie, the fans of horror, fans of comics, animation fans, gamers, anime fans, science fiction fans and anyone else who has an interest that overlaps with the core audience of these movies.
And if we do that... you get to see a lot more Hellboy movies and we've talked about some doozies.
Til next time -- Tad
PS - the hand is by Gary Bolt and is part of his collection.
Posted by: Tad | July 04, 2006 at 04:06 PM
That is one cool hand.
I see what you mean about it not being about the fans, Tad. A point that many fans ignore when they rant about how a movie deviates from a comic even though the artistic license used is often to make the film more broad in appeal. There are just not enough fans - especially for less mainstream properties like Hellboy - to support the big projects. That is one of the cool aspects of these kind of endeavors, that it can bring new fans into the fold.
I look forward to hearing about people discovering Hellboy for the first time after seeing these cartoons. It was one of the unique pleasures I enjoyed about the movie.
Posted by: kirk | July 04, 2006 at 08:08 PM
Tad, if you continue to be as genuine, informative and fun ot read as you have been to this point you will undoubtedly reach more than just the fans.
Posted by: Tim | July 05, 2006 at 12:36 PM
Hi Tad- If there is anything that DelToroFilms.com can do to help rev the engine, just let me know. We get a fair amount of traffic at the site (around 300 visitors daily), and I'd love help.
Posted by: Parker | July 06, 2006 at 07:24 AM
Thanks Parker. Right now just let everyone know that our SDCC panel is Friday morning at 10:30 but check their local listings!!
Posted by: Tad | July 06, 2006 at 08:31 AM
You got it!!
Posted by: Parker | July 07, 2006 at 06:09 PM