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Too bad the producers weren't a little more patient

posted 16 years ago by larry-316
6 replies | jump to latest

The film was initially shown in limited art house release. In spite of raves from critics and winning numerous awards, including Milan International Film Festival and Sundance Film Festival, the producers chose to do a direct to DVD deal. As many know, in 2007 Tilda Swinton won an Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actress for her Supporting Role in “Michael Clayton”. Amber Tamblyn is currently starring in “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2” and will soon be co-starring along with Michael Douglas in “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt”. It’s too bad the producers got antsy and didn’t exhibit a little foresight and patience. If they had, I am certain they could have capitalized on the current success of Swinton and Tamblyn and re-released “Stephanie Daily” to a larger market. This most definitely would have provided a much greater return on their investment.

[–] sisterdebmac 16 years ago

Are you saying you wish that this movie, released in 2006 would've been held back for two more years? Exactly how were the producers supposed to know way back then that the lead actresses would have some success in the future and they should wait to capitalize on it? Crystal ball?
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[–] larry-316 16 years ago

No, not at all. The initial release was limited to just a few art houses, not in wide distribution. If you read my post, I never suggested they hold back the initial release. What I suggested was that, in my opinion, they were too quick to cut the deal for a DVD release. Tilde won her Academy Award in 2007. Had the producers held on to the movie, they could have re-released it at a later date, in a much-wider distribution. Such was the case with the 1999 movie "Boys Don't Cry", starring relavitely unknown Hillary Swank. Much like Stephanie Daley, it was a low-budget movie, tackling a very hard-hitting difficult subject. "Boys Don't Cry" didn't do well in its initial run, but went on to win numerous awards, including a Best Actress Academy Award for Swank. The movie was then re-released, and ended up doing fairly well in the box office and DVD sales. In my opinion, I think that if the producers really had waited a little longer, they could have done the same the S.D. I know this falls under the Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda catagory!

[–] KAnnD86 15 years ago

I kind of understand why they didn't release this in theatres. The subject matter isn't exactly a popular topic. They probably thought it wouldn't do well. At least the movie was made in the first place. Being played on TV might even reach a larger audience than being in theatres.

Tomorrow's just your future yesterday!

[–] sisterdebmac 15 years ago

It did have a limited theatrical run. It also did very well at festivals and garnered an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Amber Tamblyn, which I'm convinced she would've won if it hadn't been the same year as Felicity Huffman's showy star turn in Transamerica.
_______________________
Love Over Money, Art Over Commerce
Every. Single. Time.

[–] heaintloveu 14 years ago

Stephanie Daley came out in 2007, Transamerica came out in 2005. Not only that, but Amber Tamblyn was nom'd in the Supporting category, Felicity Huffman in the lead.

[–] RainyCloudz 12 years ago

The subject matter is a tough sell even though it's a great drama with strong performances from the two leads. I don't think most distributors would've bit because it'll be difficult to get people in theaters to see this.

I wished Amber got a more kudos because she turned in a fantastic performance and it could've led to bigger projects.