27/02/2014 - The distributor has implemented a highly original launch strategy for the hair-raising comedy by Benjamin Rocher and Thierry Poiraud

Released today at the Les 3 Luxembourg cinema in Paris, the comedy-horror Goal of the Dead (read the article) is benefitting from an unprecedented launch strategy concocted by Paris-based distributor Luminor. The basic idea consists of a split screening (two parts of 1 hour and 10 minutes each), with an interval in the middle. The two “halves” are Goal of the Dead - Première mi-temps by Benjamin Rocher and Goal of the Dead - Seconde mi-temps by Thierry Poiraud. Its recent premiere at the Berlinale European Film Market won over a good number of international distributors.

“We wanted to implement a totally atypical release, designed to be a little like the tours that music groups do,” explained Marie-Christine Fontaine, who is in charge of Luminor’s release strategy. “We offer the public an extraordinary screening experience, which is targeted and personalised, in the presence of the film crew and entertainers. The idea is to make the release into a big event, in the same vein as the screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which allowed the audiences to get together.

“We are going to start off doing this over one month, maybe longer, with a weekly event every Thursday evening at the Les 3 Luxembourg cinema in Paris. After that, the film will travel around a dozen regional cities, thanks to agreements that have been set up with a number of associations that organise festivals or genre-cinema screenings, such as Hallucinations Collectives in Lyon, Deviant Zone in Avignon, Bloody Week-end in Audincourt, the Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival and the Absurde Séance in Nantes.

“We’re aiming to stir up interest because it’s difficult to organise genre cinema on the traditional circuit, apart from for the American super-productions. We hope to get into the independent cinemas because Goal of the Dead is a horror-comedy with dialogues and a touch of arthouse cinema about it; it has really striking special effects (mainly thanks to BUF) and is a real work of art. Perhaps the exhibitors are a little scared of the genre-cinema audience, but they are wrong to be afraid, as can be seen at the festivals dedicated to this type of film, where the mood is very friendly and rather playful.”

In September, Luminor, which started up last year, distributed Citadel by Irish director Ciaran Foy on DVD and VoD, and in December, it distributed The ABCs of Death (a collection of 26 short films directed by international filmmakers). The Paris-based company also co-produced Cannibal [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Manuel Martín Cuenca
film profile] by Spanish director Manuel Martin Cuenca (screened in Toronto and an award winner in San Sebastian – read the interview with the director), for which the firm is currently devising a release strategy for France.

(Translated from French)