Lune Bateaux Pictures Invited Into New Wave Of Online Film Release

Feb. 6, 2013 - PRLog -- Greenville, SC - Lune Bateaux Pictures has announced that their short film, Emmeline Muffet Gives Up Her Tuffet, which was produced in Greenville with a local cast and crew, has been selected for digital distribution by Reelhouse.org, recently named by the Sundance Institute as an official distribution partner for the prestigious organization. It will be available on Tuesday, February 12, 2013 at http://www.reelhouse.org/lunebateaux for digital download and streaming at a price of $5. The film had a production budget of $3,000, and was funded in part by supporters at Kickstarter.com and a grant from the Metropolitan Arts Council.

“We couldn’t be more thrilled to be a part of what Reelhouse is doing”, said the film’s director and executive producer Stephen Boatright in a statement on Lune Bateaux’s blog (link below).  “In a sea of video sites loaded with an ocean of random content, they offer filmmakers a home for quality stories,” he says. In addition to the distribution platform, he continues, “they offer some incredible features such as a store for each project and the ability to run a crowdfunding campaign with a tip-jar or incentive-based sponsorship. The whole thing is seriously a game-changer.”

The independent self-distribution model has received significant attention since comedian Louis CK grossed over $1 million in sales in only 12 days with the online release of his comedy special Live at the Beacon Theater, and comedians Aziz Ansari and Jim Gaffigan have followed suit. “These guys have bypassed the studios and taken their content directly to their fans, and their fans have responded,” says Boatright. “The immense walls that for decades kept true independents from getting their films in front of wide audiences have fallen down. All that matters now is that you engage your fans and tell great stories.”

At a recent panel discussion in West Hollywood, DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg said, “There’s no question today more people than ever are watching movies around the world and that just continues to explode. The fact is it is transition and how they watch, at what price points, and windowing are in the center of the story right now. It is a moment of unprecedented transition and transformation.”

 Emmeline Muffet Gives Up Her Tuffet stars Mae Tromsness, Matthew Merritt, and Jason Shipman, and is a modern fantastical re-imagining of the classic nursery rhyme, Little Miss Muffet. The screenplay was written by local playwright Anne Pecaro, an adaptation of a one-act stage play she wrote as a commission for The Distracted Globe Theatre Company. The play was originally performed as a staged reading at the Warehouse Theatre and again at Furman University before Boatright acquired the film rights.  In her writer’s statement, Pecaro declares, “Writing the screenplay is a dream, to deal in images and colors, subtle movements and looks — the sort of thing I wish I could achieve on a stage. Each word, each flick of the eyes fraught with meaning…yum!”

In addition to the film itself, Lune Bateaux will use the Reelhouse platform to offer downloadable content a la carte such as an exclusive EP of music from the film by the band Wasted Wine, a printable digital copy of the poster, a PDF scan of Boatright’s personal shooting script with his handwritten notes, and additional commentary versions of the film.

Public screenings of Emmeline Muffet Gives Up Her Tuffet will be announced at www.lunebateaux.com/events.

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Relevant links:

Release announcement – Lune Bateaux blog post:  http://lunebateaux.stephenboatright.com/?p=290

Lune Bateaux’s profile on Reelhouse.org:  http://www.reelhouse.org/lunebateaux

A downloadable press kit with more information about Emmeline Muffet Gives Up Her Tuffet is available at: http://www.lunebateaux.com/press/muffet/muffetpresskit.pdf

High resolution production and press photos are available for download at:

http://www.lunebateaux.com/press/muffet/muffetpressphotos.zip

View the trailer at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGSbFkfIoMY



About Lune Bateaux Pictures

Based in Greenville, South Carolina, Lune Bateaux Pictures was founded in September 2011 by filmmaker Stephen Boatright surrounding the production of the short film Emmeline Muffet Gives Up Her Tuffet.  They are currently in development on a series of four short films adapted from Shakespearean plays, and a feature film adaptation of a novel. Learn more at www.lunebateaux.com.

About Reelhouse

Founded in 2011, Reelhouse is an open video sharing community that offers film and video creators a rich toolset to self-distribute their content directly to their viewers via any Internet- connected device. Creators can chose between a series of monetization models while also leveraging customization, marketing, merchandising and media features that provide an engaging experience for their audience, all within a community specifically for quality entertainment content. Co-founded by former Electronic Arts producer Bill Mainguy and executive producer Bill Harrison, Reelhouse is advised by company executive board member and former Electronic Arts Canada General Manager Rory Armes, Hootsuite CEO Ryan Holmes and former Warner Bros. Records CEO Todd Moscowitz, among others. For more information, please visit http://www.reelhouse.org.