"The television spots are very targeted so we could maximize our budget," says James Hoke, executive producer. "Some of the film fans and cast fans will never see the commercial or the print advertisements because a national buy just doesn't make sense for a movie with a limited opening. That might change in the weeks ahead ... you never know."
Hoke said there will be some national exposure however. Many of the reviewers who have seen the film at screenings are waiting until opening day before publishing their reviews. There are a number of brilliant and positive reviews for What Goes Up waiting in the wings, he said.
Pete Hammond, Hollywood.com, who is the same reviewer being exclusively featured on Angels & Demons movie advertisements, gave the producers an early quote from his review. He calls What Goes Up a "2009 Sleeper".
"When we look at the number of conversations about this limited release vs. any national release opening the same weekend, we are either on par or beat them outright," says Hoke. "We also have a broader appeal among certain demographics going into our opening week, easily ahead of any other film remotely close to our genre. Given the budget, we accomplished more in seven weeks than most films accomplish in a year. And, through it all, we steadily increased our international exposure so we can look at other countries toward the end of June, thanks to the most supportive fans ever."
Hoke adds that while it is anyone's guess what will happen on May 29, he remains confident given that What Goes Up had to add a second sold out screen during the festival opening before it went on to win the Buffalo Niagara Film Festival "Audience Award." Recently, a last minute promotional screening from Campus Circle also sold out so fast that the producers didn't even have to promote it. The advanced screening had just as much interest as a heavily promoted horror film opening that weekend."When you are working on any film, it's easy to get caught up in these numbers and those numbers," says Hoke. "But at some point, as Rich Becker likes to remind me, it's not about us. It's about the fans. Whether your favorite is Hilary Duff or Steve Coogan, Olivia Thirlby or Josh Peck, Molly Shannon or newcomer Max Hoffman, their performances will not disappoint. Neither do the people we've come to know online."
Next Monday, the production blog will feature the work of BlogCatalog members. Several entries will also be shown at the upcoming invitation only VIP Premiere.
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