05 November 2009

The Hard Boiled Productions Website

Chris and I (mostly Chris) have created a website for our production company, Hard Boiled Productions. The site (which you can find here) has all of the films we've made thus far, an interview we did for The Reel Skinny podcast, and a News link we intend to update...well, whenever we have some news. It's still in the beginning stages, so if you have any (constructive) criticism, fire away. And while you're at it, take a peek at Chris' new solo website.

We also wrote something of a mission statement for Hard Boiled Productions, which I'd like to post here in its entirety:

The world of contemporary filmmaking is in a state of turmoil at all levels. Hollywood and independents alike churn out identical films structured with the same rigid formulas and trite characters. Some rays of light shine through, whether it's an epic television series, a dazzling scene in a mediocre film, or a summer blockbuster that contains a shimmer of deeper ideas. Meanwhile, new technology is shifting paradigms. Theatrical windows, Internet piracy, Blu-rays, digital video players, streaming, etc. etc. You've read the articles. In short, no one knows how the upheaval will play out, or even when it will end. Major studios are clinging to recognizable properties, independents are desperately seeking distribution, and micro-cinema guerrillas are clamoring for attention from audiences and high rolling producers.

Into this chaos leaps Hard Boiled Productions.

We believe people will always want to hear and watch good stories populated by intriguing characters. The media formats change, but our baser instincts never do. We believe that while there may be only so many basic stories, there are new ways to tell them and alter or entirely break the existing formulas. Our only rule is "Don't be boring." We acknowledge that this means different things for different people, but embrace it all the same. We believe that stories should contain an honesty and truth about life and how we experience it, no matter the setting or genre. We believe that the audience is smarter than most people give it credit for, and more diverse than the demographics it's normally forced into. Viewers in rural Arkansas can enjoy a cerebral life-in-crisis melodrama as much as viewers in Tribeca can enjoy massive robots smashing cities. We believe profits and awards are wonderful to earn, but do not set the value of a film's worth. Producing a unique work that changes our audience is much more gratifying.

Creating and conveying stories is what we do. If moving images hadn't been invented, we would be novelists, playwrights, or circus performers. It is in our blood, our spirit, our souls, and we will do it for the rest of our lives. We have no other choice.

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