The reel work

No, it is not a typo. We are working on the reels. We got to get people to buy tickets. How do we inspire them to go and see this little local movie?! That is where the real work is being done. Yes yes, a bit cheesy, but please just go with it ... the material for Material is what this is all about.

We are very confident in the product. It has been tested with over 300 people and the response has been overwhelming. We know that whoever goes to see the film will be delighted - the thing is: why will they take a chance and buy a ticket?

All the ticket prices are the same. So why would someone want to spend 40 bucks on a local movie when they can go and see a big budget Hollywood blockbuster for the same price?

This is not an easy question to answer. The truth is, I have no idea. Perhaps it will be the relentless marketing campaign that motivates them, or perhaps Riaad's fans will mobilize, or perhaps we will just have some luck on our side. Or, all of the above. One thing is for sure, we know that the film is going to have strong word of mouth - we just need that initial wave of people to go support Material on the opening weekend. It is that initial wave that keeps us up at night. We need people to go on the opening weekend and that is the bottom line.

It is good thing we now have the Gautrain in JHB - at least there is somewhere I can go and busk if we don't do the numbers.

The past few weeks have been the most intense I have experienced in years. The reels are coming, to a cinema near you!

Posted by Ronnie Apteker

Cultural Differences Explained

A friend sent me this - it is an oldie, but it made me laugh all over again - it had to be shared:

On a chain of beautiful deserted islands in the middle of the South Pacific, the following people are stranded:

* Two Italian men and one Italian woman.

* Two French men and one French woman.

* Two German men and one German woman.

* Two Greek men and one Greek woman.

* Two British men and one British woman.

* Two Bulgarian men and one Bulgarian woman.

* Two Japanese men and one Japanese woman.

* Two Chinese men and one Chinese woman.

* Two Irish men and one Irish woman.

* Two American men and one American woman.

One month later, on these absolutely stunning deserted islands in the middle of nowhere, the following things have occurred:

* One Italian man killed the other Italian man for the Italian woman.

* The two French men and the French woman are living happily together in a ménage a' trios.

* The two German men have a strict weekly schedule of alternating visits with the German woman.

* The two Greek men are sleeping together and the Greek woman is cooking and cleaning for them.

* The two British men are waiting for someone to introduce them to the British woman.

* The two Bulgarian men took one look at the Bulgarian woman and started swimming to another island.

* The two Japanese have faxed Tokyo and are awaiting instructions.

* The two Chinese men have set up a pharmacy, liquor store, restaurant, and laundry, and have gotten the woman pregnant in order to supply more employees for their stores.

* The two Irish men divided the island into north and south and set up a distillery. They do not remember if sex is in the picture because it gets somewhat foggy after a few pints of coconut whiskey. However, they are satisfied because the British are not having any fun.

* The two American men are contemplating suicide, because the American woman will not shut up and complains relentlessly about her body, the true nature of feminism, what the sun is doing to her skin, how she can do anything they can do, the necessity of fulfillment, the equal division of household chores, how sand and palm trees make her look fat, how her last boyfriend respected her opinion and treated her nicer than they do, and how her relationship with her mother is the root cause of all her problems, and why didn't they bring a damn cell phone so they could call 911 and get them all rescued off this forsaken deserted island in the middle of freaking nowhere so she can get her nails done and go shopping?

Posted by Ronnie Apteker

Passion and purpose

When you hire someone you can contract them to be punctual, but you can't make them be passionate. You can't buy love. You can't put passion into a contract - not a marriage contract, not an employment contract, not any kind of contract.

Purpose is a very specific thing. You either feel it or you don't. You can't pay people to love something. At IS there is a saying "Do what you love and love what you do." Of course, this doesn’t have to apply only to technology, but, if you love to do something then it is not because someone paid you.

I am always amazed when you meet someone who is enthusiastic and passionate. Why am I amazed... Because, in my view, these people are rare. They are not the norm.

Purpose is a privilege and also a curse. Doing what you love can often cause pain. If you do what you love and it does not love you back, well then it can be a real struggle.

At the moment Material (the movie) is not making my life easy, but we love it - the Moosa man is the real deal!

Posted by Ronnie Apteker

Festive spirit

The year is about to begin - from Monday it is gonna be material madness.

Before the holidays become a distant memory, here is one classic festive joke that a friend sent me - enjoy:

A married couple had been out Christmas shopping at the mall for most of the afternoon. Suddenly, the wife realized that her husband had "disappeared".

The somewhat irate spouse called her mate's cell phone and demanded: “Where the hell are you?”

Husband: “Darling you remember that jewelry shop where you saw the Diamond Necklace and totally fell in love with it and I didn't have money that time and said, 'Baby it'll be yours one day'.”

Wife, with a smile blushing: “Yes, I remember that my love.”

Husband: “Well, I'm in the pub next to that shop.”

Posted by Ronnie Apteker

A material year

Next year the Material movie is coming out - the 17th of February is not far away now. A lot of pacing is on the horizon ...

The film is magical - if you see it you are gonna love it. With a bit of luck we may just get the numbers.

We have a real shot with this film - it truly is wonderful. My wish for the new year is that it is a Material year.

As I sit here and ponder I think of a thought that Joey Rasdien shared with me once. Joey is a funny man, and one of the lead actors in the movie. I once asked Joey if he was happy and this is what he said "I am not where I want to be, but I thank God I am not where I used to be."

This new movie is material (excuse all the puns) and we are definitely not where we used to be.

Happy new year everyone - may we all produce some magical material in 2012.

Posted by Ronnie Apteker

Season Greetings

A friend sent me this - it was too good not to share:

Season Greetings

I wanted to send some sort of holiday greeting to my colleagues and friends, but it is so difficult in today's world to know exactly what to say without offending someone. So I met with my attorney yesterday, and on his advice I wish to say the following:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral celebration of the summer solstice holiday, practiced with the most enjoyable traditions of religious persuasion or secular practices of your choice with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.

I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2012, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make our country great (not to imply that South Africa is necessarily greater than any other country) and without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.

By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms:

This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.

Disclaimer: No trees were harmed in the sending of this message; however, a significant number of electrons were slightly inconvenienced.

Posted by Ronnie Apteker

Material madness

The year is winding down ... almost. But the material for Material is gearing up for the big event. The 17th of February is what it is all about. And this is not far away ... phew!

We have 10 corporate supporters that are helping us spread the word. Thank you to all of you. By the third week of January the campaign will begin and the Moosa man will be all over the place - lots of material is coming! The brands that are helping us include: Discovery, First National Bank, Steers, Glaceau (Coca-Cola), Europcar, Independent Newspapers, Multichoice, 94.7 (Primedia), Exclusive Books and Internet Solutions. Thank you again, to all of you.

The movie continues to get an overwhelming response from everyone we show it to. And they all say the same thing "This movie is so magical that it will sell itself." Yeah, I know that old expression "it speaks for itself". But, I have not heard the movie say one frikken word!? Does the movie speak French or something?! In my view, this is a very quiet movie - like it has lost its voice. Come on movie, speak up - spread the word!

The movie may be stunning but we are out there doing all the work. Yes, we do believe that the word of mouth on the film will be very very strong, but the challenge in South Africa remains: how do you get the public to buy tickets to a local movie. The economy is really tough at the moment (and about to get even tougher in the new year), and when someone goes to the mall and is presented with a bunch of Hollywood blockbusters, and there is an unknown little local film, then that one is always the last on anyone's list.

People are watching their spend more and more and all the movie tickets cost the same price, so why would one buy a ticket for a small South African film. Consider also that there is such a mistrust when it comes to local arts, especially movies, then you can start to see what I mean when I say that the movie isn't going to sell itself. We are on the road, all the time, drumming up marketing support with anyone who will give us an ear - so, please also help us spread the word - we really need ALL the help we can get.

I promise you one thing, you are going to be blown away when you see this movie - it is not what you are expecting at all. And if you don't like it, I will give you your money back (I am still good for it).

Now, check out the official trailer - it just went live this week : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMGkebuEkkE

Bring on the material madness!

Posted by Ronnie Apteker