Greetings HHSE Friends & Followers - I was surprised to get some emails on Saturday from some HHSE shareholders that were lamenting that the 20-theatre opening weekend launch for UNHOLY SONG "only grossed $7,000" on the opening day.
Well, let me clarify several key issues that may have NOT been clearly communicated in our prior blogs.
1). BOX OFFICE RESULTS ARE IRRELEVANT TO OUR MARKETING GOAL - Our mission has been to enhance the visibility and awareness of the property... so if it sells some tickets, GREAT, but that was not the goal of a limited theatrical release. The point was to ENHANCE THE PROFILE of the movie so that it will be eligible for PRIORITY PLACEMENT onto TUBI, ROKU and AMAZON - all of which have a "theatrical release" preference for creating priority placements. THE MONEY IN THIS INDUSTRY IS BEING MADE VIA STREAMING SERVICES - not via Theatrical (unless you have a mega budget hit). When was the last time you went to a movie theatre... versus... the last time you STREAMED something to your home?
2). WHILE $7,000 grosses on a FRIDAY might sound small... it indicates that the film will likely hit $20,000 this weekend WHICH IS WHAT WE SPENT IN THEATRICAL MARKETING. So in only three days, we GROSS back the total P&A expenditure... PLUS we have now enhanced the credibility of the movie for PRIORITY V.O.D. support. NOT THAT IT MATTERS... but our "Per Screen" average on Friday of $355 makes the movie the NUMBER SEVEN best seller of tickets per location out of ALL Movies!! We will PROBABLY end up with about $1,000 "per screen" average... and likely in the TOP TEN on this per-screen basis.
3). BECAUSE OF THE THEATRICAL RELEASE - this title is now eligible for DVD and Blu-Ray sales at WALMART, TARGET and BEST BUY. These major retailers have found that INDIE films in key genre's WILL SELL WELL in pre-recorded, packaged goods formats... and we have now MET that condition (FYI, the genre's are HORROR, FAMILY, and CHRISTIAN appeal movies).
4). WE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO LAUNCH ON 300+ Screens - but decided that this would not be as ASSURED of a good return-on-investment. You see, 300 screens would cost the company about $250,000 in total costs... but would NOT generate a 10-X greater return from streaming than our initial launch with 20 screens (and a few more locations for UNHOLY SONG during March).
TWENTY theatres and $20k in launch costs is the SWEET SPOT to maximize R.O.I. Frankly, there's a mathematical argument AGAINST opening any film on 300 screens... because this level or release adds huge costs but is not a wide-enough release to cross the critical mass into a top ten that consumers will "want to see" sort of movie release.
Those in-the-know regarding streaming recognize that HOME PAGE or PRIORITY placement with TUBI, ROKU and AMAZON streaming services will make the difference between a title generating $50,000 in V.O.D.... and those titles that go on to generate more than $500,000 from streaming.
The theatrical launch of UNHOLY SONG was designed to make the film eligible for PRIORITY SUPPORT FOR V.O.D. and for Physical Goods (DVD and BluRay). The money invested by HHSE has been well-thought out, frugally spent, and delivers an assured R.O.I.
Why are we doing this limited theatrical release RIGHT NOW? Because we also have the OTC QB UPLIST, the Studio Partner deal with WILDFIRE, the $22-mm funding for TEMPUS PORTA and several other "yet to be announced" projects that combine to elevate HHSE to the next level.
UNHOLY SONG having a handful of theatres is a smart step to enhance the film's profile and become a part of a well-planned strategy to make HHSE into a respected indie studio (and towards our goal of a $.25/PPS stock).
Those that ACTUALLY KNOW and work in this business, will see that we have hit a solid base-hit with UNHOLY SONG, on our way to winning the world series... just watch, it's all happening NOW>>>>>
Almost ANY movie can be placed onto TUBI and ROKU... but the financial winners are those that have HOME PAGE or CATEGORY PAGE priority listings. How do you get that? One way only: theatrical release exposure.
I-HORROR.com
https://ihorror.com/indie-horror-unholy-song-gets-an-a-for-effort-review/
PRETTY PARANORMAL SITE
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1vwXtmOCGcQ7WWhx921eWP
KEY MARKETS for INITIAL LAUNCH:
San Francisco - Bay Area
Sacramento-Modesto-Stockton DMA
Nashville DMA
Las Vegas DMA
Kansas City DMA
Memphis DMA
Tulsa DMA
N.W. Arkansas DMA
