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Dear DriverXers,
I hope you all had a terrific holiday and that 2018 is off to a smashing start! I wanted to catch you up on all things DRIVERX, both past, present and future...
WHAT'S BEHIND
We had another terrific screening, this time at the Lone Star Film Festival in Fort Worth, TX, in November. Patrick was there, and in the sold-out audience were many old friends of mine, (I'm from Texas), which was a blast. We were also joined by one of our investors, Greg, (also an old friend), who drove all the way from McAllen, TX to check up on his investment, (that's a 500 mile drive!). I'm happy to report that he was very satisfied with the film, telling me in an email, "of all the good things that occurred this year in 2017, DriverX was certainly at the top." That's so great to hear! |
| | | We also picked up some more great press. Patrick was a guest on the Dallas TV show Good Morning Texas, where he showed off his cowboy boots and talked up the film. Suzee’s Behind The Scenes gave us a great review, calling the film "original, funny and clever" and saying, "I don't think there's any other movie out that goes so deeply into the mind of a ride-share service driver and uses it as a backdrop for coming of age.”
We got a similar note from Dan Buffa, in perhaps our best review so far. Dan writes film reviews for KSDK in St. Louis, and he's also a part-time Uber driver himself. He declared, "There will be a lot of Uber/Lyft inspired movies coming out in the next few years…just let it be known that DriverX was the first to the table and the one that got it right.” You can read his full review here.
WHAT'S NOW
I've finally started releasing my series of videos called "Patrick Fabian Talks About...", where Patrick discusses DriverX, Better Call Saul, The Last Exorcism, and more. I have over 20 of these videos edited so far and will be releasing 1-2 per week for the next several weeks.
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| These are fun, short videos that give you a little insight into the making of these projects, and after seeing them, you'll discover what we learned long ago--that Patrick is a charming, funny, gracious guy, who can really tell a story. I'll be releasing these on our Twitter, Facebook and YouTube channels, so if you're not following us or subscribed to one (or all) of those, please click the buttons below and join us! And any help you can give sharing these videos with your followers and friends will help us build our social media presence.
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WHAT'S AHEAD
Our next screening dates are March 1st and March 3rd at the Durango Independent Film Festival. If you're in Colorado or New Mexico, come on by! Patrick will be shooting Better Call Saul in nearby Albuquerque, so he'll be there for the March 3rd screening. And it looks like I will do one of my "Art of No-Budget Filmmaking" presentations there, as well. More information on this festival and others coming soon.
Some of you have asked...When will the film be released?? I don't have an answer to that question yet, but I can tell you that the gears are turning in that respect, and you will certainly be the first to know when we have something to announce.
Along those lines, I can tell you--and I'm sure I've told you this before--your support is critical. The two biggest things you can do for us right now are to join us on our social media platforms, and rate (and review) the film.
Already your help in that area has made a big difference. When we first screened the film in Tacoma, we didn't have an IMDB rating at all. I happen to know for a fact that people at festivals check IMDB for a film's rating when they're deciding what they want to see. After asking you to rate the film, I'm proud to say we now have an incredibly high 9.2 rating! With 30 ratings so far. The number of ratings is really important because it gives credence to the rating itself. If the number of ratings is low, then the rating looks manufactured. That's why I'd like to ask those of you who haven't rated the film to take a second and please do so. The distributors we'll be talking to are looking closely at these two metrics (social presence and IMDB rating). Here's a step-by-step guide to helping us boost both of those measures:
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- Follow us on Social Media and post something positive about the movie. If you're so inclined to do that, please make sure to include our handle in your post. For Twitter and Instagram, that would be @DriverXMovie . We're also on Facebook, where once you 'Like' our page, you can imbed the link in your post by typing '@DriverX'. Actually just following us on our three social media platforms makes a big difference to potential distributors, since they not only judge you by the quality of your film, but also by your social status, (just like high school...)
- Rate us on IMDB. IMDB has become the de facto way people decide to see a movie at a festival. They read the description, perhaps watch a trailer, and then look it up on IMDB to see if it has a good rating. It takes about 2 seconds to rate a film on IMDB. Just click the button below and then click the star that says "Rate This" (to the right of the Title). If you're not logged into IMDB, it will ask you to log in first, and if you don't already have an IMDB account, it will ask you to create one, which takes about 5 seconds and is free. Of course, I want you to be honest with your rating, but if you're going to go to all the trouble to rate the film, please consider rating it highly, (just sayin'...)!
It's like you've just taken an Uber or Lyft and now you get a chance to rate your driver!
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Now, if you really want to help us out, and you miss your college creative writing days, you might want to review the film on IMDB. This takes about 2-5 minutes, depending on how much and how quickly you write. To review the film, log into IMDB, rate it first (let's get as many ratings as we can), then click the button below and give it your best Roger Ebert or Pauline Kael. All of this, trust me, is vitally important for a little indie like ours, and of course, MOST APPRECIATED!
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Thank you again for all your support the past 2 plus years! We're looking forward to an exciting 2018. I'll be back in touch with more screening news. Until then, I hope to "see" you on social media!
Best, Mark |
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