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Strong
Opening for Civil
Brand in Los Angeles
It was a record breaking Labor Day as
more moviegoers
crammed into theaters
across the country
this past weekend
like never before. Industry analysts
contributed this
swell of attendance to a
flock of new
Independent films released
and leading the
pack was Civil
Brand. “The little
film that could”
earned an estimated
$120,000 on
only 35 screens
with a four
day average of
$3428 per
screen. These
figures are pretty remarkable
considering the film was only released in one city,
Los Angeles and the extremely limited
promotional campaign
which included
only two days
of radio
advertisement and a
handful of
television commercials, all of
which were exclusively
focused towards an
African-American audience. When
the official
weekend box office
reports are
announced later this
week it is
predicted that
Civil Brand should end up
capturing a
position in the
top 35 grossing
films. This is due
largely to strong word-of-mouth
buzz and a
furious e-mail
campaign led by
prominent urban
entertainment websites including
LTG focused all
across the
US.
Who
Came Out to See
Civil Brand?
The theaters where
CB played were evenly dispersed
throughout the city
however, but only
some garnered large
numbers in attendance. One
of the busiest locations
was the Magic
Johnson Theatre
located at the Crenshaw Mall. It
was estimated that
there CB took in
well over $20,000
in revenue alone. I
was able to
hold an impromptu
interview with many
of the attendees
who were just as
excited as I
was about the
films long-awaited
release. One particular
woman who told
me she chose
to see CB at
Magic Johnson because she
had heard so
much about the
film and knew
it definitely would be
running there if
no where else.
I also talked
to a White
woman who expressed
how she was
almost turned off
by the film
because of the
image of a
Black woman choking
a White man
on the poster. She
went on to say,
“ I was glad
I came to
see this film
because it was
nothing like the
advertisement.”
Great
Reviews Are Piling
in For CB.
The opening in
Los
Angeles also gave
film critics the
first chance to
review Civil Brand
and they have
been stellar,
particularly the Los
Angeles Times’ senior
film critic, Kevin
Thomas’
review. In
addition trade
publications like The
Hollywood Reporter and Variety
among others all have
been favorable. But there’s still
more work to
be done in
bringing
Civil
Brand to audiences
everywhere. The next
few days leading
up to this weekend
CB will have
to continue posting
impressive numbers in
order to persuade
its distributors
Lions Gate Films
to expand its
promotional campaign in LA and Theatre
releases in other
City’s. There are
many people in
Los
Angeles who have not
heard about
the film because
of Lions Gate
decision to market
it so narrowly.
If given the
chance, all
nationalities will embrace
Civil Brand and
its important subject
matter. As of 4:00
PM on Tuesday,
September 2nd neither the producers nor
the director of
Civil Brand had
heard from its
distribution company
in regards to their
future strategy for CB or
if they are
pleased with the
film's Box Office success thus
far.
Kimberly Fisher
LTG West Coast Correspondent
at ABFF in Miami
The
American Black Film Festival awarded Civil Brand the Blockbuster Audience
Choice Award last Saturday in Miami Beach Florida.
Clifton Powell
also took Best Actor award for his portrayal of Captain Deese in Civil Brand.
Filmmaker
Neema Barnette
accepted the award and told the audience that "Film is a political tool and the
final frontier for Black folks". Brand's screenings were sold out every day of
the festival with overflowing crowds that included
Chris Tucker, Robert Townsend
and
John Singleton.
"It's an excellent film" said Robert Townsend who mentioned Neema Barnette as a
"Future Shock" in his end credits of his second feature film "Five Heartbeats"
in the 90's. The
response to the Brand was exceptional. "I never thought the film would
move people like it did and I'm elated", said Barnette while being interviewed
by the Bravo Channel. "I made the film to enlighten people. I am
glad audiences have embraced the film with so much love". All the
festivals workshops which included
Bill Duke's
Actors Boot Camp were extremely successful, attracting hundreds of actors and
enthusiasts from around the country. Congratulations to the ABFF for another
great year.
Bob
H. Rich
Editor
LTG Helps Promote "Civil Brand" Film at ABFF in Miami
Read More...
LTG's Executive Director Honored At Film Festival!
On March 10th, in New York City film enthusiasts were able to catch a sneak
preview of one of our Executive Directors Neema Barnette's soon to be released
feature film, "Civil Brand".
Read More...