NEWS

Restructuring of Carmel Entertainment Group, LLC

Fri, 1 May 2009 08:47:24 -0700

ORANGE, CA — The principals of Carmel Entertainment are pleased to announce the restructuring of Carmel Entertainment solely as a representation and distribution company and the formation of their respective production companies, Ocean Avenue Entertainment, Inc. (Chris Bueno), and Birchwood Pictures, LLC (Larry Frenzel). For further information, please contact the companies at their respective email addresses: info@oceanave.tv and info@birchwoodpictures.com .

Distribution Deal for New Faith-Based Film

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:50:23 -0700

Orange County, CA, based Carmel Entertainment Group, LLC, has acquired the master distribution rights to NO GREATER LOVE, the faith based drama and debut feature from upstart Coram Deo Studios, Inc. Carmel Entertainment co-founder and President Chris Bueno remarked, "NO GREATER LOVE immediately grabbed our attention with its engaging story and exceptional production values for a low-budget independent film."
Carmel Entertainment made a “Giant” splash in the distribution world with the 2006 release of Sherwood Pictures’ “FACING THE GIANTS”. Fellow Carmel Entertainment founder and CEO Larry Frenzel added, “We're excited to partner with Coram Deo Studios on NO GREATER LOVE, which exemplifies the standard of excellence represented by the Carmel Entertainment brand. We look forward to a long-term association." Coram Deo President, Russ Rice, echoed the sentiment, “We want to partner with a company that shares our goals and ethics, and we feel we have found that in Carmel Entertainment. Our hope is for a relationship that can translate into quality products that entertain, provoke thought and make a difference.”
For more information on Coram Deo Studios as well as NO GREATER LOVE visit www.Coramdeostudios.com. For more information on Carmel Entertainment Group visit www.carmelentertainmentgroup.com.

Excerpts from The Christian Pulse/ Interview of Larry Frenzel

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 17:19:07 -0800

TCP: What do you see in the future of Christian movies in general?
Larry: First of all, it’s important to define the term, “Christian movie.” Does it mean a movie made by Christians or a movie about Christians? Or, a movie made exclusively for Christians? Or, a movie with explicitly Christian content? Or, a movie with a Christian worldview? Or, a movie with a Judeo-Christian worldview? Or, a movie based on Old Testament or New Testament characters? Or a movie with a redemptive message? Or, a movie with a moral message that contains no offensive language, violence or sexuality and is rated G or PG? Or is a “Christian movie” some combination of two or more of the foregoing or some other descriptions? The term “Christian movie” -- like the commonly used but vague terms “Christian audience” and “faith-based movie” and “faith-based audience” -- is used by both Christians and non-Christians, both inside and outside the motion picture industry, in ways that obviously indicate entirely different understandings of the term’s meaning. So, it seems that whether or not a movie is a “Christian movie” is a matter of perception, that is, it depends on “the eye of the beholder.”

My business partner, Chris Bueno, and I, initially evaluate the content of movies (potential acquisitions) for Carmel Entertainment based on worldview -- since worldview fundamentally differentiates Christian content from non-Christian content — and, of course, we determine whether the movie has a compelling story, good acting, quality production values and a marketing hook. If a film has those elements, we determine which, if less than all, Christians within the diverse and segmented population known (and generalized) as the “Christian audience” would embrace the movie. If the film can reach a sufficiently large target audience, our next determination is whether our church exhibition division, Carmel Cinema, could successfully exhibit the movie in some or all kinds of churches. Our way of evaluating movies also takes into account the fact that some or all of the “Christian audience” may watch a movie marketed to the “general audience,” but little or none of the “mainstream audience” is likely to watch a movie with explicitly Christian content that is marketed primarily to the “Christian audience.” Yet we also recognize that there is a viable market for explicitly Christian films, such as FACING THE GIANTS or THE CASE FOR CHRIST.

All that being said — and assuming that by “Christian movies” you mean movies with Christian worldview content — the future of such movies seems very bright because of the studios’ post-PASSION OF THE CHRIST recognition of the massive, underserved audience identified as Christians, who are clamoring for good content, and the studios’ openness to funding and distributing movies for this audience. It is entirely feasible that greater numbers of movies with Christian worldview content could be produced and distributed, but they must meet the threshold bottom line criteria of any successful movie, as noted previously: a compelling story, good acting, quality production values and a marketing hook. If Christian filmmakers truly embrace those criteria, then their films with Christian worldview content can succeed, and the doors will open wider for them. On the other hand, those who naively believe that their Christian worldview content will overcome story or production deficiencies will likely continue to face a bleak future.

In the future, we also see church exhibition, like our Carmel Cinema division, playing a greater role in bringing Christian worldview content directly to its core audience. The success and expansion of such exhibition could increase the demand for content and provide the resources to increase the production of films for the core Christian audience.

TCP: Can you tell us what Carmel will be working on the next couple of years?
Larry: We will continue to expand our acquisition and distribution efforts to help other producers market and distribute features and documentaries, and we’ll continue to executive produce documentaries. We’ve been developing our own slate of feature films and plan to initially produce three low-budget films. One is a comedy; the other two are dramas. Our goal is to produce films with Judeo-Christian worldview content that will appeal to the general audience, as well as to Christians, although we are not limiting productions to “family friendly” content. We see a place for realistic films with our worldview that could be rated more restrictively due to the subject matter. We also hope to expand our Carmel Cinema division and work with our studio partners to bring more films directly to audiences in churches.

By Donald James Parker
http://www.thechristianpulse.com

THE GOLDEN BOYS Breaks House Records

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 17:51:20 -0800

Los Angeles- Recently completed film “The Golden Boys” was booked by the producers for a five-day special engagement at the Cape Cinema in Dennis, Massachusetts. The film opened on Friday November 16th and packed the 305 seat cinema, breaking the 77-year-old theatre’s single day record on Saturday with a total of $8,788. The single day record was previously set by Fahrenheit 9/11 in 2004 with $7,715. “The Golden Boys” weekend gross of $22,804 has also broken the house record of $20,612 previously set by Fahrenheit 9/11. In addition, the film has also broken the theatre’s five day box office record, bringing in $36,290. The five day record was previously set by Fahrenheit 9/11 which brought in $33,403. From a national perspective, “The Golden Boys” was the #1 single screen highest grossing film in the nation. Exit polls conducted during the screening show a 90% approval rating.

"In the 77 year history of this theatre, this is by far the most well attended film," says Eric Hart, owner of the Cape Cinema who had to turn away approximately 600 people on the weekend who wanted to see the film.

“The Golden Boys” is written and directed by Daniel Adams who wanted to go after an underserved audience. The demographics of the film played to the baby boomer generation and beyond.

"It's an oft-quoted line in the film business that older people don't go to movies anymore, but what we're finding with 'The Golden Boys' is that the older audience is just as capable of getting into their cars and driving to the theater as the younger audience,” says director Daniel Adams.

Based on the bestselling novel by Joseph C. Lincoln titled “Cap’n Eri,” “The Golden Boys” is a comedy about 3 retired sea captains looking for a wife. It boasts an all-star cast including multiple Golden Globe and Emmy-nominated actor, David Carradine (Kill Bill Volume I & II), Academy Award-nominated actor Rip Torn (Men in Black, Wonder Boys, Marie Antoinette), Academy Award-nominated actor Bruce Dern (Monster, Coming Home, The Astronaut Farmer), Academy Award-nominated actress, Mariel Hemingway (Manhattan, The Contender, Deconstructing Harry), Academy Award-nominated actress, Julie Harris (East of Eden) and upcoming recipient of the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award, Charles Durning (O Brother, Where Art Thou, Tootsie)

Cinemavault Releasing International Inc. is handling worldwide distribution and has partnered with Carmel Entertainment Group to spearhead its US distribution efforts. Carmel Entertainment was instrumental in the success of Facing the Giants, a low budget film released in 2006 by Samuel Goldwyn which went on to gross over $10 million domestically. Harris Tulchin of Tulchin Entertainment,
Executive Producer and Producer’s Rep brokered the deal with Cinemavault & Carmel.

Documentaries and Films Now Showing in a Church Near You

Tue, 7 Aug 2007 16:25:49 -0700

LOS ANGELES – When writer and leading Christian apologist Lee Strobel’s new DVD, The Case for Christ, hits store shelves this Sept. 11, it will also hit the big screen—just not where you think.

The Case for Christ will appear on large church screens everywhere, reaching thousands and thousands of viewer/consumers in a burgeoning trend of devoted moviegoers.

Strobel knows that market well. This fall, on a national speaking tour of megachurches for his latest book, The Case for the Real Jesus, Strobel will also plug the new DVD based on his earlier bestseller, The Case for Christ. His aim is church movie nights. The legal-journalist-turned-apologist knows that Friday- and Saturday-night church pews are ground zero for a large chunk of the Hollywood-eluding audience that first surfaced for The Passion of Christ.

But that’s merely part one of the marketing equation. Part two is the stamp of approval. “A movie or documentary on sanctuary screens carries a pastor’s endorsement,” Strobel said. “As it attracts people, stirs talk, finds common ground with newcomers, engages audiences in the power of story—all the things churches do—it also becomes something people buy and pass along.”

Framing the Church Movie Market

Left Behind, from Cloud Ten productions, was the first widely released film on VHS and DVD distributed directly to churches for public viewing; it showed in approximately 3,000 churches. Facing the Giants, a 2006 church-made film distributed by Provident Films and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has shown, post-theatrical, in more than 7,100 churches so far.

Consider that Spiderman 3 opened in 2007 on 4,000 of 38,688 U.S. screens (MPAA numbers for 2006) as a wide release, spending millions on marketing. Church viewings potentially reach far more screens for a fraction of traditional marketing costs. They also spark word of mouth among the faithful, leading to robust DVD sales.

Of the approximately 350,000 churches in the U.S., according to Barna Research, in 2005, some 62 percent of Protestant churches used large-screen projection systems. Since 2000, when 39 percent of those churches employed large screens, the number has leapt to 59 percent. That’s 150,000 churches with video projection technology eager to use it for more than Sunday morning singing and scripture references. Meanwhile given that the general market for direct-to-video sales has dropped in the past three years, the largely untapped church market is looking particularly good.

Do Church Exhibitions Matter to Filmmakers?

Every year Sundance Film Festival producers screen and narrow some 8,000 movies to approximately 250 for theatrical distribution. Some of those films will thrive in both general and church markets. Other high-quality films with a spiritual message—movies studios might pass up—now have fertile new ground among audiences who love movies, go to church, and crave entertainment that doesn’t compromise their values.

Who’s Marketing the Movies that Churches Want?

Swank is the largest secular non-theatrical licenser. It rode the wave of the Passion of the Christ, selling 4,000 non-theatrical licenses. But since Facing the Giants, several Hollywood studios and independents have strategies specifically to reach the “church exhibition” market.

For example, on Sept. 11, Carmel Cinema, a division of Carmel Entertainment Group, premiers Lee Strobel's The Case for Christ for Lionsgate in churches across America.

Other studios with Christian-friendly films are gathering the goods to fill the church exhibition pipeline. Nov. 14, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and Provident Films build on the success of Facing the Giants by re-releasing a new director's cut version via Sermon Cinema.