Third Window Films Discussion Thread

[Sinthetic]

Originally Posted by thirdwindowfilms

With Snake of June, think I've said it many times, but the rights are still owned by Tartan and I can't do anything about that until rights lapse and then would still need the sell-off period to end and give it time before starting anything else again, so it would be a while before anything can be done. For Goblin, in theory, but because Third Window is not a big company I can't really devote too much time to the same director as that would mean less time on others and therefore would just turn the label into a Tsukamoto or Sono or someone else label, which defeats the whole purpose of the label trying to show variety within Asian cinema. That's the reason why we release comedies, dramas, independent films along with the Sonos, Nakashimas, Tsukamotos, is that people come in for the established and then hopefully try out the independent or non-genre fare and hopefully can open up all aspects of Asian cinema so that in the future Asian cinema as a whole has a better chance of reaching the West, and not just 'extreme' or genre cinema.

Last thing we want is for you guys to become devoted only to a few directors. It's great that Sono and Tsukamoto feature so heavily in the Third Window catalogue, but they have definitely put out some stuff (as Directors) that I wouldn't want to own.

Keep introducing new talent and things that some of us haven't heard of and it will be all good. I have said it a dozen times, Confessions is by far the best Asian film to come out on BD in years. Anything of the same caliber will be hugely championed by me. Doesn't always have to be funny or violent like you said. Something like Arrow's Okuribito would have fit right in with this label.

[Pooch]

Hi,

The thing is, as I've said in another thread, is that with non-English-language films, the best way to get people interested in something they've never seen before, or is in a foreign-language, is pander to their basic instincts.

As crude as that seems, get them watching Tsukamoto or Sono films, then you can diversify. Once you've got them watching the foreign-language films, then you can start expanding their reportoire with more diverse, intellectually-challenging and cerebral films.

That's why Manga Video and Tartan Video both started off releasing controversial titles, filled with sex and violence. It got people talking, but more importantly, it got people who wouldn't normally touch anything non-English, buying their titles!

Once you've got them hooked, then go for the less salacious, less violent and profane works. I can guarantee if you do things this way, you will get more people interested in your label's titles.

But you need to "hook" people in first. And, certainly in the UK, that's the hardest part.


Pooch

[Mansinthe]

same in germany.. most asia movies are either HK kung fu stuff , or korean crime-revenge movies. maybe some japanese horror and samurai movies. but mostly thats it.

sure there is rapid eye movies that release stuff like "guilty for romance" but most movies are DVD only and for the biggest part sex / violence stuff as well.

thats what third window makes so unique in europe. they release all kind of movies i bet a lot of people have never seen a korean comedy before...

sure there are a lot of (really good) korean "drama" movies , but they get hardly any attention... (i love movies like "remember me" "always" etc)

[thirdwindowfilms]

Originally Posted by Pooch

Hi,

The thing is, as I've said in another thread, is that with non-English-language films, the best way to get people interested in something they've never seen before, or is in a foreign-language, is pander to their basic instincts.

As crude as that seems, get them watching Tsukamoto or Sono films, then you can diversify. Once you've got them watching the foreign-language films, then you can start expanding their reportoire with more diverse, intellectually-challenging and cerebral films.

That's why Manga Video and Tartan Video both started off releasing controversial titles, filled with sex and violence. It got people talking, but more importantly, it got people who wouldn't normally touch anything non-English, buying their titles!

Once you've got them hooked, then go for the less salacious, less violent and profane works. I can guarantee if you do things this way, you will get more people interested in your label's titles.

But you need to "hook" people in first. And, certainly in the UK, that's the hardest part.


Pooch

that's exactly what i said in the post at the top of this page, but I also said that i can't only release tsukamoto and Sono films.

Here is a list of 'genre' or 'cult' films released by Third Window Films:

No Blood No Tears
Say Yes
Wild Card
Teenage Hooker Became a Killing Machine
Tetsuo
Tetsuo II
Bullet Ballet
Tokyo Fist
Kotoko
Confessions
Cold Fish
Love Exposure
Eyes of the Spider / Serpent's Path
Friend
PTU
Guns and Talks
No. 3

and to be honest, the bigger sellers like Kamikaze Girls, Fish Story, Memories of Matsuko, Fine Totally Fine, Funuke: Show Some Love You Losers, Land of Hope, Himizu, Foreign Duck, Adrift in Tokyo, Turtles are Surprisingly Fast Swimmers, Dasepo Naughty Girls, etc are NOT included in that list.

I said in my own statement that balance was needed, and that's why films like Bleak Night and Pluto have been added to 2014, plus we have a very big budget, very bloody, very well known and from a very established director horror/exploitation film coming in 2014 too.

Actually, the difference is that Tartan didn't balance as well (in respect to their Asian cinema output), and put most of their focus ONLY on genre or extreme titles, so it's not like they opened it up with extreme and then put in independent dramas or comedies, actually they went even further into more extreme and more basic genre titles towards the end of their time, and that didn't help them. Or just look at the case of Cine Asia who focused on nothing but genre titles and that didn't help them either.

[Steedeel]

I have been enjoying Asian films for many years now. Cold Fish, Bedevilled, Oldboy, The Host, Mother etc.. I appreciate the work you guys do and look forward to future releases on bluray. I am intrigued by that horror film you mentioned. Is it Macabre?

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Sinthetic

Last thing we want is for you guys to become devoted only to a few directors. It's great that Sono and Tsukamoto feature so heavily in the Third Window catalogue, but they have definitely put out some stuff (as Directors) that I wouldn't want to own.

Keep introducing new talent and things that some of us haven't heard of and it will be all good. I have said it a dozen times, Confessions is by far the best Asian film to come out on BD in years. Anything of the same caliber will be hugely championed by me. Doesn't always have to be funny or violent like you said. Something like Arrow's Okuribito would have fit right in with this label.

I thought Bedevilled was much better than confessions.

[Robert S]

I wonder if there will be an opportunity to release some of Takashi Miike's stuff. Films like Rainy Dog, The Bird People in China and Gozu would be terrific choices.

[Pooch]

Hi,

Originally Posted by thirdwindowfilms

that's exactly what i said in the post at the top of this page, but I also said that i can't only release tsukamoto and Sono films.

Cool! Glad we are both on the same page, so-to-speak.

Originally Posted by thirdwindowfilms

plus we have a very big budget, very bloody, very well known and from a very established director horror/exploitation film coming in 2014 too.

Wow! I'll look forward to that one. (I really dig my extreme cinema! )

Originally Posted by thirdwindowfilms

Actually, the difference is that Tartan didn't balance as well (in respect to their Asian cinema output), and put most of their focus ONLY on genre or extreme titles, so it's not like they opened it up with extreme and then put in independent dramas or comedies, actually they went even further into more extreme and more basic genre titles towards the end of their time, and that didn't help them. Or just look at the case of Cine Asia who focused on nothing but genre titles and that didn't help them either.

I'd actually disagree with you on that, completely. Tartan started off as another rival foreign-language VHS/DVD label to rival Artificial Eye. As such, they covered all genres, from comedy, drama, horror, thriller, documentary, sci-fi, and many others. They then expanded with the Tartan Extreme label, and started with a lot of Asian thrillers and horrors, before expanding that further still, with more extreme cinema from all over Europe.

I think the main problems they had were two-fold: expanding too-quickly, too soon, by releasing too many different titles at once, too often, and then watching titles fail, when they got cut by the BBFC, and people started importing uncut releases from Europe and the USA instead.

And then Blu-Ray started!

But I believe that Tartan were a tiny outfit: not a one-man-company like yourself, but certainly they had a tiny number of staff working on the DVD side of things. Possibly one handful at most. So, what they achieved was pretty impressive for the day/time.

Alas, everyone else started to release Asian "Extreme" films onto DVD, and a hundred other labels all started to ape their success. Often with mixed results, but ultimately, taking revenue away from Tartan.

And I think that's the problem: once one company finds success, all the big companies join-in, create tiny, subdivisions of themselves, and start copying what companies like your own do, but without the taste and knowledge behind them, that someone like you who runs Third Window Films has.

Which then results in a hundred-and-one companys all chasing the same few fans of Asian cinema, with the fans own finite budgets.

With that all said, Tartan Video/DVD did certainly start a trend in the UK, and did put out a lot of high-quality films, and I miss their titles a lot. So credit's where it's due.

Many of them, haven't been improved, even on Blu-Ray. (Their Collector's Edition DVD of John Woo's HARD-BOILED still looks much better than the US Blu-Ray release!)


Pooch

[TJS_Blu]

What Robert S said.

[thirdwindowfilms]

Originally Posted by Pooch

Hi,



Cool! Glad we are both on the same page, so-to-speak.


Wow! I'll look forward to that one. (I really dig my extreme cinema! )


I'd actually disagree with you on that, completely. Tartan started off as another rival foreign-language VHS/DVD label to rival Artificial Eye. As such, they covered all genres, from comedy, drama, horror, thriller, documentary, sci-fi, and many others. They then expanded with the Tartan Extreme label, and started with a lot of Asian thrillers and horrors, before expanding that further still, with more extreme cinema from all over Europe.

I think the main problems they had were two-fold: expanding too-quickly, too soon, by releasing too many different titles at once, too often, and then watching titles fail, when they got cut by the BBFC, and people started importing uncut releases from Europe and the USA instead.

And then Blu-Ray started!

But I believe that Tartan were a tiny outfit: not a one-man-company like yourself, but certainly they had a tiny number of staff working on the DVD side of things. Possibly one handful at most. So, what they achieved was pretty impressive for the day/time.

Alas, everyone else started to release Asian "Extreme" films onto DVD, and a hundred other labels all started to ape their success. Often with mixed results, but ultimately, taking revenue away from Tartan.

And I think that's the problem: once one company finds success, all the big companies join-in, create tiny, subdivisions of themselves, and start copying what companies like your own do, but without the taste and knowledge behind them, that someone like you who runs Third Window Films has.

Which then results in a hundred-and-one companys all chasing the same few fans of Asian cinema, with the fans own finite budgets.

With that all said, Tartan Video/DVD did certainly start a trend in the UK, and did put out a lot of high-quality films, and I miss their titles a lot. So credit's where it's due.

Many of them, haven't been improved, even on Blu-Ray. (Their Collector's Edition DVD of John Woo's HARD-BOILED still looks much better than the US Blu-Ray release!)


Pooch

I was focusing on their asian lineup only, and did mention that before i talked about their releases.

actually, i worked for Tartan before so I know exactly how they ran things and believe me there's a lot of stuff people don't know about them...

and while they had a 'relatively' small number of staff in relation to maybe a bigger company such as Metrodome or Optimum, do you think that a big office on Dean Street in Soho is the sign of a 'small' company?

[thirdwindowfilms]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

I have been enjoying Asian films for many years now. Cold Fish, Bedevilled, Oldboy, The Host, Mother etc.. I appreciate the work you guys do and look forward to future releases on bluray. I am intrigued by that horror film you mentioned. Is it Macabre?

no, it's totally over-the-top type Japanese madness. A film which could only be made in japan, but is very stylish and big budget, not a sushi-typhoon film

[Mansinthe]

Originally Posted by thirdwindowfilms

no, it's totally over-the-top type Japanese madness. A film which could only be made in japan, but is very stylish and big budget, not a sushi-typhoon film

over-the-top japanese madness? now im hyped for that one how long till it will be released? any infos about that movie i might have missed on your facebook page?


wouldnt it be awesome if labels in the UK or all of the EU could just release "unrated" movies like in the U.S.? :P

[Mansinthe]

ive just watched the DVD of "see you tomorrow ,everyone" really awesome movie i had no idea what to expect of that movie but i liked it a lot !

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by thirdwindowfilms

no, it's totally over-the-top type Japanese madness. A film which could only be made in japan, but is very stylish and big budget, not a sushi-typhoon film

Can't you tell us?

[thirdwindowfilms]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Can't you tell us?

still finalising the deal as trying to make it a good bumper edition which beats other editions. You'll know the film, but just wait a little longer...

[deepbreathsanddeath]

Really looking forward to hearing what the title is.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by thirdwindowfilms

still finalising the deal as trying to make it a good bumper edition which beats other editions. You'll know the film, but just wait a little longer...

Ok, Very interested.

[Refused]

What is it!? I want it now!

[logboy]

Originally Posted by Refused

What is it!? I want it now!

guess ... 'shield of straw'.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by logboy

guess ... 'shield of straw'.

Doubt it mate. Although I am looking forward to that one. Don't think it is that 'over the top'