NYC Premiere of "Revengeance"

We've been holding back any public theatrical screenings of "Revengeance" because we didn't want to saturate the market, in case any distribution companies expressed an interest.  But I was asked to screen the film for the animation students at SVA as part of their "After School Special" program.  These New York City students are sort of like the future of the animation industry - so how could I turn that down?

We decided to turn it into an open screening, with free admission - and we advertised it on social media as the NYC premiere, and included a discussion between the film's writer/designer/co-director Jim Lujan and me (via Skype, since Jim's based in L.A.)  So with us discussing the film's background and production it really became something of an educational event, yet I could also invite my friends, people who worked on the film, and some hardcore fans who pay attention to my Facebook and Twitter accounts.  So we booked it into the wonderful SVA Theater on 23rd St.

I decided to come early to check the Skype and projection systems, when I discovered a long line running down the sidewalk.  I thought, "They must be having another event that starts earlier..." but no, these were students and fans who had heard about "Revengeance" and were determined to get a seat. Well, they were the smart ones, because it was totally sold out, and they had to turn away about 40 people, for fear of violating the fire codes.

                                                                       A packed house!

After the screening, I jumped on stage to tremendous applause, and Jim and I did a 40-minute discussion on how the film was made, followed by a few rounds of Q&A.  The audience fell in love with Jim - he's so entertaining!

Then I sat at the merch table and gave everyone a free sketch of the stars of the film, and as they received their signed postcards people gushed about how much they loved "Revengeance".  Afterwards, I met up with some of my animation buddies at "Trailer Park", a local dive bar, for drinks and a re-cap of the glorious event.  Now, two days later, I'm still receiving glowing e-mail responses.

                             with Mark Osborne, director of "Kung Fu Panda" and "The Little Prince"!

I hope some clever distributor picks up on the great buzz from Wednesday night and offers us a distribution deal - that would be nice!

My thanks to everyone who came out and made the show a success!

Bill P.