The Henry Fool Trilogy (Hal Hartley, 1997-2014)

Discussions of specific films and franchises.
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rockysds
Joined: Wed May 19, 2010 11:25 am
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Ned Rifle (Hal Hartley, 2014)

#26 Post by rockysds » Mon Nov 04, 2013 2:46 pm

Hal Hartley is kickstarting Ned Rifle, the third and presumably last film in the series.

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warren oates
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2012 12:16 pm

Re: Fay Grim (Hal Hartley, 2006)

#27 Post by warren oates » Mon Nov 04, 2013 10:07 pm

rockysds wrote:Hal Hartley is kickstarting Ned Rifle, the third and presumably last film in the series.
You had me at "Hal Hartley is kickstarting..." I've just donated. It felt good before to help finish Meanwhile, but even then I'd commented on the project's page that he was aiming too low, that he really ought to try and finance a whole feature. Even with occasionally bigger budgets, Hartley's been a DIY guy for his whole career. This is exactly the sort of American Independent production that seems to fit the crowdsourcing model best. This isn't about some novel vanity venture from rich producers or narcissistic stars. Hartley's films are the right size and his fan base seems so too. Here's hoping that everybody around here who enjoys his films and shells out for the new Blus from Olive and AE will be willing at least to fund Hartley's new film with a donation big enough to reserve a Blu-ray copy of it.

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warren oates
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2012 12:16 pm

Re: Fay Grim (Hal Hartley, 2006)

#28 Post by warren oates » Thu Nov 21, 2013 1:21 pm

Bumping this thread again to remind anyone who can pledge to the Ned Rifle Kickstarter and hasn't to do so ASAP. With only 12 days to go, Hartley's pretty far from his goal. It would suck to have him come up short if there's any way his fans can help it.

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Forrest Taft
Joined: Thu Mar 15, 2007 8:34 pm
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Re: Fay Grim (Hal Hartley, 2006)

#29 Post by Forrest Taft » Thu Nov 21, 2013 2:13 pm

Was about to post a reminder of this campaign myself. I really hope this gets funded, and we get the opportunity to see the follow-up to two of my favorite Hartley's. Have only pledged $37, but Hal Harltey has nearly convinced me to double my pledge!

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domino harvey
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Re: Fay Grim (Hal Hartley, 2006)

#30 Post by domino harvey » Thu Nov 21, 2013 5:38 pm

Image

The man knows his audience!

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Oedipax
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 8:48 am
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Re: Fay Grim (Hal Hartley, 2006)

#31 Post by Oedipax » Fri Nov 22, 2013 6:27 pm

Anybody want to get in the distribution biz? Hartley is now selling the theatrical rights to Ned Rifle in various territories as part of the Kickstarter. You get 7 years and can keep all the profits you make in that period. France at $9000 seems like the best bet for me, but a little too rich for my blood (to say nothing of knowing zero about the biz).

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Forrest Taft
Joined: Thu Mar 15, 2007 8:34 pm
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Re: Ned Rifle (Hal Hartley, 201X)

#32 Post by Forrest Taft » Tue Nov 26, 2013 11:55 am

Hal Hartley wrote:Dear Friends and Backers,

So, there are only a few days left to the campaign and I do not believe we are going to achieve the goal. So I'm stopping the campaign tomorrow morning rather than draw out your hopes and good wishes for no reason.

But it's not over. The campaign, though not reaching the goal, has gotten a lot of people very excited about Ned Rifle. I think I can work with them to finance a large part of the film.

It has been your excitement and pledges that have done that. After all, I mean, it is pretty amazing to see almost $200,000 pledged from around the world by regular working people for a film that's not even shot yet!

Once I establish that financing, I'll launch another Kickstarter to raise the remainder of what we need—a much more manageable sum. And I hope all of you will return for that! Because this is a really good thing, Kickstarter. (I got my knuckles rapped on Monday because I broke some rules, apparently. But, so, what else is new! Nobody got hurt.)

I want you all to know how encouraged I was by your pledges and your messages. And I'll continue to do smaller projects this way too. But Ned Rifle is the first order of business for me now.

Visit possiblefilms.com and—if you aren't already—sign up for the newsletter there. That'll be the best way to get updates about Ned Rifle. The company email address is: info@possiblefilms.com

Thanks again everybody. And stay tuned. Just short of crime, I'll get this thing done one way or another!

Sincerely,
Hal

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warren oates
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2012 12:16 pm

Re: Ned Rifle (Hal Hartley, 201X)

#33 Post by warren oates » Tue Nov 26, 2013 4:55 pm

And then, later that day...
Hal Hartley wrote:
Thanks for your deluge of messages!

I won't stop the funding yet. But remember (if you have not heard) Kickstarter will not allow me to offer limited distribution rights as a reward. It's outside their guidelines. So there's a $9000 pledge in there, still listed, that will not be allowed to go through. So we are not 52% funded, but still less than 50%. We need a little more than $192,000 in the next six days. Realistically, that means more upper tier pledges.

I'll have to work on that. And I will. But I have to get something to eat first. I'll send another update in a few hours.

Thanks for you ideas, your stats (very helpful!) and outrage!!!!

More soon,
Hal
As big a fan as I am of Hartley's work and his way of working, this whole campaign is looking kind of amateurish. On again, off again drama. Come-lately rewards that turn out to be SEC violation no-nos as well as breaking Kickstarter's own rules. No one can blame him for overestimating what he might raise. But some of this other stuff doesn't inspire confidence. Which is stupid, because his entire previous history suggests that he's way more responsible and organized than he's been coming off in the last week or so. And I suppose that's my funny way of still encouraging anyone who hasn't yet donated to click him a few promised $$$ in exchange for reserving a Blu-ray.

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Oedipax
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Re: Ned Rifle (Hal Hartley, 201X)

#34 Post by Oedipax » Wed Nov 27, 2013 2:23 am

Yeah, the tone has come off a little wishy-washy perhaps (along with the emails saying things like 'let's get over x amount by midnight!'). I wish the distribution thing had been allowed, I thought that was a pretty cool idea, really.

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warren oates
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Re: Ned Rifle (Hal Hartley, 201X)

#35 Post by warren oates » Tue Dec 03, 2013 2:04 pm

Somewhat unbelievably, Hartley's now within spitting distance of his goal. There are only about 20 hours left, though. So anyone on the board who hasn't ponied up some spare change, it's time to check your couch cushions again and pledge what you can.

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jindianajonz
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Re: Ned Rifle (Hal Hartley, 201X)

#36 Post by jindianajonz » Tue Dec 03, 2013 2:20 pm

I really wish he had offered a box set of all three films as a reward. I've haven't seen either of the other movies, though they sound interesting, and if I could get a nice set of all three I'd certainly be willing to pony up a bit more money.

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knives
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Re: Ned Rifle (Hal Hartley, 201X)

#37 Post by knives » Tue Dec 03, 2013 2:21 pm

You really didn't need to see the first to understand the second which I suspect holds over to the third if that is a concern.

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warren oates
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Re: Ned Rifle (Hal Hartley, 201X)

#38 Post by warren oates » Tue Dec 03, 2013 2:28 pm

The problem is that he doesn't control the rights to the first two yet. Hartley's already said he'll be rereleasing Henry Fool in a year or two when the rights do revert to him. For me, it's his best film, even over Trust, well worth purchasing right now on DVD or watching on iTunes or Amazon Instant Video.

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jindianajonz
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Re: Ned Rifle (Hal Hartley, 201X)

#39 Post by jindianajonz » Tue Dec 03, 2013 2:45 pm

Ah, I see. Well, I've gone ahead and backed for the blu-ray anyway. Even without seeing it, the obsessive compulsive side of me would hate to see a trilogy go unfinished.

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mfunk9786
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Re: Ned Rifle (Hal Hartley, 201X)

#40 Post by mfunk9786 » Tue Dec 03, 2013 2:46 pm

I saw that Judd Apatow tweeted about this the other day when it was several thousand dollars behind this current pace. Hopefully some folks with dough to throw at something like this who admire Hartley's work will take it over the top. Does Kickstarter have a rule against the person who opened the Kickstarter funding the remainder if it gets this close?

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jindianajonz
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Re: Ned Rifle (Hal Hartley, 201X)

#41 Post by jindianajonz » Tue Dec 03, 2013 2:50 pm

mfunk9786 wrote:Does Kickstarter have a rule against the person who opened the Kickstarter funding the remainder if it gets this close?
I don't see how they could stop it; the donations are already very close to being anonymous. I can't remember what they required at sign up, but I funded this through my Amazon account. I don't see how kickstarter could tie an Amazon account to the person who started the thing.

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knives
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Re: Ned Rifle (Hal Hartley, 201X)

#42 Post by knives » Tue Dec 03, 2013 2:52 pm

mfunk9786 wrote:I saw that Judd Apatow tweeted about this the other day when it was several thousand dollars behind this current pace. Hopefully some folks with dough to throw at something like this who admire Hartley's work will take it over the top. Does Kickstarter have a rule against the person who opened the Kickstarter funding the remainder if it gets this close?
Our own MichaelB plopped a great sum for the kickstarter he's involved with so I wouldn't be surprised if Hartley could do this.

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Oedipax
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Re: Ned Rifle (Hal Hartley, 201X)

#43 Post by Oedipax » Tue Dec 03, 2013 6:39 pm

Yeah, I've had friends who completed the funding on their own Kickstarters as well. I suspect, being within $23k of a $364k goal, that this will cross over the line one way or another. I doubled my pledge sometime last week when the total was still kicking around just over 50% funded, and now it seems I'll really have to pony it up!

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Oedipax
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Re: Ned Rifle (Hal Hartley, 201X)

#44 Post by Oedipax » Tue Dec 03, 2013 11:21 pm

Made it, with about 12 hours to spare!

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Adam X
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Re: Ned Rifle (Hal Hartley, 201X)

#45 Post by Adam X » Wed Dec 04, 2013 1:31 am

Wow, that's astounding. To think only about a week ago, it was so far from it's goal, that Hartley was planning to call it quits before the end date. Very happy to hear this.
warren oates wrote:Hartley's already said he'll be rereleasing Henry Fool in a year or two when the rights do revert to him. For me, it's his best film, even over Trust, well worth purchasing right now on DVD or watching on iTunes or Amazon Instant Video.
Thanks for mentioning this, hadn't realised this was so close to being possible, and was about to buy the Artificial Eye release. Guess I might hold off for its re-release.
Not sure I'd say I like Henry Fool more than his early films, but it was still a joy to watch. I recommended it to a friend who'd just seen and loved Fay Grimm, but she found it rather dark for her taste. Guess it's been so long since I've seen it that I forgot about the difference in mood.

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MichaelB
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Re: Ned Rifle (Hal Hartley, 201X)

#46 Post by MichaelB » Wed Dec 04, 2013 9:55 am

knives wrote:
mfunk9786 wrote:I saw that Judd Apatow tweeted about this the other day when it was several thousand dollars behind this current pace. Hopefully some folks with dough to throw at something like this who admire Hartley's work will take it over the top. Does Kickstarter have a rule against the person who opened the Kickstarter funding the remainder if it gets this close?
Our own MichaelB plopped a great sum for the kickstarter he's involved with so I wouldn't be surprised if Hartley could do this.
I'm certainly not aware of any such rule. In fact, I'd be happy to increase my pledge if it helped push things over the finishing line, but the way things are going it's not looking necessary.

(At the time of writing, the next person to pledge for the Borowczyk box set will not only be the 300th person to sign up but will also push the campaign over the £17,500 mark, making it less than £2,500 short of the ultimate target.)

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jindianajonz
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Re: Ned Rifle (Hal Hartley, 201X)

#47 Post by jindianajonz » Wed Dec 04, 2013 11:40 am

After waking up to an update saying that things were still shakey because people had begun dropping their pledges, I just got confirmation that the project has been funded. Congrats to all who wanted this to happen!

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mfunk9786
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Re: Ned Rifle (Hal Hartley, 201X)

#48 Post by mfunk9786 » Wed Dec 04, 2013 12:40 pm

FYI, Kickstarter has a protection built in. Once you cross the threshold, it doesn't matter if people retract or reduce their pledges after that, the project will still remain in Funded status. I'm sure that could be abused, but it's a nice feature.

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jindianajonz
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Re: Ned Rifle (Hal Hartley, 201X)

#49 Post by jindianajonz » Wed Dec 04, 2013 12:44 pm

Wow, that seems ripe for abuse, especially considering people can fund (and then pull funding from) their own project.

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mfunk9786
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Re: Ned Rifle (Hal Hartley, 201X)

#50 Post by mfunk9786 » Wed Dec 04, 2013 1:08 pm

If you think about it, though, all that money turns up in the same place, and they still have a bunch of other people waiting for the product they ordered.

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