Thunderbird Releasing (née Soda Pictures)

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TMDaines
Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2009 1:01 pm
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Re: Soda Pictures

#176 Post by TMDaines » Tue Feb 14, 2017 6:33 pm

I was going to ask for a reversible cover for Toni Erdmann. One of the great modern posters has been vandalised by stars and adjectives.

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JamesF
Joined: Thu Mar 04, 2010 1:36 pm

Re: Soda Pictures

#177 Post by JamesF » Mon Feb 20, 2017 8:36 am

Late reply to this as I was on holiday for most of last week...

Gents, I'm totally sympathetic to what you're saying, but the ever-ubiquitous stars and quotes are here to stay I'm afraid. Nothing to do with lack of confidence in our films - they're proven to work and give ever-more-distracted audiences the extra push to commit to paying for the films, as well as convincing retail partners like HMV/Fopp and supermarkets buying in as many units of them as we can convince them to carry. Paterson and Toni Erdmann are both already Soda's highest-grossing films ever at the box office (sailing past the previous record set by Wadjda in 2013), and it wouldn't have happened without the big critical endorsement. I'm not saying I disagree that the stars/quotes can be an eyesore, but market forces clearly and I think understandably win out over aesthetics in this case. Reverse artwork isn't really worth the effort in most cases either I'm afraid, it's all extra costs that however negligible still cut into our ever-decreasing margins. Hopefully what's on the disc makes up for it!

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Aunt Peg
Joined: Fri Dec 21, 2012 5:30 am

Re: Soda Pictures

#178 Post by Aunt Peg » Mon Feb 20, 2017 8:55 am

James, Will Toni Erdmann be given a Blu Ray release?

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JamesF
Joined: Thu Mar 04, 2010 1:36 pm

Re: Soda Pictures

#179 Post by JamesF » Mon Feb 20, 2017 9:05 am

Aunt Peg wrote:James, Will Toni Erdmann be given a Blu Ray release?
It will indeed and is already up for pre-order. Won't have confirmed info on bonus features for a while yet but needless to say we're aiming to include as many as we can! :D

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rapta
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2014 5:04 pm
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Re: Soda Pictures

#180 Post by rapta » Mon Feb 20, 2017 9:08 am

JamesF wrote:Late reply to this as I was on holiday for most of last week...

Gents, I'm totally sympathetic to what you're saying, but the ever-ubiquitous stars and quotes are here to stay I'm afraid. Nothing to do with lack of confidence in our films - they're proven to work and give ever-more-distracted audiences the extra push to commit to paying for the films, as well as convincing retail partners like HMV/Fopp and supermarkets buying in as many units of them as we can convince them to carry. Paterson and Toni Erdmann are both already Soda's highest-grossing films ever at the box office (sailing past the previous record set by Wadjda in 2013), and it wouldn't have happened without the big critical endorsement. I'm not saying I disagree that the stars/quotes can be an eyesore, but market forces clearly and I think understandably win out over aesthetics in this case. Reverse artwork isn't really worth the effort in most cases either I'm afraid, it's all extra costs that however negligible still cut into our ever-decreasing margins. Hopefully what's on the disc makes up for it!
I understand this is the case for many independent distributors, not just yourselves. Besides, like you say it's the disc itself that counts more, and I'm very happy with every disc of yours I've picked up to date. Without you guys many of these films might end up on a barebones DVD with dodgy encoding, so I for one am grateful that's not the case.

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Aunt Peg
Joined: Fri Dec 21, 2012 5:30 am

Re: Soda Pictures

#181 Post by Aunt Peg » Tue Feb 21, 2017 7:22 am

JamesF wrote:
Aunt Peg wrote:James, Will Toni Erdmann be given a Blu Ray release?
It will indeed and is already up for pre-order. Won't have confirmed info on bonus features for a while yet but needless to say we're aiming to include as many as we can! :D
Thanks so much James! Really looking forward to Toni Erdmann's release (ditto Paterson). I was also impressed with Soda release of The Childhood of a Leader.

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repeat
Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2009 4:04 am
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Re: Soda Pictures

#182 Post by repeat » Thu Feb 23, 2017 9:48 am

James, I noticed you're distributing Bellocchio's Sweet Dreams theatrically - can you say if there's any chance of a home video release at some point..? (Hopefully so!)

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JamesF
Joined: Thu Mar 04, 2010 1:36 pm

Re: Soda Pictures

#183 Post by JamesF » Thu Feb 23, 2017 10:00 am

repeat wrote:James, I noticed you're distributing Bellocchio's Sweet Dreams theatrically - can you say if there's any chance of a home video release at some point..? (Hopefully so!)
Yep, we're definitely releasing it on DVD (no Blu I'm afraid) and digital HD in June. Early word of warning that it'll likely be a pretty no-frills disc though.

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repeat
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Re: Soda Pictures

#184 Post by repeat » Thu Feb 23, 2017 10:27 am

Excellent! No matter about frills - just glad to hear I'll get to see it some form or another, as all the festivals near me seem to have slept on it

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JamesF
Joined: Thu Mar 04, 2010 1:36 pm

Re: Soda Pictures

#185 Post by JamesF » Thu Feb 23, 2017 10:40 am

In the meantime, go to our website to find out where to see Sweet Dreams at a cinema near you from tomorrow :wink:

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What A Disgrace
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Re: Soda Pictures

#186 Post by What A Disgrace » Sat Apr 08, 2017 7:35 am

Any word on the specs for Paterson and Toni Erdmann? The former was released almost two weeks ago...

Davies's Quiet Passion is being released on DVD and Blu-ray on July 14.

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tenia
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Re: Soda Pictures

#187 Post by tenia » Sat Apr 08, 2017 7:58 am

What A Disgrace wrote:Any word on the specs for Paterson and Toni Erdmann? The former was released almost two weeks ago...
http://criterionforum.org/forum/viewtop ... 15#p573015" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The disc is a BD-50 (well used), with DTS HD MA 5.1 and 2.0, SDH subs, audio description in DD 2.0, and the Q+A with Driver.

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What A Disgrace
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Re: Soda Pictures

#188 Post by What A Disgrace » Sat Apr 08, 2017 10:37 am

That's what I get for not reading.

I'm curious about Toni Erdmann. The US Blu-ray release is going to be a BD-R, which suggests to me that it will perhaps be properly released by Criterion. But I'm not sure I want to wait that long. I also hope Quiet Passion will at least get a word or two from Davies in supplements!

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JamesF
Joined: Thu Mar 04, 2010 1:36 pm

Re: Soda Pictures

#189 Post by JamesF » Tue Apr 11, 2017 6:11 am

Hi all,

Hope you don't mind me largely copy-and-pasting something I wrote for the other forum... I was holding off until the official press release had been issued, but since I don't want rumours to start in a vacuum - as those of you who follow us on social media may have noticed, as of last week Soda Pictures has officially changed its name to Thunderbird Releasing.

For those of you who don't know, in late-2014, Soda were acquired by a Canadian multiplatform entertainment company named Thunderbird Entertainment, who do a lot of work in television (including co-producing Amazon's The Man In The High Castle) and wanted to branch out into film distribution in Canada (which is why we have released various titles there over the last two years) and the UK. There's no need for concern and nothing is really changing for the company other than the name and branding. It's an exciting time for us to be part of that umbrella, not least because Thunderbird are one of the producers of the upcoming Blade Runner sequel. (If only we could get the UK rights to that one; curse you again, Sony!) The last DVD/Blu-Ray release of ours that will be going out under the Soda branding is Toni Erdmann; everything from Age Of Shadows onwards will have the Thunderbird logo on it. I'll update with the link to the press release once it's finally issued.

The extras for Toni Erdmann are as follows:
  • Interviews with Maren Ade, Sandra Huller and Peter Simonischek
    Outtakes and Bloopers
    Kukeri in Bucharest and Cannes
    Theatrical Trailer
As well as DTS-HD 5.1 and stereo and the regular English subtitles for the German audio, the disc also features an SDH subtitle track. It does not contain the commentary and Q&A from the Sony disc (not that we didn't try!) - though it should be noted that neither of these apparently feature writer/director Maren Ade, which obviously made a difference in how much we were willing to pursue including them. It's swings and roundabouts I suppose - theirs has a Q&A and commentary (albeit without the writer/director's input) but is a BD-R; ours is a pressed disc, has an interview with Ade as well as a priceless outtake of Sandra Huller literally crying with laughter during an uninterrupted six-and-a-half-minute take that has to be seen to be believed. The choice is yours! :D

And yes, we will be releasing both Kim Jee-Woon's The Age Of Shadows and Terence Davies' A Quiet Passion on Blu-Ray in July. Too early to list specs on these yet, but I'll post back here when I know more.

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TMDaines
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Re: Soda Pictures

#190 Post by TMDaines » Tue Apr 11, 2017 8:02 am

Thanks for the explanations regarding branding and Toni Erdmann disc content.

Pretty sure I'll be buying your disc!

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tenia
Ask Me About My Bassoon
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Re: Soda Pictures

#191 Post by tenia » Tue Apr 11, 2017 8:10 am

I already bought the French Toni Erdmann disc so won't be buying the UK one, but this has me very interested ! :
JamesF wrote:And yes, we will be releasing both Kim Jee-Woon's The Age Of Shadows and Terence Davies' A Quiet Passion on Blu-Ray in July.

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Michael Kerpan
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Re: Soda Pictures

#192 Post by Michael Kerpan » Tue Apr 11, 2017 9:41 am

What is the region coding for Soda/Thunderbird Blu-Ray releases (since this is a Canadian operation do they do RA+B?)

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JamesF
Joined: Thu Mar 04, 2010 1:36 pm

Re: Soda Pictures

#193 Post by JamesF » Tue Apr 11, 2017 9:51 am

Michael Kerpan wrote:What is the region coding for Soda/Thunderbird Blu-Ray releases (since this is a Canadian operation do they do RA+B?)
Predominantly our British releases are Region 2/B-locked, as we often only have the rights for UK/Ireland and the contracts we have with producers and sales agents usually dictate region locking as essential. There are a few random exceptions over the last few years like our Kelly Reichardt boxset, or The Face Of An Angel which was a dual-territory release with Canada, but they're the exception rather than the rule. Similarly, our few Canada-only releases, like Slow West and High Rise, are Region A-locked. (Speaking of the Reichardt set, this is likely to go out of print soon as our rights on Old Joy and Meek's Cutoff are expiring, so anyone who hasn't picked it up yet, don't hesitate!)

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JamesF
Joined: Thu Mar 04, 2010 1:36 pm

Re: Soda Pictures

#194 Post by JamesF » Wed May 31, 2017 11:01 am

JamesF wrote:And yes, we will be releasing both Kim Jee-Woon's The Age Of Shadows and Terence Davies' A Quiet Passion on Blu-Ray in July. Too early to list specs on these yet, but I'll post back here when I know more.
Here's the final specs for both releases:

- The Age Of Shadows is out on July 10th, and features both standard English and English SDH subtitles. Unfortunately we could not license the bonus features from the US edition (not for lack of trying though!), so the only extra here is a trailer. However, if it sways anyone at all, this release features the original Korean-language opening credits, which have been replaced with subtitle credits on the US version.

- Happily, I can confirm however that A Quiet Passion, which is out on July 17th, will be a different story. As well as SDH subtitles, it will feature a commentary track by Terence Davies, a deleted scene, a short featurette (featuring interviews with Cynthia Nixon, Jennifer Ehle and Terence Davies), an excerpt from the documentary My Letter To The World (produced in tandem with A Quiet Passion) and trailers.

Other forthcoming Blu-Ray releases from us this year include Michael O'Shea's indie-horror The Transfiguration and Claude Barras' Oscar-nominated My Life As A Courgette - specs on both to be confirmed soon.

Also, for those who didn't see the announcement, at Cannes we acquired Michel Hazanavicius' Redoubtable for cinema release in the UK and Ireland.

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domino harvey
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Re: Thunderbird Releasing (née Soda Pictures)

#195 Post by domino harvey » Mon Jul 03, 2017 6:53 pm

The Kelly Reichardt Collection is now OOP, since as James said upthread, they lost the rights to Old Joy and Meek's Cutoff

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JamesF
Joined: Thu Mar 04, 2010 1:36 pm

Re: Thunderbird Releasing (née Soda Pictures)

#196 Post by JamesF » Tue Jul 04, 2017 5:17 am

Confirmed bonus features for The Transfiguration, which as far as I'm aware is the only Blu-Ray release announced anywhere for the film (it's going out DVD-only in the US):
  • - Commentary by director Michael O'Shea and producer Susan Leber
    - The Making Of The Transfiguration, including interviews with cast and crew (10 mins)
    - Deleted and extended scenes with director introductions
    - Trailer
Hope to have specs confirmed for our Blu-Ray of My Life As A Courgette in the next couple of weeks.

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domino harvey
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Re: Thunderbird Releasing (née Soda Pictures)

#197 Post by domino harvey » Tue Jul 04, 2017 11:25 am

It is so weird that that's what you call zucchinis over there

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knives
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Re: Thunderbird Releasing (née Soda Pictures)

#198 Post by knives » Tue Jul 04, 2017 11:39 am

Blame the French like with everything else wrong with England.

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zedz
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Re: Thunderbird Releasing (née Soda Pictures)

#199 Post by zedz » Tue Jul 04, 2017 4:08 pm

domino harvey wrote:It is so weird that that's what you call zucchinis over there
It could have been worse: baby squash (the notorious, now-banned Olympic event) or baby marrow (famed black market delicacy).

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rapta
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Re: Thunderbird Releasing (née Soda Pictures)

#200 Post by rapta » Tue Jul 04, 2017 5:57 pm

domino harvey wrote:It is so weird that that's what you call zucchinis over there
It is so weird what you call aubergines and swedes over there...

PS: don't wanna be 'that guy' but isn't zucchini the plural form? I.e. no need to add an 's' :-#

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