When Mike Hanus and Silvana Azurdia first planted the creative seeds for Jackhammer, the Victoria real estate agents never imagined they’d become film distribution revolutionaries six years later.
It shouldn’t surprise anyone who has been following this over-the-top comedy’s progress that the husband-and-wife filmmakers are becoming pioneers of an innovative digital distribution model to launch their labour-of-love. Hanus, its writer-director, and Azurdia, co-producing with McKinley Hlady and others, have been out-of-the-box thinkers from the get-go.
Turning down what Hanus termed “some bigger deals” with traditional distributors, the Victoria filmmakers chose a profit-sharing partnership with Gravitas Ventures and Phase 4 Films, which acquired video-on-demand rights internationally and in Canada, respectively.
Jackhammer — to male strippers what Zoolander was to narcissistic male models — will launch worldwide on Tuesday through several cable operators and online platforms via Vancouver-based Reelhouse.org, an online video community that lets filmmakers make money from projects through social media-driven incentives.
The Reelhouse.org partnership, in particular, gives social media stars, bloggers and operators of high-traffic websites, profit-sharing opportunities.
Defying conventional wisdom, the local production team shot their loopy, self-funded comedy in fits and starts over five years.
It stars Hanus as the rapping, self-absorbed bodybuilder and male stripper of the title who persuades his scrawny younger brother, an unemployed actor (co-writer Guy Christie), to join his ranks.
Their unabashedly mainstream comedy was shot in Victoria as funding allowed, with support from local sponsors, the production community and family and friends. Familiar comedic faces including Jamie Kennedy, Robb Wells and MadTV alumnus Nicole Sullivan eventually signed on and Pamela Anderson, their most famous cheerleader, made a cameo appearance.
Hanus is as pumped mentally as he is physically, with the attention their Telefilm-backed movie received when it screened at Cannes Marche du Film, accolades including three awards at CineRocKom in L.A., an exclusive trailer being featured on ET Canada and preparations for Wednesday’s Jackhammer launch party at Vancouver nightclub Joe’s Apartment.
“These are amazing new-age distributors who work with well-known producers and give you all the benefits of distribution while allowing you to stay in control,” said Hanus, whose team went the online route after exhaustively researching the changing world of distribution. “We’ve learned theatrical releases are big loss-leaders that are only successful for a few movies, big Batman-type epics.”
Why position your film, especially one that doesn’t require 3-D glasses or the big screen experience, in a limited number of movie houses and surrender potential profits to the studios, he reasoned.
Gravitas, which has signed distribution deals with Warner Bros. and connects independent filmmakers, producers and distribution companies with cable, satellite, telephone and online distribution partners, was a perfect fit, said Hanus. “These guys can get you into 100 million homes,” he said. “The way people are watching movies now is changing in so many ways.”
Since Jackhammer already has a loyal grassroots fan base, it makes sense to take that online engagement to the next level, the filmmakers say.
“It takes a lot more work to reach out to more people around the world, but it’s worth it,” said Azurdia, who plays Jackhammer’s girlfriend.
In tandem with the film’s global release September 2, the producers are rolling out a crowd-sourcing campaign on Kickstarter to raise financing for a spinoff TV series.
The TV series Kickstarter campaign also gives contributors and fans who help to promote it online opportunities such as appearances or product placement. “There’s a huge amount of money that’s been going to the studios that we can share now,” said Hanus, noting some online hosting sites also give fans opportunities to cash in by sharing online.
Fans who watch a Jackhammer trailer, for instance, can give online friends a “trackable link,” with $1 per download (viewed by someone you referred) coming back to you, he said.
“The trackable link is also a way for our partners to see what’s happening,” Hanus said. “We give them a percentage and we can do cross-branded things.”
Hanus teamed with Jackhammer fan Travis Pastrana, the U.S. motorsports champion and X Games medalist, on a promotional video in Panama’s action sports resort Nitro City, for example.
“It’s where extreme guys do fun things, so Jackhammer arrives in a jet pack, but he thinks he’s there for a strip-a-thon,” said Hanus with a laugh. “He soon realizes it’s extreme.”
The joke is that Pastrana has to call Frederick (Jason Burkart), Jackhammer’s flabby, Seth Rogen-esque fellow male stripper, to retrieve him from the jungle.
“Some of our bigger partners aren’t that interested in the money,” Hanus said.
“Travis is extremely successful. He was more into doing it to bring his fanbase something unique and be supportive.”
