Yesterday, Mark Cuban (who owns the Landmark Theater chain) decided to pull my film from his theaters because of an altercation with Comcast, which has a Video-on-Demand output deal with IFC films, the distribution company that picked up my film as part of their new "IFC First Take" initiative. The idea behind "IFC First Take" is to make films available simultaneously in theaters and through video-on-demand, so that people who don't live near a theater where the film is playing can still have the opportunity to see it right after they read or hear about it.

I responded to the sudden banning of my film with an open letter to Mark Cuban (see yesterday's entry). Well, much to my surprise, Mark Cuban responded with a rather long and not wholly unsympathetic comment, which I will quote here:

"Lets set the record straight here. The folks at IFC knew last month where i stood on this and why.
This is from March 9th:

http://www.cinematical.com/2006/03/09/why-day-date-isnt-ready-to-save-the-day-laws-and-sausages/

"It certainly sounds like a worthy endeavor, but evidence is mounting that the IFC program is far from a perfect work. IFC has teamed up with Comcast, to offer each title in homes nationwide. This brings us back to Mark Cuban: rumors are going around that Cuban is banning the First Take films from his Landmark Theaters, in retaliation at Comcast for refusing to carry the two HD Nets. (I've heard all kinds of confirmations and denials on this - if Mark is reading this, I'm sure he'll step in and say what's what). That squabble aside, we don't have to look far ahead to see trouble on First Take's horizon. The next major release on their schedule is I Am a Sex Addict, Caveh Zahedi's autobiographical essay about how he quenched his previously unquenchable thirst for prostitutes. The film has been bouncing around the festival circuit for a year and, as you might have guessed from the title alone, it was not the most commercial property up for grabs in 2005. That IFC would snatch up the experimental, video-shot sort-of doc anyway, and pair it up with a distribution model for which it appears to be ideally suited, would seem to indicate some faith in there being an audience for its content."

IFC knew.

Our mistake at Landmark for not communicating the position to all of our buyers. So IFC realized this and booked the films anyway.

Once I saw American Gun was in theaters, i realized what had happnd and stopped it.

Of course what wasnt said was that Landmark Theaters are the only theaters happy to book day n date releases. its not like you turned down other screens for ours.

IFC knows this very well as well. Otherwise they just would have taken them elsewhere.

Tell IFC not to show them on Comcast and we are happy to play the movies.

I'm sorry that you got caught in the crossfire, but IFC wasnt caught by suprise by this.

I apologize that there was disorganization on our side that let it get this far.

Hopefully IFC will just pull the movies from Comcast and it can all get worked out.

I'm guessing the theatrical release is the key to you and not Comcast VOD.

My email is mark@hd.net if you want to get in touch with me directly."

I took Mark Cuban up on his offer to get in touch with him directly and I wrote him the following e-mail. I am currently awaiting his answer.

Dear Mark,

Thank you for your comment on my blog. I really appreciate your addressing this. I thought it was very classy of you.

I'm just an independent filmmaker, so I really have no idea what IFC (which is not one person but many) knew or did not know. But from where I'm standing, it sounds like there may have been a few misunderstandings along the way.

I have already signed a contract with IFC to distribute my film, so it's no longer up to me to dictate where it plays or where it doesn't. But just so you know, we did turn down other theaters that wanted to play the film because we all felt that Landmark theaters were the best place to show it. I, personally, love Landmark's taste (they almost always show the best films in town), and I also love their magazine (FLM). That's a great magazine.

I'm also a big fan of the whole day and date thing. I think it makes total sense, and I especially loved what you wrote about making it worthwhile for theaters by giving them a percentage of the DVD.

I seriously doubt that IFC is going to pull out of their Comcast deal, since Video-on-Demand is a significant part of their projected income for the films they are releasing, and a film like mine probably wouldn't have gotten picked up by them if it weren't for their Comcast deal. I have no idea why Comcast is refusing to carry the two HDNETs. In a pluralistic society, they obviously should. HDNET has made some great films, and a lot of people would want to be able to see them. But do you really think that pulling my film from your theaters is going to persuade Comcast to carry HDNET? I don't think Comcast could care less whether you pull my film or not. It just seems to me like a case of killing the messenger. Or taking one of the passersby hostage. I had nothing to do with Comcast's decision. I was just minding my own business, trying to get my film shown.

If there's anything I can do to help create peace between HDNET and Comcast, I would be happy to try. But I feel confident in conjecturing that my opinion on the matter is of absolutely no importance to Comcast whatsoever.

Meanwhile, I would urge you to reconsider your decision about pulling my film. It took me 14 years to make, I put everything I have into it, and I think the film has something important to say. In short, I think you might like it.

In any case, I wish you and HDNET the best. May there be peace between HDNET and Comcast, and may Comcast soon carry HDNET!

Yours Truly,

Caveh