Setting a New Goal: Theatrical

I know I vowed to stay home this summer teaching in New York City, so it may come as a surprise that I am writing you from yet another silver bullet high above the clouds. Somehow flying to San Francisco from New York didn’t seem like real travel to me when I booked it three weeks ago. I forgot that it is nearly a 6 hour flight from one end of the country to another.

Now returning home, I must say this fast track, 72-hour trip was so worth it.  We had a glorious “Sneak Preview Fundraising” screening of MY REINCARNATION at the Smith Rafael Film Center in California, last night. The projection was gorgeous. The host, Gaetano Kazuo Maida from the Buddhist Film Foundation, and the members of the Dzogchen Community West created a perfect environment for the full house screening.  It was so touching for me to hear reactions and answer questions from the 300+ guests in this first West Coast sneak peek. In the audience were some old and dear friends, who made my stay in San Francisco a real delight. There were also many, many new faces of people whom I had never met before, but whose moving reactions to the portrait of Chögyal Namkhai Norbu and his son, Yeshi, were so gratifying. (See photos now and stay tuned to a video in next newsletter.)

This wonderful event marks the launch of our new fundraising campaign for the United States Theatrical Tour of MY REINCARNATION, which is already set to begin with the early October US Festival Premiere (soon to be announced) and the New York City Theatrical Opening already confirmed for October 28^th.

America is a crucial and uncharted market of 350+ million people, ripe for this epic father and son story about the importance of the Tibet spiritual heritage. Theatrical screenings give viewers unique opportunities to discuss the film’s content: events will be created around screenings that build dialogue and connections among various diverse groups. MY REINCARNATION will be used as a conversation spark in cities across the USA to talk about family, religion, diversity, spirituality, Tibetan culture, meditation, dreaming, and more.

Now, I know it is hard to think of another fundraising campaign after our wild and crazy, successful Kickstarter Campaign, which paid off the completion costs of the film and gave us $14,000 towards the Theatrical Tour. But due to the need for a minimum 5-month lead time to launch a film in the cinema, we have to turn around quickly and set our sights towards the theatrical campaign to be able to open MY REINCARNATION in New York City by end October. (To understand more of how US Theatrical works, please read WHY THEATRICAL? on our website.) The whole idea of the theatrical campaign is to combine it with a tour by the film protagonist Khyentse Yeshe, who will do press, appear at film screenings to do Q & A sessions, and teach in venues across the country. Khyentse Yeshe has already agreed to spend nearly 4 weeks in the States in October, launching MY REINCARNATION at the film festival and in the Cinema and teaching in Amherst, Massachusetts and New York City.

So, last month with the clock ticking, I took a deep breath and another leap of faith and hired a distributor who will book MY REINCARNATION in theaters across the USA, organize publicists, grass-roots campaign companies, orchestrate events, place advertising, help us create updated materials such as posters, postcards, ad blocks, trailer blow-ups to 35 mm, and everything you need for a successful theatrical campaign.

There is a range of what we can decide to spend (beyond the $14,000 we have) for the US theatrical tour: from a minimum of $42,000 to a maximum of $90,000. However, these decisions have to be made quickly so we can set the course with the distributor. By no later than August 1^th, we need to know that we can raise a substantial part of the distribution minimum to lock in our theatrical plan. Any contribution – small or large – will help get this crucial film project into US theatrical distribution.  You can make a contribution now by clicking Support Now or by purchasing one of the beautiful gifts in our fabulous Web Store.  Every wonderful donor will get their name on the Donor’s Wall.

But with so little time to raise these funds and make decisions, larger contributions are necessary. We are still able to add names to the credits of the film in exchange for contributions: $10,000 will give an Associate Producer Credit; $30,000 will give a Co-Producer Credit; $40,000 will give a Co-Executive Producer Credit; and if you’d like to get your name on the head of the film to “Present” the entire theatrical campaign, $60,000 will give a Presenter Credit at the head / and an Executive Producer Credit on the tail. Your name will appear in the credits for all US Festivals, multi-city US Theatrical, Some International TV and PBS (except for the “Presenter” credit, which they don’t allow). And IMDB of course! These donations are tax deductible through our 501(c)(3) partner.  If you’d like to discuss this exciting possibility, please email me directly now at zohefilms@gmail.com.

The MY REINCARNATION American Theatrical Campaign is not just for America. Many foreign distributors and markets wait for the US press and box office to support their decisions to book or buy MY REINCARNATION in their home territories. In Europe and much of Asia, the reviews from the New York Times and other key US press are crucial. These reviews are used to support the outreach of the film in many platforms including DVD, download, television and theatrical, way beyond US borders.

Don’t wait: let’s join together now to get MY REINCARNATION into the cinemas across the USA and the world.

With deep gratitude for your continued generosity,

Love,

Jennifer Fox