Press Release from BlindSpot
Iron Sky, the Finnish-German-Australian dark sci-fi comedy about Nazis from the Dark Side of the Moon released their third teaser video on May 11th, and it has been spreading online like wildfire. The video gathered well over 300,000 views on YouTube and other platforms.
On YouTube it reached the place of the second most watched and the top rated Film & Animation video in the world. In the first 24 hours after the release there was a new tweet, blog post or a news item about Iron Sky every ten seconds. The release has been widely reported in blogs, movie websites and media around the world, from Japan and China through Finland and the rest of Europe to Australia and South America.
Together with the teaser Iron Sky announced their release date, which is April 4th 2012.
What makes this interesting is that Iron Sky has reached this level of exposure with what’s practically a zero PR budget – although the film is the most expensive Finnish production to date with its budget of 7.5 million euros. Instead of throwing money at PR, Iron Sky relies on intelligent, direct and honest communication with the audience.
“I’m happy to see that the dark, quirky humour of Iron Sky, which is very prominent in the short teaser, went over this well with our audience”, said the director of Iron Sky Timo Vuorensola.
Iron Sky is collaborating with the audience not only in marketing, but also in funding and content creation. The team has published a video online detailing their approach to the new way of making films, titled Producing With the Audience: http://www.youtube.com/energiaproductions#p/u/2/nLRcUcg2TUI
BEHIND THE IRON SKY
Iron Sky is a dark science fiction comedy that takes place in the year 2018, when the Nazis, who fled the Earth to the dark side of the Moon in 1945, return to claim the Earth. The film is Finnish-German-Australian co-production with a budget of 7.5 million euros. It's directed by Timo Vuorensola and produced by Tero Kaukomaa (Blind Spot Pictures), Samuli Torssonen (visual effects producer, Energia), Oliver Damian (27 Films), Cathy Overett & Mark Overett (New Holland Pictures) with San Fu Maltha as the executive producer. The cast includes Julia Dietze (1½ Ritter), Götz Otto (Schindler's List, Tomorrow Never Dies, Downfall), Christopher Kirby (The Matrix Reloaded & Revolutions, Daybreakers, Space: Above and Beyond), Udo Kier (Dogville, Dancer in the Dark), Peta Sergeant (Satisfaction), Stephanie Paul (Separation City, Film School Confidential), and Tilo Prückner (The Neverending Story, Die Fälscher). The screenplay is written by the acclaimed sci-fi writer Johanna Sinisalo (Nebula Award nominee 2009, Finlandia 2000) and Michael Kalesniko (Private Parts). The film will be completed in December 2011 and released in April 4th 2012, and the world sales is handled by Stealth Media Group.
What makes Iron Sky special is the wide ranging collaboration with fans and community: the movie project fans join in creating ideas and content for the movie in a collaborative movie making platform called Wreckamovie, give the film publicity by sharing information online, even fund the movie by designing and buying merchandize and other means. One million euros of the budget comes from fan funding.
Information, photos and videos: http://www.ironsky.net/, http://www.ironsky.net/press
Vuorensola and Torssonen's first film was Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning – a fan-made sci-fi parody, which was published both as a free download and a commercial DVD. The film has reached over eight million viewers all around the world and gathered a strong international fan base.
Information and photos: http://www.starwreck.com/
The Star Wreck project gave birth to a collaborative filmmaking platform called Wreckamovie, which offers film creators a direct connection with their audience, and offers the fans a never-before-seen chance to interact with movie projects.
Information: http://www.wreckamovie.com/