Soaring Highs and Brutal Lows

3, 2, 1….go. :)

OK guys, here we go. 🙂

The main website has been updated and things are just about ready. There are 2 streaming versions available – one is JUST the film, and the other is the film plus bonus material. Those are available from the main page of the site, and available instantly. Streaming online is available NOW.

The thing you’ve really been waiting for though, is the disc version. it includes all the bonus material from the streaming version, plus a little extra thrown in besides. 😉 You can find it by going to the SHOP page on the site. We’ll be updating the quantities for order in just a few minutes.

Now, if you’re one of those people who like physical products but also want instant gratification, we have a bundle deal available where you can get both at a discount. The one small catch is that it doesn’t work automatically; when the order is processed for the disc, we have to manually issue a code for the streaming version. So if you order and it’s 3am here, you might have to wait a few hours – sorry about that. 🙁

Other stuff…
Payments: Paypal is being used for payments. You can pay directly through them or they’ll process credit cards. Everything regarding the streaming version is handled directly by Vimeo.
Shipping: For those outside the US, international shipping from here is expensive. We looked around for a while trying to find better/cheaper options and they all sucked.
If there’s any questions or comments, let us know here! For issues with specific orders, website issues, etc. please email us or use the contact form on the website.

Last but not least….
This project has had a lot of twists and turns, and we’re super grateful for all of you who’ve stuck with us on this journey (so far). Thank you so much for your support! If you’re just finding the film now, you lucked out. 🙂 We have more in store for you all, so stick around and let us know what you think of everything, and what you’d like to see in the future.

Special thanks as always to all the artists who participated and made this film possible. Please help support their ability to continue to create music by buying their music, going to shows, and buying merch.

Hails, horns, and much respect to:
Alissa White-Gluz – Official Page, Anneke Van Giersbergen, Charlotte Wessels, DORO, Floor Jansen, Kobra Paige, Marcela Bovio, Mark Jansen Official, Martijn Westerholt, and Simone Johanna Maria Simons Official
\m/

Our new partner!

After a long silence and a LOT of behind the scenes work, we are very pleased to announce that we are partnering with the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) on sales and distribution worldwide! The NFB has a stellar reputation and we’re thrilled to be working with them. In addition to representing us globally for film sales, they will also be directly distributing the film within Canada.

We hope to make additional distribution announcements for other territories in the coming weeks, and also inform you about other things that were on hold until the right partner was identified.

Stay tuned!

A New Countdown Begins

After a BUNCH of work behind the scenes, we’re going to make an exciting announcement this week although the exact timing is still TBD because of the slowdown from the Easter holiday. Keep your eyes open over the next couple of days!

(Black) Friday update

It’s been a while since we last posted anything here, so it’s time for an update and a bit of an explanation to the big question: when is this thing going to come out already?!

The film is done and has been for a while, at least from an editorial standpoint.  Once the final edit was complete, we spent a bunch of time over the summer working on enhancing the picture quality so it would look as good as possible on screens big and small.  After that we focused on doing the same for the sound; it took a lot longer than we hoped, and even now there are some improvements that still could be made.  But a bunch of you got to see it in Eindhoven, so hopefully the wait was worthwhile.

Since the premiere we’ve been working to find a partner to help with distribution around the world and to be honest, it’s been tricky.  We’ve had interest in selling it within North America and native English-speaking countries, but we also know that quite a lot of you (perhaps a majority) fall outside those areas and want to make sure you get to see it as well.

Without getting into an extended discussion of the ins and outs of 21^st century film distribution (unless you really want to) the problem really comes down to the way the world has been divided.  For example, putting the film up on itunes seems an obvious way to get it out to everyone quickly.  But some of you may have noticed that there are actually separate itunes stores for different areas around the world and each of them has to be dealt with on an individual basis.  What’s more, each store generally requires support for the native language of the region they serve, and it takes time/money to create all these different versions, even though it seems like most of you speak English as a second (or even third) language.

So what’s the solution?  Well, we’ve found some folks who just may be the right people to help us distribute this worldwide.  We’re hoping to make it available to everyone simultaneously (rather than country by country) because we’ve shared the frustration of not being able to check out a new film/video/album due to arbitrary region restrictions.  In the meantime, we’re reviewing the option of releasing it digitally directly from the website for everyone to check out; the main concern is that it doesn’t have a negative impact on what our partners can do for us.  The streaming service we’ve partnered with on the website supports Chromecast, Apple TV and Roku, so you should still be able to watch on your TV, rather than your phone or computer.

Those of you asking for a physical version will be happy to know that we’ve been planning a bunch of extra content for the disc.  We’ve got extra interview segments, a commentary track, deleted scenes, outtakes…the hardest part is distilling it down to just the best stuff.

Slainte!

Stay on target…

Just wanted to do a little follow-up to the last update here. We’ve shot a total of 4 more interviews (3 new, one followup) and we’re hoping to start releasing snippets of those in the coming weeks to start building the excitement. Some of the material may also end up on the DVD/BluRay of the film.

As you may have seen on Facebook, the first screening has been confirmed! The European Premiere of the film will be shown as part of FemME (Female Metal Event) in the Netherlands on 15 October 2015. The screening will be followed by an acoustic set from Stream of Passion with an appearance by Anneke van Giersbergen! Tickets are on sale NOW!

We’d like to set up similar premieres in different parts of the world and are looking for partners who know the local scenes to help make these happen. Are you interested?

As we may have mentioned before, we released a teaser poster for the film recently and you can get one for free with purchase from our friends in DELAIN as they tour North America with Nightwish and Sabaton. You can see what it looks like below. Quantities are limited so pick one up soon and have the band sign it after the show!

Whew!

OK, so updating the website is clearly not our strong point. It’s been 2+ months since our last update here, although we’ve been a bit better on Facebook.

This is going to be a bit of a “good news/bad news” update. We’ll start with the good.

Good news:
-THE GENTLE STORM featuring Anneke van Gierbergen and Marcela Bovio has released their album and they’re touring!
-Endless Forms Most Beautiful from NIGHTWISH is out with Floor Jansen kicking MAJOR ass on vocals. I was lucky enough to be in NY for other reasons (more on that later) and checked out the first show of the tour. In a word – breathtaking.
-Accompanying Nightwish on their NA tour are our friends from DELAIN. And if you happen to be at the concert and go over to their merch table, you’ll get to see the first poster for the film. If you actually BUY a shirt or something, you’ll get a poster to take home free!
-We’ve been planning the film release and have a couple solid opportunities already, but are looking to really make things special.
-While we were in NY to discuss distribution, a couple more interview opportunities resolved, and they should make some people pretty happy should they come to pass. These will most likely be part of the bonus features or will be released as free promo clips, but either way it won’t be long.

The Bad news:
-Although we’ve been making tons of great progress, we’re still badly behind where we wanted to be.
-Part of the reason for this is due to significant hardware/software failures that have occurred at the worst possible times, forcing a lot of rework. While we think it’s sorted out now, if anyone has access to a renderfarm, the use of a fast multiproc workstation, or fast RAID/SAS storage, let us know and maybe we can work something out. We’re really close to the end now and really can’t afford to lose any more time to IT issues.

Almost there

Somehow it’s been another month since the last update.  Unbelievable.

First, we wanted to welcome all the new people who’ve learned about the film on Facebook or through other social media.

Next, thanks to all who responded with interest about translations.  The English transcripts are almost done and we’ll be reaching out to people about translations in the coming weeks.  Same goes for people who responded about potential screenings.  Those are a little further out, but we’re keeping track of where there’s interest.

On the actual release, we’re planning to make the film available directly from the website as either a digital download or rental.  Both SD and HD versions will be available, with subtitling in various languages for those who need it.  At the same time, we’ll be preparing the physical discs (both DVD and Blu-Ray) for sale.  Bonus features will be available in both digital and physical formats – extra interview clips, fun stuff, commentary tracks, etc.  If there’s a particular type of material you’d like to see, let us know!

We haven’t released much in the way of assets from the film yet, but the box art and posters are nearly finished.  If you signed up for the newsletter (you did, right?) not only will you get to see the art in advance, but you’ll also get to vote on which you think we should use!  If you didn’t sign up for the newsletter yet, it’s not too late….

We’ve got some exciting news to share regarding the soundtrack and score, but are waiting for official signatures before we announce publicly.

If you’re in South America, there are some great shows right now.  Arch Enemy are there now, as are the Sirens (Anneke van Giersebrgen/Liv Kristine/Kari Rueslåtten).  Epica will be coming soon as well.

For the Europeans, Stream of Passion will be hitting the road soon and hopefully you’ve gotten a chance to see Delain opening for Sabaton as they storm across borders.  Delain will also be doing a short headline tour of their own before reuniting with Sabaton to head off to North America opening for Nightwish.  Doro will also be rocking the US shortly as she continues 30+ years on the road.

Which are you most looking forward to?

Happy New Year!

Hope everyone had a good holiday season!  Santa and his elves are not the only ones who have been busy though – editing has continued practically nonstop through Christmas/New Years and we’re rapidly approaching the finish line.  As one phase winds down though, others start to rise in priority.  So we’re here to ask for your input and assistance once again.

First: We’re planing a few “event” screenings in order to bring the film to different cities and countries.  We’ll show the film and some of the production team will be on hand for a Q+A session afterwards.  Depending on when/where we may have some other fun stuff as well. 😉

If you’d like us to consider your country/region/city for a screening, let us know!  And if you want to help organize a screening, DEFINITELY let us know!

Next: We heard from a few people regarding what languages we should support for subtitling.  We haven’t forgotten you and as soon as the picture is locked the entire film will be transcribed and sent for translation.  That said, not every translation service offers all the languages that have been requested, particularly from smaller countries.  If you’d be interested in providing translations so that we can support YOUR language natively, email us! (serious inquiries only please)

Finally, we just wanted to say thanks again for all your continued interest and support.

Cheers!

Questions/Comments/Offers of help?  Email us here:  info AT womeninmetaldoc.com