We know this documentary took a long time to create, in 2016 documentaries on an independent level were a completely different beast. You could make a documentary independently and release independently on Blu-ray. That changed. Documentaries now have to have licensing, insurances and fair use assessments.
In 2016 we initially raised £30,000, take away the campaign fees that worked out to around £26,000. That £26,000 was used for the production and filming. Production lasted around 18 months due to a number of interviewees not being available at the time of our original shoot or not being in the area we were shooting. We therefore had to then arrange later interviews as well as outsourcing to other crews.
Our company then infested a further £40,000 in the production. That was not through crowdfunding it was through our own company money. After Covid we engaged an additional, industry professional post production team to support with the grading, green screen, animations and sound mix. As the documentary was being released officially, all of above had to be quality assured for the release. This is an additional cost. Also this meant that the whole process took longer than expected.
Amongst all this, we had people stating that we were con artists, we are taking peoples money and not using it for the production. This was all despite us having a trailer released and publishing over 100 photographs of the 40+ cast and crew being interviewed.
We were then fortunate enough to engage with Sreambox who have been extremely supportive and have actually been fantastic in ensuring this documentary was completed. They supported with the post production and distribution. The total cost of this project has cost in total $150,000. I’m not stating this to get any sympathy, I’m stating it to show that a project like this is expensive and that it far out reached what we originally thought the cost would be. That is entirely our fault. Maybe we bit off more than we could chew. We based the whole production on the success of Brewster and Leviathan, two completely different projects.
We have never given up in getting this project completed, we have worked tirelessly to ensure that it is the best it can be. At a financial cost to ourselves. It would’ve been so easy just to stop and move on. However, we always wanted this project out there, it is a passion project for us and a dedication to Tim and the fans of the original TV series. We are not heroes, we don’t want a pat on the back, but we have never given up getting this thing finished. The downside to any distribution deal is we are tied to a contract. The streaming had to come first. We have fought to have a Blu-ray release, that release will be sent to the pledgees who pledged for that perk. As soon as the Blu-ray is available and in our hands it will be shipped.
Comments have been made about the length of the documentary. Leviathan was seven hours, and on reflection when we look back, Leviathan is too long and repetitive, it is not a good example of filmmaking. Hence why a producers cut of Leviathan was released two years after at 2 1/2 hours. Brewster was three hours, this was because it was two documentaries put together.
Pennywise could easily have been six hours, we had over 30 hours of material. But just because you have 30 hours of material that does not mean that material is needed or is interesting. Pennywise runs at two hours, that makes the documentary succinct, has pace and is not repetitive or boring. We have a further hour of bonus features. These features are all new material that is not included in the main Doc. These bonus features will be featured on the Blu-ray.
We have been working on an online screener for those who paid for the Blu-ray/DVD perk.. This has been made difficult due to legal complications. We’ve had to renegotiate our contract so we can actually show a screener ourselves online. There would've been nothing prouder for me then to show you the online screening introduced by myself a couple of weeks ago. It's just couldn't happen. It will happen soon.
I completely understand that this update will result in comments from those who are frustrated, irritated and annoyed. Those that will state that they just want to see the documentary and have their perks and don’t really care about the journey we have been on. Every decision we have made as always come back to the original campaign and those that supported us. We genuinely appreciate the support you have given us in ensuring that this project was made. Your names are all featured on the credits of the documentary as a thank you, your contributions however big or small made a huge difference to us.
I can only apologise for the delays, apologise that the streaming came first, and apologise that your Blu-rays aren’t in your hands at the moment. But please note, every day I am personally working on getting those perks into your hands. There is no reason why I’d want this to be delayed any further from a personal or business point of view.
Again thank you, I will continue to update you as much as I can. And as soon as the Blu-ray announcement is made you will be the first to know.
Gary Smart, producer
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