AWARD-WINNING FILM ABOUT DJ-GONE-DEAF: IT'S ALL GONE PETE TONG

From: RMH Media - Apr 21, 2005

r m h
rmh media                  
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                        APRIL 20, 2005
Contact: Rita Hollingsworth/RMH Media
323-934-9248 or rmhmedia@aol.com
 
AWARD-WINNING FILM ABOUT DJ-GONE-DEAF
IT'S ALL GONE PETE TONG
INDIE DISTRIBUTOR MATSON FILMS BETTING ON
DEAF AUDIENCE WITH CAPTIONED FILM
ON OPENING WEEKEND
Opens In Los Angeles-area Theaters On April 29
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The award-winning feature film It's All Gone Pete Tong will make its Los Angeles- area debut on Friday April 29th with a history-making marketing strategy. New York-based Matson Films' plan for the LA market is to simultaneously premiere an open captioned version of the film (ie, for deaf viewers) along with the regular version on opening day. The ArcLight Hollywood and the AMC Block in Orange County will dedicate one screening per day for deaf audiences using an open captioned print. This will be the first time an independent, non-studio film will be made available to deaf audiences in its "first run".
 
Some major studios release their mainstream product some weeks after the opening, but even they rarely do so in the first run period.  If the L.A. release is a success, Matson Films will repeat the same unprecedented release strategy and play the film with an open captioned version at least one time a day in major markets across the U.S. in late-May. 
 
The film is in a unique position to appeal to deaf audiences as the two central characters are deaf: the lead character, the DJ Frankie Wilde, who goes deaf, and Penelope, the deaf woman whom he meets who changes his life.  
 
It's All Gone Pete Tong (a commonly-used Cockney expression for "it's all gone wrong") begins as an irreverent look at the life of a world-famous dance party DJ -- with the requisite wild parties, excesses and pitfalls that accompany fame and power. The story then takes an unexpected turn, and ends up a redemptive study of a music pioneer who, against fate, finds a whole new rhythm for his life.
 
With an estimated 28 million deaf and hard-of-hearing people living in the US, this strategy is designed to tap an audience up ‘til now largely ignored, particularly in the marketplace for independent films.
 
'While researching this audience, I was surprised to find how few entertainment-related outlets exist for these millions of Americans. I also found few-to-no characters or role models in popular entertainment with whom a teen or young adult deaf person can directly empathize or relate," notes Richard Matson, President of Matson Films.
 
It's All Gone Pete Tong recently took the Grand Jury Feature Film Award as well as the Audience Award for Best Feature at the Gen Art Film Festival in New York and  received both the Best Actor and Best Feature Awards at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in addition to garnering the City Award at the 2004 Toronto Film Festival.
 
Writer-director Michael Dowse's film, opened in New York on April 15th to critical acclaim.  It's All Gone Pete Tong, a biopic on the life of DJ Frankie Wilde, is shot in a vibrant, ironic style that echoes Dowse's cult-classic debut feature, FUBAR, which focused on two headbangers from Calgary.
 
To schedule an interview with director Michael Dowse, actor Paul Kaye or Richard Matson, President of Matson Films, please contact RMH Media at 323-934-9248 or rmhmedia@aol.com
 
For more information, please visit www.itsallgonepetetong.com
 
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( Deaf Today notice: check out the Movie poster and Synopsis at: http://insightcinema.org/films_petetong.html )