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Obtaining Screener Copies of DVD's

post #1 of 9
11/20/07 at 6:47pm
Thread Starter 
I am currently attempting to write my first book. I want it to detail the history of European horror films from the rise of Hammer to the end of the "Golden Age" of Italian horror in the mid 90's. I own a pretty decent size chunk of Eurohorror films from that era, however, I am missing quite a few that I need for my research.


I've been thinking of writing the distributors directly, and asking for screeners of the films I haven't seen. But wasn't sure how to go about doing so. I do not want to email them through their respective websites, for fear that it would look completely unprofessional. Does anyone have any knowledge of the process for obtaining screener copies of films for review, and research? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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post #2 of 9
11/20/07 at 7:43pm
Have you thought about signing up for Netflix? If it's on DVD, they pretty much have it, 5 at a time, for about 24 bucks month.
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post #3 of 9
11/20/07 at 7:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zeroillusion
I am currently attempting to write my first book.

I've been thinking of writing the distributors directly, and asking for screeners of the films I haven't seen. But wasn't sure how to go about doing so. I do not want to email them through their respective websites, for fear that it would look completely unprofessional. Does anyone have any knowledge of the process for obtaining screener copies of films for review, and research? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
The fact that it is your first book will really make it hard, if not impossible to get these for free. Any average Joe could say they are writing a book and wants free movies. The only way I think you could really go about this is if you were already a published writer (journals, prestigious magazines, etc...) because until you actually are, you are just writing as a hobby to the eyes of most people.

You could probably get interviews though much easier. In that case you would need to find the participant's agent and set it up through them. pro.imdb.com is the best place to find that info, but it costs money to use that site. If you want to be a professional, it is worth the money.
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post #4 of 9
11/20/07 at 7:57pm
Use a library or netflix. Otherwise, start burning ears and mailboxes.
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post #5 of 9
11/20/07 at 9:25pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Starving Dog
The fact that it is your first book will really make it hard, if not impossible to get these for free. Any average Joe could say they are writing a book and wants free movies. The only way I think you could really go about this is if you were already a published writer (journals, prestigious magazines, etc...) because until you actually are, you are just writing as a hobby to the eyes of most people.

You could probably get interviews though much easier. In that case you would need to find the participant's agent and set it up through them. pro.imdb.com is the best place to find that info, but it costs money to use that site. If you want to be a professional, it is worth the money.
I just signed up for IMDB Pro the other day. I figured it out would be worth it seeing as obscure some of these actors are.

I'm not sure if this qualifies to the people in charge of these companies, but my last job assigned me the task of transcribing the diary of David How, a private who fought during the American Revolution. It's set to be published through my former employer, the only problem I foresee is the company gets credit for the transcription. My name wouldn't officially be attached to it.
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post #6 of 9
11/20/07 at 9:57pm
I think 98% of the people/sites who get this kind of stuff don't deserve them, so I'm the wrong guy to ask.
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post #7 of 9
11/20/07 at 10:13pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andre Dellamorte
Are you writing it for a legit publishing firm?
I was a camera operator/research assistant at a home shopping channel. The owner of the company is a history buff, and came in to position of the book. I was given the task of transcribing this very faded, nearly incomprehensible diary. It was written in a mix of colonial English, and Bostonian dialect which made the task even more difficult.

I am attempting to write the book independently, I've spent the last few years writing and shooting independent short films first for college, and then on my own. I am currently trying to get financing for my latest script, and just in the last month began jotting down ideas for this book.
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post #8 of 9
11/21/07 at 1:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nick Nunziata
I think 98% of the people/sites who get this kind of stuff don't deserve them, so I'm the wrong guy to ask.
I used to get review product. Software and books mostly. When I left the company I wrote to the PR people and said I was done... And the stream of free stuff continued for more than a year afterwards.
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post #9 of 9
11/24/07 at 8:40pm
It took me a lot of work to get stuff from Anchor Bay, Dark Sky, Blue Underground and Synapse. Basically I just kept pestering them, I even went out to Chicago to pester them in person at the Flashback Weekend horror convention. Tartan USA is usually pretty open to screeners for even upstart websites, but I'm not sure they'll have anything for you, and I'm not sure how they'll treat a book.
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