Tarantino as Distributor

Since 1994, Tarantino had an idea to begin his own distributioncompany that would release films that were otherwise not seen or readily available in the United States. A distribution company markets and circulates movies in theatres and for home viewing, the job of the distributor is conceptually to sell a film—whether an old re-releaseor a new release. But to sell a film is not an easy process; firstly,the distributor has to make the exhibitors believe the film they arepresenting is profitable. The distributor will do this by using marketing and advertising techniques. The distributor will then haveto sign all the contracts with each individual exhibitor estimatinghow ticket sales and how much profit the distribution company will betaking from the gross ticket sales. As well as selling a film, there are other logistic things a distributor must do. For instance the distributor must also distribute the film reels to each of the various exhibitors that the film was sold to, cut the trailers for the film, make the posters, put in the newspaper ads, censor the film, and addsubtitles if necessary. Overall, the job of a film distributor is not an easy job, but Tarantino along with Miramax (Weinstein Brothers)managed to begin Tarantino's own distribution company called "RollingThunder Pictures" in1995(http://www.tarantino.info/wiki/index.php/Rolling_Thunder_Pictures).

Promo-clip for RTP


Clip#1: This clip is a great introduction clip for Rolling ThunderPictures. It was actually the promotion video for the new distributioncompany. It clearly states the goals and personality of the companywith enthusiasm.

Rolling Thunder Pictures', began in 1995 and was a specialty label ofMiramax, main concept was to release "'older exploitation films andgive them new life'" according to Tarantino in an LA weekly article(http://www.tarantino.info/wiki/index.php/Rolling_Thunder_Pictures).Tarantino also writes that personality of the company is dynamic; thecompany would be bringing back "the glory of the 70's chopsockymovies, Italian crime films, blaxploitation" films(http://www.tarantino.info/wiki/index.php/Rolling_Thunder_Pictures).The goal of the company was to release four films a year andeventually, although not necessarily, make some money from the film releases/re-releases.

RTP (Rolling Thunder Pictures) was named after one of Tarantino's favorite revenge films by John Flynn called, "Rolling Thunder". This film was released in 1977 and is a film about a Major named Major Charles Rane who is coming back from the war and he receives many gifts and a warm "welcome back" from his town because he is considered a war hero. But after receiving some gifts from the town, which includes some silver coins, some thugs attempt to steal the silver coins from him. In the process of the thugs attempting to steal from Major Rane, Major Rane's wife and son are murdered, and Major Rane's hand is destroyed. Therefore, Major Rane seeks out revenge on thethugs alongside one of war buddies.

"Rolling Thunder" Clip


Clip #2: The clip shown above was chosen due to its similarities toKill Bill. This scene is where Major Rane's wife and son are murderedand his hand is deformed. This scene is very similar to the scenewhere the Bride (Uma Thurman) believes her fiancé and daughter aremurdered as well.

RTPs original goal was to release four films a year, but in the threeyears that it was in business, it only released eight films: ChungkingExpress (foreign, released by RTP in 1996), Switchblade Sisters (1975,re-release by RTP in June 1996), Curdled(1991, re-released by RTP in1996), Hard Core Logo(1996), Sonatine(1998), The Beyond(foreign,1998), Detroit 9000(1973, re-released by RTP in 1998), and The MightyPeking Man"(1980, re-released in 1999)(www.imbd.com).



The Beyond Clip

Clip #3: The clip above is from the film The Beyond, which wasre-released by RTP in the U.S. In this film, a young lady named LizaMerril inherits an old hotel in Louisiana and invests her savings intorepairing the place. In the process of remodeling, many of the workersdie. Meanwhile, Emily, a blind woman advises Liza to leave the placeas soon as possible. Later they realize the place is a gate to helland has been opened, allowing the dead to walk the earth. In thisclip, Emily is telling Liza to leave the hotel.


Switchblade Sisters Clip


Clip #4: The clip above is from Switchblade Sisters, which was anotherre-release by RTP, and shows some of the highlights of the film.Tarantino could best describe Switchblade Sisters when he says, "Thefirst half hour you're kinda laughing at it, then you're kindalaughing at it and with it. Then, about midway through, I've stoppedlaughing at it, I'm laughing with it, I'm in the flow of the movie.Then in the last 20 minutes, all of a sudden I'm sad. I realize that Icare about these people. Switchblade Sisters has an energy and powerall its own that kind of rolls over everything. Once you bite into it,it never stops"(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUf8Xcpc36g).

Each of these films were/are considered B-movies. B-movies weretypically films that were the second film of a double feature but nowthey are just typically films that are made on a low budget. B-moviestypically fall into the genres of western, horror, sci-fi, suspense,exploitation, and gangster genres(www.bmoviecentral.com/bmc-articles/37bmc-articles/145-what-exactly-is-a-b-movie.html). As previously stated, part of Tarantino's vision for RTP was torelease films that were not readily accessible to viewers and to givelife to older films that he thought were overlooked; therefore, manyof the films released by RTP were re-releases. Most of these filmswere released before and were re-released by Tarantino or werereleased in other countries before being released by RTP in the U.S.

From looking at the list of films released from RTP, Tarantino's style and choice of genre is exemplary of Tarantino. In many ofTarantino's films, he incorporates many ideas and genres into onefilm. Not only did he incorporate the genres of these movies, but he also uses some of the storylines, plots, characters, etc,… from these films. For instance, in Kill Bill, he uses Martial Arts, Swordfighting, film noir, girl gangsters, and etc… which he is able to incorporate into one film beautifully. Looking at the films RTP released, those genres/themes range from girl gangs, love-comedy-drama, and pseudo-rockumentary to horror, king-kong films. Although these films were very exemplary of Tarantino, they also bring us back to what Tarantino's original goal for the distribution company; to bring back films that reinforced the feel of the move going experience of the 70's, recreate films that he thought was overlooked, and allow others to have access to many brilliant films that were produced else where.

Although Tarantino had a great vision for his distribution company, it was no longer supported by Miramax due to lack of interest andreleased its last film in 1998. Tarantino argues that RTP endedbecause he simply just found no fulfillment anymore and just felt frustration. RTP was therefore closed down in 1998 but not before itwas able to release eight films, a book called "What it is…What it was", and a website (www.rollingthunderpictures.com). "What it is…what it was" was a book about blaxploitation and black film explosion ofthe 70's. Overall, RTP was a very good distribution company in the sense that it truly represented who and what Tarantino is.