It's a Disaster

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It's a Disaster

Film festival circuit poster
Directed by Todd Berger
Produced by Kevin M. Brennan
Jeff Grace
Gordon Buelonic
Datari Turner
Written by Todd Berger
Starring Rachel Boston
Kevin M. Brennan
David Cross
America Ferrera
Jeff Grace
Erinn Hayes
Blaise Miller
Julia Stiles
Music by Chris Martins
Cinematography Nancy Schreiber, ASC
Editing by Franklin Peterson
Distributed by Oscilloscope Laboratories
Release dates
  • June 20, 2012 (2012-06-20) (Los Angeles Film Festival)
  • April 12, 2013 (2013-04-12) (United States)
Running time 88 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Box office $60,818[1]

It's a Disaster is a 2012 art-house black comedy film written and directed by Todd Berger. The film was made by Los Angeles-based comedy group The Vacationeers and stars Rachel Boston, David Cross, America Ferrera, Jeff Grace, Erinn Hayes, Kevin M. Brennan, Blaise Miller, Julia Stiles, and Todd Berger.[2][3] The film premiered on June 20, 2012, at the Los Angeles Film Festival.[4] It's a Disaster was commercially released in US theaters by Oscilloscope Laboratories, which acquired the US distribution rights to the film, on April 12, 2013.[5]

Plot

Four couples gather for a regular couples brunch which, over the years, has devolved into a gathering fraught with tension and awkwardness. As they settle in to the afternoon, they get to know the new member of the group, and catch up on old times. When the men prepare to check the status of a sporting event, it soon becomes apparent that their lines of communication with the world are lost. The television is nothing but static, the internet is down, and the land line (only present to send and receive facsimile messages) is not functioning. After a neighbor appears in a hazardous materials suit with news of dirty bombs containing VX (nerve agent) exploding in major cities, including one 12 miles downtown from them, around the United States, the couples begin to accept that a disaster has occurred.

They begin to take precautions by sealing off air vents and duct taping windows and doors. When their quest for a radio is realized, the enormity of the situation reveals itself with a message from the emergency broadcast system. The chemistry teacher member of the group understands that because the attacks were chemical, and not radiological, only hours remain before a gruesome death for them all. They struggle with moral dilemmas, relationship problems, and soon are convinced that a group suicide is preferable to a slow and painful death.

Cast

and others.

Poster

The film's festival-touring poster, which parodies James Montgomery Flagg's famous Uncle Sam recruitment poster,[6] has independently received critical acclaim and was named as one of the 12 best movie posters of 2012 by Film School Rejects.[7] Oscilloscope Pictures is using an updated version of the same poster design, with the movie's film festival awards and a critic's quote added, for its commercial theatrical release.[5]

Festivals

It's a Disaster has been selected to screen at the following film festivals:

It's a Disaster was chosen by the 2012 Friars Club Comedy Film Festival to be the festival's opening film.[8]

Distribution

Oscilloscope and Theatrical Release

On August 23, 2012, Oscilloscope Laboratories announced that it had acquired North American distribution rights to It's a Disaster and that it planned both a theatrical and digital release of the film.[9][10] Oscilloscope has since announced its planned release schedule for the film, with the film opening in New York and Los Angeles on April 12, 2013, with theatrical distribution expanding into additional markets beginning April 19, 2013.[5] The movie earned $15,305, or $5,102 per theater, over its first weekend in limited release.[11]

Vine App Release

On February 19, 2013, Oscilloscope announced that it would initially distribute It's a Disaster via the new mobile app Vine.[12] Vine, a social networking app released by Twitter, Inc. on January 24, 2013, allows users to post video clips up to six seconds long, which then play in loop mode for viewers. A few hours after announcing the Vine distribution, described as a "stunt" and a "tongue in cheek experiment", Oscilloscope began tweeting links to 6-second-long chunks of the film each individually uploaded to Vine, thus making It's a Disaster the first film ever released on Vine.[12][13][14]

The following day, Oscilloscope issued another tongue-in-cheek press release admitting they were wrong in expecting audiences to embrace watching films in six-second clips on their smartphones, and that they were abandoning plans to release future films on Vine.[15][16]

iTunes and Digital Release

After the Vine release, Oscilloscope planned to release the film to more conventional digital and video on demand (VOD) services on March 5, 2013.[12][14] On March 5, 2013, actor Blaise Miller and actress Julia Stiles used Twitter to announce the film's release on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Instant Video, and VOD.[17][18] It is currently available for streaming on Netflix.

Awards

BendFilm Festival
2012: won Best Screenplay
Edmonton International Film Festival
2012: won Grand Jury Award for Best Feature - Audience Choice
New Orleans Film Festival
2012: won Audience Award for Best Picture

References

  1. ↑ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=itsadisaster.htm
  2. ↑ "Julia Stiles and America Ferrera to Star in Indie Comedy 'It's a Disaster'". The Hollywood Reporter. 14 July 2011. Retrieved 22 March 2013. 
  3. ↑ "Rachel Boston Joins Indie Comedy 'It's a Disaster' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. 31 August 2011. Retrieved 22 March 2013. 
  4. ↑ "It's a Disaster - 2012 Los Angeles Film Festival". Retrieved 22 March 2013. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Oscilloscope.net - It's a Disaster". Retrieved 22 March 2013. 
  6. ↑ "Poster Lab: It’s a Disaster". Slant Magazine. 20 June 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2013. 
  7. ↑ Miller, Neil (2 January 2013). "Year in Review: The Best Movie Posters of 2012". Film School Rejects. Retrieved 22 March 2013. 
  8. ↑ "Friars Club Comedy Film Festival Announces 2012 Lineup". Retrieved 22 March 2013. 
  9. ↑ Fernandez, Jay A. (23 August 2012). "Oscilloscope Acquires LAFF Comedy 'It's a Disaster' Starring Julia Stiles, David Cross and America Ferrera". Retrieved 24 March 2013. 
  10. ↑ McNary, Dave (23 August 2012). "Oscilloscope nabs Berger’s ‘Disaster’". Variety. Retrieved 24 March 2013. 
  11. ↑ "It's a Disaster (2013) Weekend Box Office". boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved 17 April 2013. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 "David Cross Comedy 'It's a Disaster' Getting Initial Release on Twitter-Owned App Vine". The Hollywood Reporter. 19 February 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2013. 
  13. ↑ Watercutter, Angela (19 February 2013). "Watch Now: David Cross Flick It’s a Disaster Gets Released in 6-Second Increments on Vine". Wired Magazine. Retrieved 24 March 2013. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "It's A Disaster Becomes First Film Released Via Twitter's Vine App". CinemaBlend.com. 19 February 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2013. 
  15. ↑ "OSCILLOSCOPE’S VINE DISTRIBUTION A DISASTER // Vine Premiere of IT’S A DISASTER Crashes And Burns /". 20 February 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2013. 
  16. ↑ "Oscilloscope Labs’ Vine Movie Release ‘A Disaster’". Home Media Magazine. 20 February 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2013. 
  17. ↑ "@MissJuliaStiles". 5 March 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2013. 
  18. ↑ "@bigpantsmiller". 5 March 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2013. 

External links

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