Arcadia Discussion Zone

Here's a recent bit of PR firm spin that sadly doesn't check out - from the Bloodline website:

"Bloodline opens in more US cities & is a hit at CANNES!"

"In addition the film was screened to buyers from around the world at the Cannes Film Festival, and the first round of distribution deals are being negotiated with Scandinavia, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Japan, Germany, Korea, Australia, Canada, Indonesia, France and Italy."

Yet Bloodline isn't listed on the list of festival selections in any category, even among those that were not in competition:

http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en/archiv ... tions.html

And as the festival ran from May 13th to 24th, it seems a bit odd that both the producer and director of a film being screened at the most prestigious international film festival would miss it to hold Q&A sessions in rented boutique cinemas in Los Angeles on the 16th, 17th, 18th and 23rd - the height of the festival. Something doesn't add up here. Hardly surprising, given the glaring omission of Bloodline from the festival roster. It also seems a bit of a stretch to suggest that international distribution deals are in the works for a film that has only reported $38K in domestic receipts. I can't think of a distributor who would touch a film that has performed this poorly, and I work in international licensing for a major studio.

TCP

Well, that didn't take long to confirm - from today's mailing list update:

Dear Friends,

Director Bruce Burgess and Producer René Barnett have been very busy:

On Monday, they were in Yelm, WA and were the special guests of JZ Knight, Founder of the Ramtha School of Enlightenment where they spoke to the student body at the school and did a series of special screening at Yelm Cinemas where over 600+ students came to see the film.

For those of you who don't know the mega-wealthy Knight or the 35,000 year-old Lemurian warrior she channels, Wikipedia actually gives a pretty good sketch of her:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramtha

I had heard that Knight would be throwing money their way. She has a special interest in promoting the purported Magdalene bloodline and is close to authors like Margaret Starbird (though intensely critical of others like Kathleen McGowan). My favorite character sketch of Knight comes from The Skeptic's Dictionary:

http://skepdic.com/ramtha.html

Knight not only has rewritten the book on neurology, she has also rewritten the book on archaeology and history. The world was not at all like the scholars of the world say it was 35,000 years ago. We were not primitive hunters and gatherers who liked to paint in caves. No, there were very advanced civilizations around then. It doesn't matter that there is no evidence for this, because Knight has rewritten the book of evidence as well. Evidence is what appears to you, even in visions and hallucinations and delusions. Evidence is anything you feel like making up. So, when you are told that Ramtha came first from Lemuria in the Pacific Ocean, do not seek out scholars to help you understand that ancient civilization because the scholars of the world do not believe Lemuria existed except as a fantasy. When you are told that the Lemurians were a great civilization from the time of the dinosaurs, do not expect to be burdened with evidence. There isn't any evidence. The only mammals around at the time of the dinosaurs were primitive and non-hominid, very much like lemurs. Maybe the Lemurians were really lemurs. No, the Lemurians came from "beyond the North star," according to Knight, which may explain why all humans ever since have looked to the sky with longing.

I'd say the Bloodline crew has found a perfect patroness.

TCP

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Thanks TCP, insomnia cured now.

Sleep well, VAM. Be sure to wear your earplugs to bed so that the laughter doesn't wake you.

TCP