Radley Metzgers, 1977-Barbara Broadcast- Never before seen contact

Radley Metzger’s – Barbara Broadcast HD screenshots

Hope your all doing well. I must give you all a blanket apology for being MIA recently. I must admit I was thrown a curve by the success of the Misty Beethoven release and got caught up in the mix. I will try to stay on the radar from now on!!  We are moving ahead and working on completing the Barbara Broadcast re-release package. So here for the first time ever, are some screen grabs from the brand new 2k scan of Barbara Broadcast.

Danny Stienman Dies – Director of “High Rise” & “Friday the 13th” Has Passed Away

Today ,I got a phone call telling my that that legendary director, Danny Stienman (High Rise, Friday the 13th) had passed away last week. I hung up right away. Immediately, I called my close friend, who is regularly in touch with Danny, to make him aware and ask him if he could confirm this story. I got a call back from him within minutes, and the news is not only true but as sad as can be. Danny has left us. I have very limited details, but we have confirmation from the family that he is deceased and he left us last week.

Over the past few years, I began to get to know Danny and got to speak with him from time to time, and on occasion I would send him DVD copies of his one-hit adult wonder “High Rise” , which he would bring to the horror conventions and be able to sign them for fans, he was really proud of that film, we had plans on so many occasions to sit down and record an amazing commentary, as he wanted so badly to share his thoughts. We recently spoke on the phone and I told him that we have restored High Rise in HD and he was thrilled, he was actually excited. I knew he was having some health issues, but I had not idea how bad things really must have been. I am really sorry to have to post this news, and I know many of you may already be aware. I am also aware that Danny has legions of horror fans etc, so please spread the word, as this blog is not a hot bed of traffic activity.

I truly hope that Danny was not in any major pain, I will miss him and I know that many others will. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends. If I can find out more news, I will certainly share it.

 

The Opening of Misty Beethoven- 2 DVD set, Dual Layer Blu Ray and CD Soundtrack

This is the ultimate, the tops, the absolute best treatment to any re-release of an adult film. The amount of love and passion that went into restoring the film, the art, the campaign, producing top notch extras, culling and licensing music tracks, etc. We have truly uncovered much of the story behind Misty, and have restored the film to look better than the day it was released theatrically. It has been the most involved project ever taken on by Distribpix Inc. and the DVD and Blu packages, have taken about 6 months, and even longer in cases of the CD, but we are finally preparing to bring all 3 of these epic packages to market!

Sorry for the wait, but like anything that is treated with love and care and passion, it can never be rushed, once you rush, you take the risk of jeopardizing the task at hand. We stuck to our gameplan from the very beginning of the Metzger restorations, and for Misty, we did the same, although we were a bit ambitious in some of our goals, it totally paid off. The idea as many of you know, is to treat these releases with the same gusto as a company like Universal or Criterion, many people say we are like the Criterion of adult and sexploitation, because we treat the films the same way and do even better restorations than some of the majors, and not too mention the extras. Are they the best, most professionaly produced videos ever made, of course not? But they are fucking awesome extras and if you are a fan of learning about a film and you enjoy extras, you are in luck. We have a mix of so much content, it was a very difficult authoring procedure for both the blu and DVD’s- as there are lots of menus and sub menus, but the content is kick ass!!

Remember, if this was just about turning a quick profit, I could have had all of these transferred in HD and put on single economy version DVD-5′s-with no extras, to whore out to the adult market, but anyone can do that, and they do it every day. Where is the fun in that? Where is the challenge? Those guys don’t love film, and they don’t care, it is about a dollar, and that is fine. It works for them. I was in that market for a long time, and it is not a fun place. For the most part, the DVD buyers are clueless, and would not know a Metzger from a Max Hardcore!!

For me, I would rather create something unique, special, and harvest the best package I can to offer the film fans, who enjoy these types of releases- over the top, done with love and care, every aspect of it – right down to the nitty gritty details, it is like you become intimate with the prodcut and borderline obsessed with all aspects of it, no matter how insignificant.

With all of that said, I am proud to say that we are in the final process of production/manufacturing…..material is coming back to the warehouse and project misty packages are being assembled. We are still waiting for the Blu-Ray, which is in production, and it is REGION FREE, as we have customers all over the world and never lock it to any single region.

I am happy and also very burnt out on Misty Beethoven, I love her so much, this film is so amazing. I have literally spent about 5 months straight doing nothing but working on some aspect of Misty Beethoven, hundreds and hundreds of hours(not too mention my partner Ian Culmell, who has a full-time job as well)-(the film transfers, the documentary-scripting, shooting,editing, artwork, weeks of authoring/encoding for Blu-Ray, countless hours of QC, the project misty campaign,etc.). No matter what I will be able to look back at this experience in the future, knowing that I gave it my all and tried very hard, and we think we succeeded on finally showing the world, how a small- independent film company with no funding, can produce amazing packages, on par with other great Hollywood restorations.

If we were able to get some solid and fair distribution channel, we would be able to produce more packages like this, we really enjoy it. But without a firm distribution channel, it is too difficult to balance the profit/loss for a project of this scale. A film like Misty totaly deserves this treatment and quite frankly, so do many other adult films from the golden age of adult filmmaking.

MAKE A PLEDGE TO PROJECT MISTY

PLEASE VISIT WWW.PROJECTMISTY.COM

http://youtu.be/h9gstVnjc9Y

MISTY BEETHOVEN – Kicked off Kickstarter.com

Just 5 days into our kickstarter project and we are over 8 thousand dollars. And now, after 105 people have pledged we have been asked to take down the project. We have our suspicions of what happened and for those of you involved, shame on you. This “Misty Beethoven” project is on par with some of the greatest film restorations in the history of modern cinema. In reality, I was fortunate enough to have an in depth conversation the other day with a colleague of mine. He just happens to be doing the 4k scan of Speilberg’s JAWS, and we were totally talking shop. He was amazed at how much work we have done to our film, and he told me that the type of work I am doing, is very similar to what they are doing. Now, we are not Universal and we are not Speilberg, but I will take the compliment, especially from someone like that.

The outpouring of support during the campaign and especially since this news has hit, has been intense. I have had at least 50 people who pledged, email me personally , to let me know several things—- that they are sickened by this news, that they feel terrible for us, and that we had one of the best kick videos and projects. Many let us know they would like to remain as a backer and still be involved with this project, in a huge way. And some of you, have even been gracious enough to increase your pledge levels. I will find a way to thank you.

While we are well aware of the several other venues for this type of fund raising, we are no longer confident or comfortable with having our fans/backers and our campaign messed with any further. Quite frankly, if it was not for a stupid chain of events, the project would still be live on Kickstarter.com. So we have decided to find a way to make this an independent type of project. Our rewards are so amazing, we have been working on some of this stuff for over a year, it is all artisan quality and this merchandise is one of a kind!! So the best way to look at it, is that the KS thing, was a dry run, now we know we have the interest. And when we are back up, we will be sure to have an extra incentive, so that it is worth the hassle of having the backers re-pledge. We know this might not seem like the most legitimate way to raise funds, and it certainly does not have the KS platform and appeal, but I handle credit cards all day long, I take Pay Pal, and I can do this!! Who knows, maybe we have stumbled across a new way of independent project fund raising.

But most importantly, we have raised over 8 thousand dollars, and our goal is 10k, from the looks of it, we would have easily exceeded the $10,000 limit. So with that said, I would love to see you guys re-join the campaign, once we have it formalized and have decided on the best approach. I promise you, that you will not be sorry, you are going to be blown away with this project. My team has put too much into this project, to have anything get in our way, we are determined!

And I want you guys to know, every single one of you that made a pledge, you are now more than just a backer, you are now part of the Distribpix family. Stay Tuned for the latest details ASAP!!

THE OPENING MISTY BEETHOVEN BRAND NEW ARTWORK

We wanted to do something very special for this collector’s edition of The Opening of Misty Beethoven. So we commissioned a local artist, Anthony Palumbo, to create a brand new look and feel for “Misty”. Ian Culmell(creative director at 435 productions) came up with the concept and our first sketches were done in February. After many weeks of going back and forth with the artist, we settled on a gorgeous design, it captures the essence of this great film. We were fortunate to be able to follow the artist through all stages of completion, including a visit to his studio in Philadelphia. The whole process took over 3 months, and the final product speaks for itself. I am so proud of this design, and so happy we were able to connect with Anthony. We treated the box art just like every other aspect of this project, with love, with passion.

The final painting is oil on canvas and it is approx, 27 inches by 40 inches. It is an amazing piece of art!! It was easily transformed to fit into our box art, and is also used for menu creation, posters, t shirts, etc!! We also go into a bit of detail, on  the creation of the box cover and the history of the box art for “Misty” in our Behind the Scenes feature, on the upcoming , special collector’s edition 2 disc set.

Artist’s second sketch based on our concept, Late February.

Philadelphia artist, Anthony Palumbo, in front of work in progress, late April.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am proud to announce for the first time ever, the brand new box cover art for Radley Metzger’s 1975 classic, The Opening of Misty Beethoven, 2012!!

EXCLUSIVE: Official Misty Beethoven Update

Hello all, hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day Holiday. I wanted to give an official update to the Misty saga!!  For the past 4 1/2 months we have been working very hard, putting together this Misty Beethoven restoration project. It has taken more hours and involvement than any other project that I have ever been involved in and we have delved into this project and embraced all the challenges that it has put in front of us. We have gotten heavily involved and maybe went a bit overboard attempting to put the film The Opening of Misty Beethoven into its proper historical context, from the actual film restoration to the director commentary all the way through all of the video extras– our most impressive one being a lengthy documentary feature entitled Behind The Scenes of Misty Beethoven. Actually, they are all very well done!

For the true die-hard fans of this film, I can guarantee that this will be the ultimate Misty experience for you. It will likely be one of the best DVD packages that you can buy in 2012. And it should be: it has taken us long enough, and every part of it shines! For those of you who have never seen the film, then you are also in a great position, as this is the first time the film has not only been transferred in HD but is finally masked at its proper aspect ratio of 1.85:1! It is a win-win.

I must tell you that the amount of footage that is going into this epic 2 disc, special edition release of The Opening of Misty Beethoven is impressive.  I would like to give you guys a breakdown of what will be included in this release.  And there are still some surprises yet to be announced!!

In no particular order, the package will contain the following material:

•The Opening of Misty Beethoven – Original Uncut “Hot” Version: HD transfer, with frame by frame restoration and color correction, 1.85:1 presentation. Includes a 5.1 AUDIO MIX sourced from the original MAG TRACKS and the Original MONO sound.

•The Opening of Misty Beethoven – Original Uncut “Soft” (less explicit) Version, including additional scenes not included in the “Hard” version. HD transfer, automated correction. 1:85.1 presentation, Original MONO sound.

•Full Length Director Commentary on Hard Version with Radley Metzger, moderated by adult film guru Benson Hurst. Excellent, the best one yet!

• Full Length Commentary on Soft Version with co-star Gloria Leonard,recorded last week.

•SUBTITLE TRACKS in 6 languages on both HARD AND SOFT VERSIONS-(12 total subtitle tracks)- ENGLISH, SPANISH, FRENCH, GERMAN, PORTUGUESE, ITALIAN

•All 5 Original Henry Paris trailers, transferred in HD- 25 min

•HD VIDEO FEATURES :

Remembering Jamie Gillis- a touching 10 minute tribute to the legend narrated by Jamie’s best friend, Benson Hurst.

Desperately Seeking Susan: Constance Found – a brief introduction to this elusive and legendary icon, and hints as to what she may be up to today.

The Restoration of Misty – a half-hour long journey into the restoration of Misty. Includes film lab footage, interviews with the experts, examples of the process, before/after comparison, and more!

The Outtakes – an amazing selection of never-before-seen silent outtakes from the set of Misty Beethoven. WOW!!

Behind The Scenes of Misty Beethoven - by far our most impressive video feature to date, this one combines a very large sampling of just about everything about the making of  Misty. What makes this such a wonderful feature is that is is presented as a documentary, combining archival footage and photos with several brand new HD interviews conducted specifically for this release. I am talking about contributions by famed cinematographer, Paul Glickman, as well as actress Gloria Leonard and legendary music director, George Craig. It really is an impressive feature and will run 45 minutes or longer.

There are more things yet to be announced. This is just a taste, but these are the basics! We are also releasing the Misty Soundtrack at the same time(15 original music tracks, liner notes, interview with music director, dialog snippets, etc), as well as a slew of Misty memorabilia. One of the main and most impressive changes to the way you all remember this film is that we commissioned totally new artwork for the release! It an amazing piece of art, a long time in the making, created by a local artist. It is the basis for much of the package, and I can’t tell you how proud it makes me feel! I will reveal that art in a separate post.

The main question I have been getting is whether or not, Misty will be released on Blu Ray? A great question? If you have read this blog on occasion, we were going to dabble in a Blu-ray release a few years back, but never did. I have grown so much and learned so much over the past 2 years, and I know what I am capable of achieving. Now we are capable of turning this epic package into a Blu-ray, so the fans can see it the way it was meant to be seen! We just can’t afford to layout the money without knowing if the interest is there from more than just a handful of amazing fans!

Many suggestions have come in to us.  We took some advice to heart and even followed what a few fans told us to do:

STAY TUNED!

Mist Beethoven Exclusive: Contact Sheet of Dr. Loves Apartment

MISTY BEETHOVEN..RESTORATION-before and after shots

Well they say that sometimes quality will stump quantity and in this case, I can’t argue that. The amount of effort that has gone into this Misty Beethoven restoration has been daunting. We really brought the film back to life. There will be a lengthy feature included as an extra in the release for those who are interested in the entire process. But for some quick satisfaction, I wanted to post some screen grabs from the recent 2k scan and compare them with images from the last and most recent VCA version. I will show the old standard version at 4:3, the raw 2k scan in proper aspect ratio and then the corrected 2k scan, with color correction, scratch removal and proper 1:85:1 aspect ratio.

These are raw file grabs and the 2k scans have been compressed to PRO RES HD FILES SIZE, so you are getting a full 1920×1080. The old version is presented in the improper aspect ratio, and has no scratch removal, color correction, etc. The new HD screen shots are presented in the proper 1:85:1 , which is how Radley shot the film and how it was intended to be seen.

If you notice, many of the raw shots after the 2k scan are very vibrant and in some cases overly colorful. Much of this is due to the magenta overtones, very common in archival film. It is easily balanced and corrected and once a true black level is established much of the color seems to return to normal, as seen in the Corrected HD shots.

Misty Old Version

Misty-Raw Image from 2k scan

Misty_2k scan-with CORRECTIONS

Misty_Old Version

Misty-Raw Image from 2k scan

Misty_2k scan with Corrections

Misty_Old Version

Image from Raw 2k scan

2k scan- compressed Pro Res screen grab- 1920x1080

Misty-Old Version

Raw- Pro Res Screen Grab- 1920x1080

Final shot, Color Corrected - Pro Res full HD 1920x1080