"People thanked us for telling the story right" - Interview with Jay Rosenkrantz
Following the announcement that PokerStrategy.com has translated the Bet Raise Fold Movie, we speak to one of the producers Jason Rosenkrantz. Plus, there is still time to win the movie.
"The response has been overwhelmingly positive"
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| Jay Rosenkrantz |
PokerStrategy.com: What has the response been like so far to Bet Raise Fold?
Jay Rosenkrantz: On the whole, overwhelmingly positive. I think casual poker players who weren't aware of all the major events in the online poker story find it the most interesting, but we've heard so many great things from all sorts of types of people: poker pros, former poker pros, people in the poker industry, friends and family, even people who had no rooting interest in poker.
A lot of people have expressed thanks for telling the story right, or complimented that we managed to tap into "the spirit of the online poker boom", which is a really satisfying thing to hear. These positive reactions have translated to great word of mouth, which has been driving sales and opening up wider distribution opportunities for us.
PokerStrategy.com: What has surprised you the most about how people have responded to it?
Jay Rosenkrantz: There's a small but vocal section of the poker pro/serious poker player audience who don't connect with Danielle and hate Tony. Tony seems to be a very polarising figure… I knew people either loved him or they hated him, but I was surprised because I feel like he represents poker players really well in the movie. He's outspoken, opinionated, intelligent, lives life by his own rules.
Many poker pros felt like we should have given Martin more screen time, or featured more of the sizzle and flash that online poker afforded a lot of young people. I don't disagree with them, but I am surprised that some of these audience members have called the film boring or uninteresting… being a poker fanboy and watching it objectively, I find that harder to understand.
"It was surreal screening it in Vegas"
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| The story of online poker |
PokerStrategy.com: Do you have any insight yet as to how well received the movie is with non-poker players?
Jay Rosenkrantz: Most find it a very interesting and well produced story, especially the bits about how UIGEA was passed and Black Friday. They find Danielle to be extremely compelling. It has been playing really well with friends, family and the significant others of poker players.
Many say that it "fills in the gaps" or "the story makes a lot more sense now". We've yet to get much traction in the mainstream indie film world, but I'm curious to see what film critics will make of it when we get wider distribution.
PokerStrategy.com: What was it like screening it in front of poker players at Vegas?
Jay Rosenkrantz: Fun, weird, surreal, out of body experience. In the first screening, Ryan (the director/co-producer/editor) and I sat in the very top row and frequently exchanged looks when the audience laughed at moments we forgot were supposed to be funny, or were silent during moments we thought were hilarious.
Overall it was an amazing experience I'm incredibly grateful we got to have. It was a rush of excitement and energy, especially the larger screenings.
"Keep your head down and keep grinding"
PokerStrategy.com: Are you in any way compelled to somehow continue the story? Maybe a follow up, or a web show, or something further which tells the story of online poker?
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| Danielle is a big hit with the audience |
Jay Rosenkrantz: Haha, I think Ryan and I both need a bit of a break from the online poker story after three years of immersion... There are some poker stories we'd both like to tell, but they're narrative based and not documentary.
I've got The Micros on the backburner and would love to bring that back in a big way, that's the poker story that I want to tell right now. We are working on the Special Edition of Bet Raise Fold, though - we're producing deleted scenes, cutting room floor interviews and other special features for the online, DVD and blu-ray releases in August/September.
PokerStrategy.com: What are the biggest lessons you have learned creating this product for future business ventures?
Jay Rosenkrantz: Keep your head down and keep grinding. Have faith in your will and your vision and never give up. It's never too early for long term strategic planning. Nothing is sacred until you get into the editing room.
Allow yourself the flexibility to make adjustments. Everything in service of the story. Never lose your sense of naive optimism or you'll be defeated. Make +EV decisions and move on to the next problem.
Trust in Taylor Caby.
"A PokerStrategy.com partnership is a fantastic opportunity"
PokerStrategy.com: What compelled you get PokerStrategy.com to translate the movie into 13 different languages?
Jay Rosenkrantz: Since poker is a global game, we always intended to try to reach a global audience. Our Internet distribution makes that easier for us to do. There was a ton of demand pre-release for subtitles in various languages.
We debated running a volunteer translation project, but ultimately decided that we would be better served having a professional outfit with a lot of experience with translations handle it for us.
A partnership with PokerStrategy.com is a fantastic opportunity... because of the relationship they have with the global poker community, we can really make some inroads into markets we otherwise wouldn't be able to easily reach. Very excited to see what happens once we can release the subtitles.
PokerStrategy.com: Is there any plans to get this movie into the documentary festivals?
Jay Rosenkrantz: Not currently - the way we're distributing, we've sort of skipped film festivals, which usually come before a film releases. We turned the 2013 WSOP into our first "festival." That said, if there are larger film festivals that will still take us, we're exploring the opportunities. They typically like to world premiere a documentary, but that's not the case for all of them, so we'll see what happens.
"I want to bring back the Micros"
PokerStrategy.com: What are your future plans in poker now the movie is done? Do you have more free time or are you busier than ever promoting it?
Jay Rosenkrantz: I have a bit more free time, but not much. Marketing and distributing the movie is a huge project in and of itself. I plan to spend a lot more time in the coming years writing and developing my own projects -- I'm working on a science fiction novel, hoping to write a draft during NaNoWrimo (National Novel Writing Month) in November.
As far as poker… I'm studying applied game theory to improve my game during the lull in US online poker. One day I'd love to play casually but competitively in a regulated US online poker market. I want to bring The Micros back, John Wray and I never really even got to scratch the surface of what we had planned for that show! Long live Chase Berger and the King of Diamonds...
PokerStrategy.com: Thanks very much Jay!
If you want to ask Jay your own questions about Bet Raise Fold, we are going to do an Ask Me Anything thread with him in our community forums. Post your questions now!
Discussion forum: AMA Bet Raise Fold producter Jason Rosenkrantz
Win one of 20 copies of the movie
To celebrate this exciting new partnership, the guys at Bet Raise Fold have kindly given us 20 copies of the new movie to give away to our members.
All you have to do is post in the thread below and tell us about your favourite poker scene of all time.
1. Opt-in to this thread by posting in it.
2. Tell us about your favourite poker scene of all time (Describe it, post a screen shot, or post a video).
3. Remember to put any image/video in a spoiler to make sure the thread does not lag.
You could post a video a WSOP or WPT event, tell us about a scene from a movie or just post a picture of an iconic scene. We don't care how you remind us about the scene, just entertain us and we will give the best 20 posts a free copy of the movie.
