''I'm Your Man'' is a 1992 short film which was created to showcase

Loews Theatres Loews may refer to: * Loews Cineplex Entertainment, formerly Loews Incorporated, a defunct North American cinema chain which formerly owned Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer **''United States v. Loew's Inc.'', a United States Supreme Court case involving Loews ...

interactive cinema Interactive cinema tries to give an audience an active role in the showing of movies. Another newer definition of interactive cinema is a video game which is a hybrid between participation and viewing, giving the player – or viewer, as it were ...

technology. Audiences used seat-mounted joysticks to vote between three options in action at six different points throughout the movie.

Production

The movie was designed as the first test of ''Interfilm'',

Bob Bejan Bob Bejan is currently head of global events, production studios and the marketing community at Microsoft Corporation. Prior to his return to Microsoft Mr. Bejan was the Chief Development Officer of MSLGROUP. He is the co-founder and chairman of P ...

's interactive cinema company. The film was shot on 16mm Kodak film, transferred to

LaserDisc The LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium, initially licensed, sold and marketed as DiscoVision, MCA DiscoVision (also known simply as "DiscoVision") in the United States in 1978. Its diam ...

, and digitally projected to allow for nearly seamless transitions when audiences made their choices. Acting and direction were less than impressive; the movie was shot over only 6 days, and Bejan did not require a second take of any shot. In very early roles for both of them, comedy actors

Michael Ian Black Michael Ian Black (born Michael Ian Schwartz; August 12, 1971) is an American comedian, actor, writer, and director. He has starred in several TV comedy series, including ''The State'', ''Viva Variety'', '' Stella'', '' Wet Hot American Summer: Fi ...

and

Ben Garant Robert Ben Garant (born September 14, 1970), credited earlier in his career as Ben Garant, is an American screenwriter, producer, director, actor and comedian. He has a long professional relationship with Thomas Lennon and Kerri Kenney-Silver ...

appear as background in a party scene.

Distribution

The film premiered in a special theater at the Loews on 19th Street and Broadway in New York City in December 1992. Tickets to the 20-minute show were $3, and ticket holders were allowed to stay for as many viewings as they wanted. Retrofitting an existing theater with the necessary voting equipment cost approximately $70,000, and 42 other theaters made the investment in 1993 and 1994. The film—and the interactivity itself—were well received by teens but dismissed by critics and adult moviegoers as being "as gimmicky as three-dimensional glasses or scratch 'n' sniff" and "not like watching a real movie... more like rooting for a basketball team." A common criticism was that moviegoers would use the controls at vacant seats to vote more than once. Another concern was that the act of voting took moviegoers out of the story; it was thought that real-time interaction hampered the viewing experience, and engineers began working on an alternative technology that would let users customize movies ''before'' viewing began. Although the format ultimately failed due to lack of marketing and poor audience reception, ''I'm Your Man'' was released on DVD on August 18, 1998 as part of a second attempt at interactive video.

References

External links

* *{{YouTube, mx4NeJe9CJI, The making of I'm Your Man 1992 films Interactive films Loews Cineplex Entertainment 1990s English-language films

Production

Distribution

See also

References

External links