BLOGS: The official release of Utopia X

This section was personally written by Breck Stewart.

Finally, I can let go of this. I have done so much work related to that thing that I thought I would go insane. I had to do most of everything myself which includes director, starring, singing, producing, editing and now I have to adopt a new role I wasn't familiar with: distribution. Distributing a movie is something complex and full of challenges I had no idea existed.

I'm a typical artist in that if I could, I would simply worry about my own performance and doing my thing in front of a camera. Self-absorbed much? Of course, like every wannabe and established star out there. To succed in showbiz, we have to be totally in love with our own image in such a way that we dedicate our lives creating and perpetuating it. And I have come to grips a long time ago about that part of my personality.

Anyway, I had to quit the comfortable cocoon of creation that I was in for the past few years and plunge head on into the world of public relations. How do we sell a movie? I had no idea and I'm still not sure I do yet. Part of my personality is very guarded and afraid of people so in order to be able to establish all the numerous contacts we need in order to sell a product we make well, I had to get over my fears and call, meet, talk and establish business relationships with tons of people.

But as I do it, more and more it becomes easier which I guess is good because I had become a hermit and now I really need to go into the opposite direction and become a very social person. Still struggling but I'll get there. And anyway, I am so happy to finally release this thing that I'll do anything it takes. And now I feel like it has a nice momentum which I plan on keeping lit and alive.

And part of this was that I had to actually prepare a strategy of distribution. So what someone needs in order to make sure a movie he produces on DVD gets sold everywhere? Step by step of course but a major concern I had was the European market in general. For me, it has always been an extremely important part of my goals because somehow, I feel like Utopia X has a better chance of being liked outside of North America. I still hope that it'll get a good response here in my own country even if our economy is now so bad for every single one of us, except any CEO of a huge bailed out cie still getting millions of dollars in bonuses out of our own pocket through our taxes. That one really bugs me. So the economy in the USA, even if they keep reminding us that the stock market is up, won't get better any time soon. Too many are unemployed and those who have a job are afraid of losing it, including me.

I really struggle financially right now but I take solace in the fact that I share something with billions of people all around the world. My job may get cut soon which means that this new business of distributing my own movie is the only thing that keeps me hoping I might get out of my huge debts. This movie cost me approximately $69 000 over the course of 6 years if we count all the pre-production work and 3 years if we only consider the actual production time like shooting and editing. And frankly, I have no idea how I'll be able to repay most of it. I still have to buy groceries on credit at least twice a month.

But hey, let's not dwell on it cause I also know that in this new world, I am still one of the lucky ones. And I was ecstatic to learn that not only did I get a deal with a USA distributor, I also got a separate one with the European market which is such a big deal. And this brings me to my main point. The reason why I had to release Utopia X in 2 different standards namely NTSC and PAL is simple. It was the only way I could make sure every single player in the world could play my DVD.

I'll get a bit more technical here but I found out that many people don't know about this, even friends of mine who really had no reason to know about such things. NTSC is the dominating format that was used for more than 50 odd years in broadcasting and television history in the USA. Canada is also in that category even if its history is slightly different. That is the problem actually. With so many changes now in terms of technical standards, it becomes very messy because it can mean for instance that a copy of a movie that you buy online might not work in your DVD player.

It's very frustrating for anyone and I sure hate it too. It happened to me and until I found out about these more technical side of things well, I just thought that I had purchased a default DVD disc and returned it. Well, as a customer myself I wanted to make sure that if you buy a DVD of my movie online, you can be assured that it will play. Yes, DVDs with default can still happen but they shouldn't be the norm. And certainly not because of some technical defect inherent to the production of that DVD.

I also want to explain that PAL is the dominating format in the world. That's right, in technical terms of course. It's simply a different way of encoding an image but makes a huge difference. In countries like France, who not only use PAL but also SECAM as a standard, they are used to having to deal with multiple standards and therefore, the cies producing DVD players there often allow people to play PAL, SECAM and also NTSC versions of a movie. Those are multi-standard DVD players which we also have in America. But the problem is that not every DVD player in the world is multi-standard.

What made matters more complicated is the fact that the movie world decided at some point to impose "region codes" numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Those are artificial barriers so that a movie purchased in say, France with code 2 could not be played if you moved to Canada for example and tried to play your movie. But as a producer, I can decide to make it "region free" meaning that I allow everyone in the world to play it. But that still doesn't solve the deeper problem that some people might not have DVD players that can play both NTSC and PAL versions of a movie.

And I must say, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I could simply transpose my movie from a NTSC standard to a PAL one by using my existing structure for the DVD buildup and transcode each clip. I had to dig deep technically over the years but I really think that I got the hang of it now hopefully. I have this finished technical DVD structure which I plan to use to the fullest. And doing 2 versions of the same movie isn't done often online but it should be. So I would suggest that if you plan to purchase my movie from anywhere in the future, make sure to use the right version for you.

I must say, I discovered the PAL standard by doing this because obviously I live in America and most of us never see it much less even know it exists. It fascinates me actually that I had to construct 2 different versions of the same movie, much like I always envisioned the USA and Europe to be opposites in terms of ideas and culture. But now, we have to reach out. I've always loved Europe and really feel a special kinship because somehow I think that if my movie ever has any chance of success, it'll be there. But man, if it took off in America, you would see this clown jump into space over the joy of having succeeded at home. And I wish all of us some way to deal with this new dawn of economical uncertainty.

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BLOGS: My new movie project "Osmosis"

This section was personally written by Breck Stewart.

As I prepare for the official release of Utopia X, I am reminding myself how long this journey has been from the thought of making a movie to actually have it in my hands. Utopia X is an exception I feel because of its nature since it is so different from the usual porn movie template. And it certainly is not exactly what I first imagined it would be. So why is that? Well, money, money and money... Big suprise. The reason Utopia X came to be in its present form resides in the fact that I had to produce it all myself. Since I never was on the rich side of things, I had to make a lot of concessions so the movie transformed and evolved accordingly. And the only reason why I was able to finance the movie in the first place is because every single person who helped me were not paid a dime and that includes everyone in front of the camera and behind the scenes.

Also, since this was my first movie as a director and that I also edited it myself, I had to learn so many different things and develop skills that would make all this possible. I spent 2 full years trying to create a computer that would come equipped with all the tools I needed and I had to learn how it all works. Not to mention the fact that I still had to work for a living doing other things. So let's just say that the next movie I direct and produce will be done a lot quicker and will be better even if only in terms of constructiong a "real" porn movie so to speak.

Because yes, I am fully aware that Utopia X is not considered to be a porn movie by many, mainly because of its incessant motion where every shot is not held longer than a few seconds. Yes it contains a lot of sex but the action scenes are cut and dispersed throughout the movie with the continuity totally destroyed on purpose. I hadn't realized it at the time but what I ended up building as a movie is not so much pornography as it is a sci-fi movie. Yes, there are no robots or aliens in Utopia X but it's definitely on the fictitious side. And anyway, who cares about the story in a porn movie right? Well, I do. That's the point.

But there will never be anything like Utopia X, not from me and certainly not from anyone else. And trust me, this is not some ego rave on my part but a simple fact. Utopia X will most likely remain alone in its own category simply because it makes absolutely no sense to build a movie like this from a commercial standpoint. It takes too long and requires too much work for what amounts to be music videos with explicit sex. What usually sells in porn is sex. The less cut the better with the real sound from the actors, as if the watcher was there in the room with them. In the case of Utopia X, might as well forget about that. Not one single scene utilizes the real sound and most scenes are intercut to such a degree that there is no continuity anymore.

And yes, I am fully aware that selling Utopia X will be a hell of a task but I don't mind that. On the contrary, I am so proud of Utopia X that I will do whatever it takes to make it a success, figuratively speaking of course. It won't sell in big numbers that's for sure, at least not to the usual crowd who loves porn for sexual stimulation and that would be the majority. But as I am preparing to release Utopia X and work hard at promoting it, I already have this need to talk about my next movie.

When I started Utopia X, I already had settled on the name. I always work like this. The title of a movie for me is extremely important because it truly defines what that movie will be about. And Osmosis is the perfect title for this new project. But this time, I want to make a porn movie in the proven age old formula that works so well. Long sex scenes without interruptions where the men have sex in real time. But I wanted to spruce it up and as a watcher myself, wanted to care more about those men who will have sex in front of the camera.

Which is why, the most important aspect of the movie making process and the most difficult will be the storyline, dialogue driven material I will shoot with the actors. I will be one of the leads in it of course but would love to have a well known porn actor as my main costar. Both of us, as part of a power couple so to speak would have a larger part in the movie but I would like at least 6 actors total. And I want to cast unknowns for the remaining 4 characters because I truly believe in potentially creating new stars. It can only help the movie and launch new careers in the porn world which constantly needs new fresh blood obviously.

The theme of the movie will center around the way love has of sneaking up on us. How love and hate can be so close and how sometimes the most annoying, aggravating man we meet can also become the true love of our life. All the couples in the movie would be in very dysfunctional relationships. So it would be like 3 couples fighting, arguing, fighting while loving each other. Of course, everybody would sleep with everybody else all in good fun. But man, jealousy can be a bitch right?

This is my ultimate dream, to finally shoot a movie where I could have scenes with dialogue because those are the scenes that are impossible to do without money, hence the reason why there is no dialogue scenes in Utopia X. Of course, this is one of my movies, the editing in the talking scenes would be extremely fast, in direct contrast to the very slow and deliberate pacing of the sex scenes which is the heart not to mention the "meat" of any porn movie.

I admit, I am very excited about Osmosis but since any movie project takes so long to see through the end, right now I am in the phase where I have to find funds to finance a new movie. And until I find backers well, Osmosis will stay on the drawing board but even as I am excited about finally releasing Utopia X, my mind is already looking forward to getting into the thick of things once again and create a full movie from scratch. An exciting yet exhausting process I have come to love over the years.