Kickstarter: Douglas MacLean Double-Feature DVD Project
Over the past seven years, composer Ben Model has used Kickstarter to fund the digital restoration and release of rare silent films through his DVD label, Undercrank Productions. In many cases, these DVDs have helped restore the legacies of forgotten film comedians from the silent era, such as Alice Howell, Marcel Perez, and Musty Suffer. Today, Ben Model has set out to do the same for Douglas MacLean, through his eighth Kickstarter project, The Douglas MacLean Double-Feature DVD.
I’ll let Ben give you the background on Douglas MacLean in the video above and the text below, copied from the Kickstarter page. Happily, the project is already 100% funded, so two complete silent features from this forgotten comedian will be available for the first time on home video, scanned directly from the only existing prints in the Library of Congress archives. I’m greatly looking forward to receiving my copy.
I highly encourage you to support this worthy project, and to check out Undercrank Productions’ previous releases (Amazon links below).
The Douglas MacLean Double-Feature DVD
This Kickstarter will fund a project that brings 2 rare Douglas MacLean silent comedy features to DVD: One a Minute (1921) and Bell Boy 13 (1923). The films that will be on the DVD will be seen in new 2K digital scans of archival materials preserved by the Library of Congress, and will be scanned by the Library of Congress’ lab. I will create a brand new custom musical score for each film.
One a Minute (1921) survives in an excellent 35mm print and Bell Boy 13 survives in a very good 16mm; these are the only prints of these films on the planet.
The DVD box art will be created by professional graphic designer and silent era aficionado Marlene Weisman. The DVDs will be professionally authored and they will be made available for sale online as MOD (manufacture-on-demand) discs The finished DVD will be available via outlets like Amazon.com, TCM Shop, DeepDiscount and more, as well as international online retailers. The release will be publicized and reviewed. The DVD will be NTSC format, and will be region “0” (region-free). This is the same workflow as I have been doing successfully for all 21 of my DVD releases.
This Kickstarter covers all costs for the DVD’s production and release, as well as of the making of and shipping of backer DVDs. Kickstarter backers will get their copies of the DVD before it becomes available to the general public.
Release date (expected):
Based on my current performance schedule for summer 2019, the time it takes for scoring and authoring, and the wild-card factor that unexpected things will just come up, I expect to be able to have the DVD finished for you by the end of December 2019, and for a February 2020 release.
Be “somebody”…
We’ve all heard of great silent films having been preserved at a film archive and thought, “wouldn’t it be great if somebody put that out on DVD?”. Here’s a chance for you to be part of that “somebody”! Make your pledge to “The Douglas MacLean Double-Feature DVD Project”…and participate in a unique silent film enterprise.
A bit about Douglas MacLean
Douglas MacLean starred in 23 feature-length light comedies from 1919 to 1927, and his screen persona was that of a middle-class young man making his way in the world and going on wacky adventures. It was a type of film Douglas Fairbanks pioneered and made from 1915-1920 until he switch to swashbucklers when he made The Mark of Zorro. MacLean essentially picked up the genre where Douglas Fairbanks left off. He made two or three features a year and was one of the comedians you went to see while you were waiting for Buster or Harold to come out with a new picture. Nearly all of MacLean’s features are either lost, overseas, or missing reels or are fragments, but these two are 100% complete and have been preserved by the Library of Congress.
A bit about Ben Model
I’ve been accompanying silent movies on piano and organ for 38 years; I play for silents at MoMA, at the Library of Congress, at the Silent Clowns Film Series (which I also produce) in NYC, and at festivals, historic theatres and at schools and universities throughout the US and internationally. I’ve scored dozens of silent films for DVD release for companies like KinoLorber, Milestone, ReelclassicDVD and Thanhouser and for air on TCM.
Over the last 6 years, I’ve produced and distributed 21 DVDs of rare silent films – great silent films you’ve never heard of…but should – fan-funded via Kickstarter. The films have been sourced either from collectors or from the Library of Congress, whom I have a co-branding arrangement with.
My website is silentfilmmusic.com, and my complete line of DVDs can be seen at Undercrank Productions.
Please back this Kickstarter Project HERE.
