Kickstarter: Edward Everett Horton DVD Project
Over the past eight 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, Douglas MacLean, and Musty Suffer. Yesterday, Ben Model launched his ninth Kickstarter, but this time the focus of the project is a bit more familiar.
Edward Everett Horton is one of the most familiar character actors of the early sound era, but did you know that he starred in a series of silent comedy shorts in the late 1920s? No? I didn’t either, but Ben Model did. He has collected five of the best of those shorts for his next Kickstarter, The Edward Everett Horton DVD Project.
I’ll let Ben tell you more in the video above and the text below, copied from the Kickstarter page. Happily, the project is already 100% funded, so these shorts will be available for the first time on home video, scanned directly from 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 Edward Everett Horton DVD Project
This Kickstarter will fund a project that brings 5 rare Edward Everett Horton silent comedy shorts from 1927-1928 to DVD. Yes, you read that right — silent comedy film shorts starring Edward Everett Horton.
These comedies were produced by Harold Lloyd and released by Paramount, and have been preserved in 35mm from original nitrate elements. They are charming and hilarious, and boast excellent production values. They have not been seen by the general public since 1928.
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.
The films on the DVD will be: No Publicity (1927), Find the King (1927), Dad’s Choice (1928), Horse Shy (1928), Vacation Waves (1928).
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 23 of my DVD releases.
This Kickstarter covers all costs for the DVD’s production and release, as well as the making and shipping of backer DVDs.
Possible stretch goal:
While these 35mm preservation negatives look excellent in the new 2K scans, there is a certain amount of dedicated grading (exposure correction), as well as digital cleanup and image stabilization that could be done to make the films look even better. This work can be done but is not in the current budget. If the original funding goal is reached, hiring a specialist to do digital clean-up as well as scene-by-scene exposure correction can be considered as a stretch goal.
Release date (expected):
I expect to be able to have the DVD finished for you by the end of January 2021, and ready for the public for a March 2021 release. It is entirely possible that, because of the pandemic, the project might finish a month or so sooner.
What you get as a backer
Backers of this project will receive a copy of the DVD. Kickstarter backers will get their copies of the DVD before it becomes available to the general public.
I make a point of sending regular updates with behind the scenes information about the films and about the restoration and production process. Some of these are done in text form and some as videos. Last year, during a 2-3 month pause while waiting for digital restoration work on the Douglas MacLean films to be done, we sent out an update every day or two with reviews of each of MacLean’s 26 feature films; MacLean is completely forgotten and most of his films are lost or survive incomplete, and these updates gave backers the opportunity to become experts on MacLean’s filmography.
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 Edward Everett Horton DVD Project”…and participate in a unique silent film enterprise.
A bit about me
I’ve been accompanying silent movies on piano and organ for nearly 4 decades; I play for silents at The Museum of Modern Art, Library of Congress, Silent Clowns Film Series (which I also produce) in NYC, and at festivals, historic theatres, schools and universities throughout the US and internationally. I’ve scored dozens of silent films for DVD release by companies like KinoLorber, Milestone, ReelclassicDVD and Thanhouser, for my own label (Undercrank Productions) as well as for broadcast on TCM.
Over the last 7 years, I’ve produced and distributed 23 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, with whom I have a co-branding arrangement.
My website is silentfilmmusic.com, and my complete line of DVDs can be seen at Undercrank Productions.
Please back this Kickstarter Project HERE.
