Yesterday, I received a copy of Justin Blair and Matthew Vincent's Across the Forest doco in the mail. I'm gonna give a brief background into how that came about.
I received an e-mail from Justin ("Justin Blair here, the maker of the vampire (strigoi) documentary set in Transylvania, Across the Forest", Tuesday, 26 January 2010 2:28:55 PM) saying that he came across my blog via Magia Posthuma and said that I'm doing "really excellent work".
He then asked if I'd be interested in having a copy of the film sent to me for review on my blog and asked if I wanted to interview him, as well.
As this e-mail came hot on the heels of "Blogging Ethics", I was somewhat torn. There was an air of self-promotion I wasn't entirely comfortable with.
However, he did have a point: his doco's subject matter is in sync with what I discuss on my blog.
In my reply ("Re: Justin Blair here, the maker of the vampire (strigoi) documentary set in Transylvania, Across the Forest", Friday, 29 January 2010 10:14:05 PM), I made him aware of my "Blogging Ethics" post, but complemented him on addressing me directly, rather than group-send me spam. I also admitted that its subject matter was in context with what I write about and mentioned that I had seen Niels' review of it.
I also said that, in the interests of disclosure, I'd have to reveal that he suggested I interview him (should I actually do so, mind you and I probably will) and if he was ok with that, then yes, I'd agree for a copy of the film to be sent to me. But I also iterated that if I had any issues with the film (i.e., criticisms) then I'd certainly be raising them in my review.
Can't play favourites here, ya see.
He wrote back shortly after ("Re: Justin Blair here, the maker of the vampire (strigoi) documentary set in Transylvania, Across the Forest", Friday, 29 January 2010 10:14:05 PM) saying that he admired my viewpoints and had "no problems with the criteria" I gave. He also said that if I did have any problems with the film, then they'd be his own, and had no beef with my pointing them out (awww).
He mentioned it was a low-budget film, but that it "dovetails" with what I write about and reiterated his offer to send me a copy, and thanked me for writing back.
I was pretty impressed with Justin's manners and professionalism, so I wrote back ("RE: Justin Blair here, the maker of the vampire (strigoi) documentary set in Transylvania, Across the Forest", Tuesday, 2 February 2010 12:41:58 AM) thanking him for his courtesy and gave him the go-ahead to send the film. I did mention that there might be problems concerning DVD region codes (we use PAL in Australia, whereas the Yanks use NTSC).
He got back to me ("Re: Justin Blair here, the maker of the vampire (strigoi) documentary set in Transylvania, Across the Forest", Tuesday, 2 February 2010 11:33:58 AM) saying that the disc was region-free and that they had customers from "Australia, the UK, Denmark, Brazil, Japan, etc and no reported problems".
He signed off by saying he'd send it soon and would be looking forward to hearing back from me.
Which now brings us back to the present.
I haven't had time to watch the DVD yet, but when I do, the review will follow soon after.
I received an e-mail from Justin ("Justin Blair here, the maker of the vampire (strigoi) documentary set in Transylvania, Across the Forest", Tuesday, 26 January 2010 2:28:55 PM) saying that he came across my blog via Magia Posthuma and said that I'm doing "really excellent work".
He then asked if I'd be interested in having a copy of the film sent to me for review on my blog and asked if I wanted to interview him, as well.
As this e-mail came hot on the heels of "Blogging Ethics", I was somewhat torn. There was an air of self-promotion I wasn't entirely comfortable with.
However, he did have a point: his doco's subject matter is in sync with what I discuss on my blog.
In my reply ("Re: Justin Blair here, the maker of the vampire (strigoi) documentary set in Transylvania, Across the Forest", Friday, 29 January 2010 10:14:05 PM), I made him aware of my "Blogging Ethics" post, but complemented him on addressing me directly, rather than group-send me spam. I also admitted that its subject matter was in context with what I write about and mentioned that I had seen Niels' review of it.
I also said that, in the interests of disclosure, I'd have to reveal that he suggested I interview him (should I actually do so, mind you and I probably will) and if he was ok with that, then yes, I'd agree for a copy of the film to be sent to me. But I also iterated that if I had any issues with the film (i.e., criticisms) then I'd certainly be raising them in my review.
Can't play favourites here, ya see.
He wrote back shortly after ("Re: Justin Blair here, the maker of the vampire (strigoi) documentary set in Transylvania, Across the Forest", Friday, 29 January 2010 10:14:05 PM) saying that he admired my viewpoints and had "no problems with the criteria" I gave. He also said that if I did have any problems with the film, then they'd be his own, and had no beef with my pointing them out (awww).
He mentioned it was a low-budget film, but that it "dovetails" with what I write about and reiterated his offer to send me a copy, and thanked me for writing back.
I was pretty impressed with Justin's manners and professionalism, so I wrote back ("RE: Justin Blair here, the maker of the vampire (strigoi) documentary set in Transylvania, Across the Forest", Tuesday, 2 February 2010 12:41:58 AM) thanking him for his courtesy and gave him the go-ahead to send the film. I did mention that there might be problems concerning DVD region codes (we use PAL in Australia, whereas the Yanks use NTSC).
He got back to me ("Re: Justin Blair here, the maker of the vampire (strigoi) documentary set in Transylvania, Across the Forest", Tuesday, 2 February 2010 11:33:58 AM) saying that the disc was region-free and that they had customers from "Australia, the UK, Denmark, Brazil, Japan, etc and no reported problems".
He signed off by saying he'd send it soon and would be looking forward to hearing back from me.
Which now brings us back to the present.
I haven't had time to watch the DVD yet, but when I do, the review will follow soon after.
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