2017 is Gone, Welcome 2018!
The year 2017 is over and it's that time where we need to make an evaluation of what kind of year we had. In our case the past year was one of re structuring, of setting up new goals, re building. Unlike 2016, which turned out to be a transition year, when the changes that began at the end of 2015 did not feel real. In 2017 they were all too real. Nothing was the same and we had to deal with that somehow. The year began with a big question, Now What? Amy was definitely settling in the US, taking charge of the film studies at a university, Mila set up her Tattoo shop, Miguel, our DP took a job as head photographer at a magazine and just like that our principal cast and crew was a lot smaller than it had been for a decade of tremendous work. Truly, it was the end of an era.
At the beginning of the year, during a commissioned interview for a series of articles about the leading ladies in our recent films, that is Amy, Mila and Bea, Jac asked Bea if she would do another film like
JUSTINE. Bea said yes and soon after
The Passion of Isabel began production without a crew and with the limited cast of two, who were also in charge of all of the work. By the end of March the production of
The Passion of Isabel was completed.
The rest of the year was concentrated in the post production of
The Passion of Isabel and
Pygmalion.
The Passion of Isabel was released in August and became our number one seller and it continues to be.
Pygmalion is ready for its release but it will be submitted to a number of festivals first.
During the year, while producing
The Passion of Isabel, Jac suffered the passing of his father, who was 85. That tragedy marked the rest of the year. It somehow slowed things for Jac, who although was very much involved in the post production of the two projects I mentioned, was suddenly filled with a deep sense of loss. It brought back the reality of not having Amy around like before, the reality of the times that were gone, the end of the cycle, all of that came rushing in at once.
But by the middle of the year Jac shook all that off, made peace with the new realities in his life and began to look forward to the future. A request from the Cinemateca to organize a
Horror Film Festival helped him to focus ahead, rather than behind and after experimenting with that idea, decided that it was not a good one and turned his attention to new projects. He picked an old script,
Cage, and began working on it.
Maleficarum II was also in his mind, and a sudden offer of good cash for it, brought it up to the top.
2017 also brought the theatrical release of
JUSTINE here and one of the direct results of that event was that it attracted the attention and interest of
Danielle, who because loved that film so much that decided to contact Jac with the hopes of working in one of his films. After a couple of meetings and a photo shoot, she joined Jac and our team and she's looking forward to be tortured in a few films.
In essence 2017 was a time of loss and a time to set the ground for a renewal. Everything will have to be renewed. The cast, the crew, the outlook on projects, everything. 2018 will have to be the year that starts a totally New Cycle. It doesn't have a name yet. Too early to tell who will dominate the next cycle. I thought that perhaps Bea was the one and that the cycle began with
The Passion, but I no longer feel that. I don't know what the new cycle will be like and I don't know who will be the main protagonist.
2018 is also an anniversary year. In a few days it will be 20 years since Jac and Camille released
Red Feline on The Cross and created
Red Feline Pictures, better known as
RFPIX, and began the
rfpix.com site. 20 years of Red Feline. Two decades of tireless work of GIMP, torture and Kink. 20 years of beautiful ladies suffering the whip, the cross, the rack, the stake, the wheel. 20 years!
The end of 2017 also shows what the tendency was in sales.
The Passion of Isabel retained the best seller status for the year, followed by
JUSTINE while
Maleficarum remained in its solid third place. The rest of the films in our ten best sellers list did not change much, perhaps the order, but all them retained their place. The Big Budget films continue to be the big sellers, with the exception of
Agent X and now
The Passion of Isabel.
1.- The Passion of Isabel - 1127 points
2.- JUSTINE - 1014 points
3.- Maleficarum - 560 points
4.- Le Marquis de la Croix - 222 points
5.- BARBAZUL - 192 points
6.- Dead But Dreaming - 128 points
7.- Martyr - 122 points
8.- Sirwiñakuy - 110 points
9.- Agent X - 99 points
10.- Olalla - 88 points
Fear not, I will not return to mentioning our best seller list every month like I did before, as a matter of fact, after I'm done telling the story of
The Passion of Isabel in images in a two or three more posts, I will take a break, maybe a long break. We decided that a lot more attention must be placed to our websites:
I'll post a link and a picture from time to time, of course, with an update on what we're doing, but I will refrain from posting big pictures, long rantings, and above all I will not engage in angry discussions. In any case, you're all familiar with our brand name so you know where to find us if you wish to find out what we're up to in a more regular basis.
