The folks at Dailymotion send this in: On May 3rd (a week from Sunday), “The Hunt for Gollum” will make its debut on video sharing site Dailymotion. This high-production value, 45-minute film was a labor of love, produced by entirely by fans of the Tolkien trilogy on a volunteer basis over the past 2 years. Inspired by notes in the appendices of the book, the film follows Aragorn as he sets out to find the creature Gollum and discover the truth about the Ring.
The film will be available for streaming free of charge beginning May 3rd, but you can get a sneak peak now by viewing the trailer here.
PRESS RELEASE
“The Hunt for Gollum” to have its World Premiere on Dailymotion on May 3
Feature film, available to the public for free, produced by volunteer fans of the Tolkien trilogy
Trailer available at www.Dailymotion.com/HuntforGollum
London, 22 April, 2009 – Fans of the Tolkien trilogy, “The Lord of the Rings” have produced a new film, “The Hunt for Gollum.” The culmination of a two-year project by fans and volunteers, the film is to be screened exclusively online on Dailymotion, one of the world’s largest independent video entertainment sites, on Sunday, May 3. The film will have a simultaneous premiere at SCI-FI LONDON, the 8th Annual London International Festival of Science Fiction and Fantastic Film, with free tickets available to festival goers.
The trailer is available at www.Dailymotion.com/HuntforGollum. This fully-skinned Dailymotion profile page also features interviews with the actors and production team as well as behind-the-scenes content about the project.
The 40 minute film, conceived, created and funded by fans, was inspired by notes in the appendices from the book “The Lord of the Rings.” The film follows Aragorn as he sets out to find the creature Gollum and discover the truth about the Ring. The film was written, directed and produced by fan Chris Bouchard, who gathered a small cast and crew for the project in 2007. Over the past two years, the project gained momentum, attracting a global team of over 100 filmmakers, volunteers and supporters.
Bouchard explains, “I’m a big fan of ToIkien and was inspired by Peter Jackson’s films of the Trilogy. I love creating films and wanted to really test my creativity to see what I could produce with a minimal budget. The high production values of our film, ‘The Hunt for Gollum,’ would not have been possible without the commitment and resources of experienced prop makers, costume makers, prosthetics and make-up specialists, fight coordinators and special effects artists. The production has been open to everyone for collaboration, and as a result, the passion for this project has drawn together a diverse blend of working professionals, students and youth from every walk of life.”
Joy Marcus, General Manager of Dailymotion US adds, “’The Hunt for Gollum’ takes the fan-film genre to a completely new, high-quality, independent film level. We are proud to be the exclusive launch partner.”
The Hunt for Gollum is a non-profit film made for private use, and is not intended for sales of any sort. No money is being made from this film, and no one was paid to make it. This work was produced solely for the personal, uncompensated enjoyment of the film’s creators and other Tolkien fans.
About Dailymotion
A top 50 website worldwide, Dailymotion Network attracts over 47.9 million unique monthly visitors worldwide (source: comScore, February 2009). Every day, over 15,000 new videos are uploaded into Dailymotion’s global network of 18 localized video entertainment sites. In January 2009, Dailymotion delivered over 914 million videos to users including curated content from premium and Motionmaker creative contributors. Using the most advanced technology for both users and content creators, Dailymotion provides high-quality and HD video in a fast, easy-to-use website that also automatically filters infringing material notified by content owners. Dailymotion’s mission is to provide the best possible entertainment experience for users and the best marketing opportunities for advertisers, while respecting content protection. For more information, please visit www.dailymotion.com.
