“Jerome Bixby’s The Man From Earth” sees ranking on IMDb MOVIEmeter go from #11,235 to #6 in two weeks, and the independent film is now ranked as the 14th best Sci-Fi film ever.
While the conundrum facing the film industry over Internet piracy heats up, one producer of an independent low-budget film has taken matters into his own hands.
The day after the November 13th DVD release of his film “Jerome Bixby’s The Man From Earth,” producer Eric D. Wilkinson took the groundbreaking step to directly address users of P2P and file-sharing services. On the blog rlslog.net he thanked them for downloading his film. He also requested that they spread the word, buy the DVD, and donate money for their viewing to the film at www.manfromearth.com.
While Wilkinson, a home entertainment business veteran and Southern New Jersey native, hardly condones illegal downloading, he realized that the genie was already out of the bottle. Wilkinson figured it was better to embrace the phenomenon than try to fight it. “Am I upset… surprisingly no”, Wilkinson commented to www.rlslog.net. “Thanks to everyone who has downloaded this torrent and watched the film, our awareness level is through the roof. For that I say, ‘Thank You’!” His posting has since spread to numerous blogs and websites and has inspired hundreds of responses from around the globe.
The film became available on file-sharing sites in the week before it was released on DVD. Reaction and enthusiasm for the film was fantastic. Between November 5th and 7th the www.manfromearth.com website saw traffic increase by over 3,000%. On the Internet Movie Database the film’s MovieMeter ranking – which gauges awareness of a title by measuring traffic to its IMDb entry – rose from #11,235 on October 28th to #144 on November 4th, peaking at #6 by November 11th. It’s currently ranked as the 14th best Science-Fiction film ever.
From Releaselog:
I received a very pleasant mail today. My inbox is usually full of stupid cease & desist messages from various anti-piracy organizations, but it’s mails like this one which make you happy. It’s good to see that some people realize that internet piracy isn’t just evil…
To Whom It May Concern:
My name is Eric D. Wilkinson and I am the producer of a small independent film called “Jerome Bixby’s The Man From Earth” (our review).
I am sending you this email after realizing that our website has had nearly 23,000 hits in the last 12 days, much of it coming from your website. In addition, our trailer, both on the www.manfromearth.com site and other sites like YouTube, MySpace and AOL has been watched nearly 20,000 times AND what’s most impressive is our ranking on IMDb went from being the 11,235th most popular movie, to the 5th most popular movie in 2 weeks (we are also the #1 independent film on IMDb & the #1 science fiction film on IMDb). How did this all happen? Two words: Torrent / File Sharing sites (well, four words and a slash).
More specifically, RLSLOG.net. Our independent movie had next to no advertising budget and very little going for it until somebody ripped one of the DVD screeners and put the movie online for all to download. After that happened, people were watching it and started posting mostly all positive reviews on IMDb, Amazon and other places. Most of the feedback from everyone who has downloaded “The Man From Earth” has been overwhelmingly positive. People like our movie and are talking about it, all thanks to piracy on the net!
Am I upset… surprisingly no. Thanks to everyone who has downloaded this torrrent and watched the film, our awareness level is through the roof. For that I say, “THANK YOU”!
What you guys have done here is nothing short of amazing. In the future, I will not complain about file sharing. YOU HAVE HELPED PUT THIS LITTLE MOVIE ON THE MAP!!!! When I make my next picture, I just may upload the movie on the net myself!
This guy really deserves support from the file shareing community! You can support producers of The Man From Earth by buying the retail DVD, which should be available in the US stores from tomorrow.
So What’s It About?
On a cold night in a remote cabin, Professor John Oldman (David Lee Smith of “CSI: Miami”, Fight Club) gathers his most trusted colleagues for an extraordinary announcement: He is an immortal who has migrated through 140 centuries of evolution and must now move on. Is Oldman truly Cro-Magnon or simply insane? Now one man will force these scientists and scholars to confront their own notions of history, religion and humanity, all leading to a final revelation that may shatter their world forever.
The Man From Earth is the final work by Jerome Bixby (Fantastic Voyage, Twilight Zone: The Movie, “Star Trek”), considered one of the greatest science-fiction authors of all time. After 30 years he completed writing the film on his deathbed with his son Emerson Bixby. The Man From Earth is executive produced by Mark Pellington (The Mothman Prophecies, Arlington Road) and directed and produced by Richard Schenkman (The Pompatus Of Love). The film co-stars John Billingsley (”Star Trek: Enterprise”), William Katt (Carrie, “The Greatest American Hero”), Ellen Crawford (”ER”), Richard Riehle (Office Space), and Tony Todd (Candyman, Final Destination, Platoon).
Jerome Bixby’s The Man From Earth received two awards at the Rhode Island International Film Festival in August: First place for Best Feature and Grand Prize for Best Screenplay. The film was also an Official Selection at San Diego Comic-Con International Film Festival in July.
Jerome Bixby’s The Man From Earth DVD is available through DVD retailers and online. For more information about the film and its creators please visit www.manfromearth.com.
Here’s a trailer for the movie for you to watch as well. I’ve seen some of it, and the only way I can describe it is a sci-fi version of “12 Angry Men.”
Looking for more stuff to watch or download?
China Bans Hollywood Movies Until Next May?
TVLinks Alternatives for Free TV Shows & Movies
Tips on how to not get busted for file-sharing
3 Quick Ways to Watch Movies for FREE!
3 quick ways to watch TV shows for FREE
BitTorrent torrent sites & search engines
uTorrent – A Beginner’s guide to BitTorrent downloading
News Tip? Comment? Suggestion? jared@zeropaid.com
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i read this story like 2 weeks ago on megagames. i almost linked you soul but got lazy 
great story by the way. it really shows how filesharing can be good even in a world where the bottom dollar is what counts.
Someone from the MPAA needs to read this……hey soul….maybe you can send this story to some bigwig in the MPAA? After all they think p2p is the devil.
Yeah this story is appearing all over the net. Between the news press and the torrents these guys are really getting the attention that they deserve. I have heard nothing but good things about the movie.
i have seen the film and i will get the dvd to it’s a pretty cool film
i have seen the film and i will get the dvd to it’s a pretty cool film