Like thousands and thousands of others the producer’s initial goal for the project is to have it accepted for a festival, hopefully one that has some recognition where the right people will see it, and then if all of the stars are lined up just so, to have it win one of the awards presented to the best of the best.

Why is this important?  Because doing well in the festivals gets your picture seen by audiences who can spread the message, by those who have invested in other projects and might be the financial angel for their next work, and by distributors who might pick it up and put that film into the international market, massively expanding the number of viewers and allowing everyone to actually make a financial return on the project.

In this very competitive world (the 2015 Sundance Festival had 8,061 entries for just 60 spots, and even at a small festival like the Sheffield Doc gets 13,000 entries for 150 spots) yesterday’s news is no news at all – so how did the feature films that we worked on in 2014 and 2015 do to date?  I’ll give you a hint – incredibly well!

Find out what these producers and directors thought about working with Chris Layhe and CLAi in our testimonials section…  and watch the trailers/clips below!

“Sex Addiction – It’s Not What You Think” is a documentary film production by Nicolas Roquefort-Villeneuve and Oh, Oh It’s Magic Films that offers an insight into the deeply misunderstood world of sex addiction, and the avenues open to addicts for recovery. Chris Layhe and CLAi were heavily involved in the production, initially as a consultant dissecting the many hours of interview footage that had been shot by Nicolas and evolving a more complete and accessible story that could be told; then as DP and crew on the reshoot and expansion of the project; editors of both the final film and the shortened broadcast video version; and looking after color correction and color grading, sound design and recording, and film mastering.

Nicolas’ initial thinking had been to create the film and then put it into the Film Festival circuit to gain initial attention to the piece, with the hope of it making it onto television and getting the mesages the film makes out to the public. However, as we reached the end of the film production he discovered that there were a number of international distributors interested in getting the piece out worldwide as an hour long documentary, and so we reworked the film for this media and it is now represented and being sold globally with some significant success.

“The New Generation Queens” is a documentary feature film shot over several years in Zanzibar, an island off the east coast of Africa that is part of Tanzania, by producer and director Megan Shutzer. It’s a remarkable film that opens up the world of muslim girls who want to play the national sport of Zanzibar – soccer – in an area that is 98% devout muslim, and delves into the culture and history that come together to put barriers in their way.

Megan believes, as we do, that sport can make a fundamental difference in the life of people, building bridges that bring them together whatever their background. This film is a major part of a program that she has put together which involves soccer clinics around Zanzibar and other areas – combined with showing the film and talking to communities – and presenting the piece as part of education presentations at colleges and schools across the US..

It has been accepted and shown at a number of film festivals in the US and abroad, with a great deal of success, and it looks like The New Generation Queens will be making it’s way onto international media outlets like Netflix, as well as broadcast, before too long.