Ep 293: From Paramount to Independent Filmmaking: Rob Hollocks on Getting Films into Cinemas

Rob Hollocks has spent more than two decades on both sides of the film business — helping major studios sell some of the biggest films in the world, while ultimately pursuing his ambition to write, direct and produce films of his own.

In this episode of Filmmaking Conversations, Damien Swaby sits down with the British-born, Los Angeles-based filmmaker, writer, producer and former studio executive for a wide-ranging conversation about the realities of building a sustainable career in film.Rob takes us inside his years at Paramount Pictures, where his work in international marketing brought him into campaigns connected with films and franchises including Forrest Gump, Saving Private Ryan, Indiana Jones, Mission: Impossible and Star Trek.

He explains how studios adapt campaigns for different territories, why an actor who dominates a poster in one country might be secondary in another, how contractual billing affects key art, and who ultimately decides what audiences are being sold. But Rob argues that understanding marketing shouldn't be something filmmakers leave until their film is finished.

For independent filmmakers, he believes thinking seriously about audience, positioning and distribution should begin while a project is still being developed — without allowing those commercial considerations to dictate the story itself.

The conversation also explores Rob's work in animation and production finance, including his involvement with Riot Games and Netflix's acclaimed series Arcane. Rob explains what managing production finance on a project of that scale actually involves and how huge creative ambitions can coexist with financial discipline.That philosophy carries into his own filmmaking.

Through his independent work, Rob has developed an approach he describes as making films that are low-budget, high-quality and commercially responsible — putting as much of the available money as possible onto the screen while paying crews, treating people properly and avoiding unnecessary expenditure.Damien and Rob then examine the journey of Rob's psychological horror thriller The Observance, starring Kate Dailey, Ted Raimi and Alec James.

After an international festival run and multiple awards, Rob and his team took an unusually hands-on approach to distribution, retaining control of the film's marketing and securing a limited theatrical release through AMC cinemas in the United States.Rob explains what he discovered about getting an independent film into cinemas, why theatrical distribution may be more accessible than many filmmakers assume, and why filmmakers need to remain the strongest advocates for their work throughout its entire life cycle.

That experience also led him to write The Indie Theatrical Playbook, a practical guide containing the templates, checklists and planning tools he developed while navigating his own theatrical campaign.The conversation becomes more personal as Rob reflects on leaving the security and salary of the executive world to become an independent filmmaker. He talks candidly about earning less money, the constant hustle of financing the next project, and wishing he'd had the confidence to pursue directing much earlier.

Rob also shares the childhood experiences behind his love of cinema: his mother vividly retelling the Hammer horror films he wasn't allowed to watch, Sunday afternoon Westerns with his father, discovering the 1933 King Kong at school, and sitting through Raiders of the Lost Ark three times in the cinema — years before he would find himself working with the Indiana Jones franchise at Paramount.It's a conversation about something filmmakers sometimes prefer not to discuss: making the film is only part of the job.

Original theatrical trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nov3gaDj_Mg

Streaming trailer: https://youtu.be/xRDBESIZcYA

This is the viral website (in -world) and has the viral video ’sermons’ we did for the US theatrical: https://theobservance.com/

The UK Apple link: https