In our blog post about the importance of having a website we praised Austrian director Karl-Martin Pold for his enthusiasm to use the Internet for filmmaking and film marketing purposes. His documentary They called him Spencer, a movie about the Italian actor Bud Spencer aka Carlo Pedersoli, started as a written concept for a master thesis at the FH JOANNEUM Graz. A few weeks ago Karl-Martin finished his theoretical work, which also provides an interview with me about the possibilities of promoting a movie via the Internet. Download the German interview part here.

At the moment he’s celebrating his master degree and Bud Spencer’s 80th birthday (October 31). And of course he is preparing for shooting! In the meantime, he’s submitted the trailer to the Camgaroo Award 2009 where it was declined at first. Then he received a phone call, “Dear Mr. Pold, your trailer seems too professional. We think there is a professional production company behind this project, which is why it’s not suitable for our festival.” Karl-Martin’s answer simply was, “It’s a fan project – for fans, by fans.” And the lady hung up. Then the big surprise came that same evening: “They called him Spencer” won the “Camgaroo Award” for the best film idea!!! The prize itself is going to be a surprise (that’s why it’s not mentioned on the award website), the award ceremony is on October 30th in Munich. Read more about it on the official movie blog (sorry, again in German only).

Meanwhile, the project has also caused a bit of media interest in Austria: Today Karl-Martin’s idea was presented on Radio FM4 and they called for their listeners to participate in the project. Good luck, Mr. Pold!

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