Im Your Man (film)

Production

The movie was designed as the first test of Interfilm, Bob Bejan's interactive cinema company. The film was shot on 16mm Kodak film, transferred to laser disc, and digitally projected to allow for nearly seamless transitions when audiences made their choices. Acting and direction were less than impressive; the movie was shot over only 6 days, and Bejan did not require a second take of any shot.

In very early roles for both of them, comedy actors Michael Ian Black and Ben Garant appear as background in a party scene.

Distribution

The film premiered in a special theater at the Loews on 19th Street and Broadway in New York City in December 1992. Tickets to the 20-minute show were $3, and ticket holders were allowed to stay for as many viewings as they wanted. Retrofitting an existing theater with the necessary voting equipment cost approximately $70,000.00, and 42 other theaters made the investment in 1993 and 1994. The film—and the interactivity itself—were well received by teens but dismissed by critics and adult moviegoers as being "as gimmicky as three-dimensional glasses or scratch 'n' sniff" and "not like watching a real movie... more like rooting for a basketball team." A common criticism was that moviegoers would use the controls at vacant seats to vote more than once. Another concern was that the act of voting took moviegoers out of the story; it was thought that real-time interaction hampered the viewing experience, and engineers began working on an alternative technology that would let users customize movies before viewing began.

Although the format ultimately failed due to lack of marketing and poor audience reception, I'm Your Man was released on DVD in 1998 as part of a second attempt at interactive video.