A grown-up version of the character from Johanna Spyri’s beloved novels, is the Heidi in “Mad Heidi” That said, Swissploitation takes the “…ploitation” part of its name seriously:
“From fondue-boarding to death by chocolate, ‘Mad Heidi’ is an action-adventure horror comedy interpretation of the popular children’s book character Heidi and the first Swissploitation film.”
More broadly, “Mad Heidi” and the blockchain-secured Mad Invest platform is an attempt to “break new ground in the way films are financed and distributed, leveling the playing field for small, independent film companies and allowing fans to participate like never before,” the filmmakers say.
One part of that is done with an aggressive social marketing and internet campaign aimed at building an audience on the ground before filming has even begun — a merchandise shop has taken in more than CHF 160,000 ($178,000). Another part is using that audience to aggressively cut out the distribution middlemen who take as much as 80% of a film’s revenue.
Then there’s Netflix, Amazon Prime and the other increasingly powerful streaming services disrupting the film industry, the Mad Invest founders said.
“Independent filmmakers are struggling to find their niche against the massive power of the streamers. ‘Mad Heidi’ shows how it’s done. The future is in the crowd. Blockchain, the internet and social media are what it takes.”
They may have a point. So far, Swissploitation Films has raised more than CHF 1.2 million ($1.3 million) from fan investors so far — a great deal of money for independent filmmakers — and plans to start shooting this fall for a 2022 release.