As I’ve mentioned, a few months back, I launched a sister company to Cyan Pictures, called Long Tail Releasing. Cyan is a production company – we make movies (and are, in fact, currently shooting our next, around Manhattan and Brooklyn). Long Tail, on the other hand, is a distribution company – trying to change the way smaller, quirkier films are released to global audiences.

Each year, there are over a thousand films that screen at top-tier festivals (like Sundance, Cannes, TriBeCa or Toronto), yet are never more broadly distributed. After the festivals, they simply fall off the face of the earth, never seen again aside from by the directors’ grandmothers. We’re trying to fix that, by releasing a large number of these films (eventually, as many as 150 a year) for very small theatrical runs, for DVD sales and rental, online and off, for digital download, and through a number of other usual and unusual channels.

I’m emailing today because we officially launch Long Tail’s first release, This is Not a Film, a week from today. But we’re hoping to build some early momentum by pre-releasing it, today, to family and friends.

While This is Not a Film is quirky, it’s also quite good. It won three festivals, and scored an ‘A’ from Entertainment Weekly, which quipped: “Actually, this is a film, and a surprisingly good one.”

You can learn more about This is Not a Film, read reviews, watch the trailer, and pick up a discounted copy, at helpmefindmygirlfriend.com.

In short, however, This is Not a Film is a first-person documentary by Michael Conner, who made the movie in an attempt to find and win back his ex-girlfriend Grace McKenna. As Michael puts it, the movie is sort of a ‘modern day message in a bottle’; he’s hoping that someone will see the film, know Grace, and put the two of them back in touch. So the film itself is Michael, with the help of his actress friend Nadia Dajani, recreating scenes from his relationship with Grace, to prove to us that it was a good relationship, that he’s a good guy, and that he’s worthy of our help in his quest. And, along the way, as much as we’re learning about Michael, he’s learning about himself.

So watch the film because it’s smart, quirky and funny. Watch it because you want to help build a new model for getting great festival films to broader audiences. Or watch it because you don’t want me to have to move into a refrigerator box in Central Park.

Whatever the reason, it’s www.helpmefindmygirlfriend.com.