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VIDEO ON DEMAND CALENDAR NOW ONLINE!
It’s an idea that has been swirling around the Filmmaker Magazine office for quite a while and today it became a reality with the launch of our Video On Demand calendar.
Every month we will unveil a curated list of independent film titles that we feel are worth checking out through On Demand cable providers and streaming services. You’ll find some titles we’ve already covered online or in the magazine when they played theatrically, while others are festival favorites that are premiering on VOD. We also give our “VOD Pick of the Month” and note if a title is available on iTunes, Netflix or Amazon Instant Video (plus an archive that goes back to November 2010).
Coverage of movies that are On Demand (whether it be through TV or the Internet) is still something that we all in the media are trying to figure out. But with DVD going the way of the laserdisc, and more and more filmmakers realizing that screening a film online or doing the theatrical/VOD day-and-date is their best bet, we felt it was time to highlight these options in some manner. And frankly, outside of a very few (shout out to Hammer to Nail), it’s hard to find listings of the current VOD releases.
On Demand has been a popular topic recently. In February, Criterion announced that a majority of its titles will be available to stream exclusively through Hulu Plus, and last weekend in his New York Times DVD column, Dave Kehr opined on the impending death of the DVD and his realization that he too will soon be writing about On Demand titles.
From Kehr’s column:
Netflix, for example, now offers an intriguing selection of films from Republic, United Artists and Paramount that have been hiding in the shadows for decades. But don’t expect miracles. It’s great to be able to see Nicholas Ray’s rare 1955 “Run for Cover,” but not so great to see its original widescreen VistaVision format whittled down to fit the television standards of 20 years ago…
The good news in this context is that things can only get better, both in terms of technical quality and available content. Since I began writing the DVDs column for The Times in 2004, I’ve concentrated, not surprisingly, on new DVDs. Now the scope will expand to include these newer methods of delivery.
Hopefully you will enjoy our latest addition to the site, it certainly will evolve as the medium does. And while you’re at it, check out Scott Macaulay‘s 25 films he recommends you stream through Amazon Prime.
