Distribution
Filmmaking - Distribution
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Amazon Launches New Self-Service Video Platform
In addition to YouTube and Vimeo, filmmakers can now upload and sell their original video content on Amazon. On Tuesday, Amazon announced Amazon Video Direct (AVD), a new self-service program for creators and storytellers to make their video content available to Amazon customers. Through the new program, filmmakers and video providers can distribute their content directly to tens of millions of Prime members and earn royalties based on minutes stream. Amazon will pay partners 50% of the retail price for digital purchases, rentals and subscription fees. If they choose Prime Video distribution, creators will earn royalties of 15 cents per hour streamed in the […]
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Sickhouse Becomes First Feature Film Designed for Mobile Viewing
Sickhouse, a horror thriller produced by Indigenous Media, is billing itself as the first-ever scripted film, shot in real time, that’s designed for mobile viewing. Written and directed by award-winning filmmaker Hannah Macpherson, Sickhouse was shot over the course of five days, April 29-May 3, in Los Angeles and experienced live on Snapchat and other social platforms. The story was designed to be told through a series of snaps, but also as a linear film. The snaps are now being edited into a Director’s Cut with additional footage. The final feature-length film will be available exclusively on Vimeo beginning Wednesday, June 1. The film tells […]
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Hulu Dives into Documentaries with Beatles Doc from Ron Howard
Looking to compete with Netflix in the documentary arena, Hulu announced this morning at its upfront presentation for advertisers in New York that it has launched Hulu Documentary Films, a destination for original and exclusive documentary film titles. Hulu Documentary Films’ first acquisition is The Beatles: Eight Days a Week (working title), a feature documentary directed by Ron Howard. Hulu has acquired U.S. streaming rights to the documentary, which will premiere in theaters in the fall before heading to Hulu. The documentary, which will explore the early years of The Beatles’ career, is produced with the full cooperation of Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko […]
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Vimeo Acquires VHX With Plans to Boost Video Subscription Business
Vimeo, the ad-free video platform, today announced it is acquiring VHX, the OTT (over-the-top) video distribution platform which allows creators to sell videos in forms ranging from individual downloads to subscription channels. In fact, VHX’s subscription technology, which includes the ability to build apps for the web, mobile and set-top boxes, is what drew Vimeo to the startup. Kerry Trainor, Vimeo CEO, told Filmmaker, “With the addition of VHX, Vimeo now offers a complete streaming ecosystem for individual creators, niche programmers and major media partners to offer subscription video on demand (SVOD) channels. Only Vimeo offers partners the ability to build […]
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Watch: Weiner, Set to Kick Off Rooftop Films Summer 2016 Series
New York’s Rooftop Films will kick off its 20th annual summer series on May 18 with a screening of Weiner, the winner of the Sundance Film Festival’s 2016 US documentary grand jury prize. Directed by Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg, Weiner will open in theaters May 20 and hit VOD on May 26 via Sundance Selects. As the trailer (above) shows, the documentary follows the now infamous former New York congressman on the 2013 mayoral campaign trail following a sexting scandal. In addition to Weiner, Rooftop Films will present the documentaries Don Juan and Life, Animated, as well as narrative titles Hunt for the Wilderpeople and White Girl. […]
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TCM and Criterion Partner on FilmStruck, Streaming Service for Cinephiles
If Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and Fandor aren’t satisfying your cinematic cravings, you’re in luck. Turner Classic Movies has partnered with Criterion Collection on FilmStruck, a new subscription-based streaming service which will feature hundreds of contemporary and classic arthouse, indie, foreign and cult films from both independent and Hollywood studios. It will also be the exclusive streaming home for Criterion Collection, which, until now, has been exclusively available at Hulu and Fandor. FilmStruck’s library will feature a deep roster of films from such independent distributors as Janus Films, Flicker Alley, Icarus, Kino, Milestone and Zeitgeist, along with movies from Hollywood’s major movie studios including […]
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Short Films Take Flight at the Portland International Airport
Movie theaters in airports have become a bona fide trend, with the Portland International Airport the latest airport to jump onboard. Passengers at many airports throughout Asia can already watch movies before their flights. But until recently, U.S. airports were slow to try the idea. In 2014, the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport in Minnesota introduced a movie theater that shows art films with programming courtesy of The Film Society of Mpls–St. Paul. And last year, travelers at Miami International Airport were treated to silent film comedy classics as part of a Pop-Up Cinema program. Most recently, the non-profit Hollywood Theatre in Portland announced it would open a new airport […]
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“Your Job as a Programmer is to Look on Behalf of the Audience”: Charlotte Cook on She Does Podcast
Charlotte Cook is a documentary film programmer, curator, producer and co-founder of Field of Vision. Cook was the Director of Programming at Hot Docs film festival for four years before she left in May of 2015 to start Field of Vision, a visual journalism film unit that aims to commission 40 to 50 original episodic and individual short non-fiction films each year. Cook co-founded Field of Vision with Academy Award-winning director of CITIZENFOUR, Laura Poitras, and filmmaker and founder of Cinema Eye Honors, A.J. Schnack. In this episode of the She Does podcast, we talk about Cook’s journey to programming […]
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Hits & Misses: How Seven Films from Sundance 2015 Performed
The health and identity of American independent cinema has always been difficult to gauge and define, but Sundance is our default arbiter and explainer. Of course, indie film exists far beyond the limits of Park City in January, but the festival gives the nebulous American indie sector a test sample — and as any scientist will tell you, that’s the first step in making an accurate hypothesis. So what can the films of Sundance 2015 clarify about the state of American indies, now and in the future? Some trends can be attributed to random cycles and one-time events, but there […]
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Learning Not to Share: The Benefits and Pitfalls of Social Media for Independent Films
Mynette Louie, president of Gamechanger Films, recently had a problem. She caught a stand-in on set not only taking photos of her film’s star, whose contract had specific photo approvals in place, but posting the photos to Facebook. “I told him to delete them from his Facebook, then I went through his phone and deleted all the photos he took on set.” Traditionally, producers, marketing departments and publicists labor over key stills and publicity images, methodically crafting a film’s identity in careful, strategic installments. This practice continues today, but can quickly be subverted by a tweet, post or status update. […]
