Hi all! Starting today you will all have access to a brand new, twice-monthly column about the distribution channel known as Video on Demand. With the increasing popularity of the medium and it slowly becoming the choice of distribution for indie films, we at Movie Buzzers feel it is time that you know what you could potentially be missing out on.
VOD Overdose is Movie Buzzers’ twice-monthly coverage of video-on-demand developments and upcoming films premiering on VOD. With an increasing number of studios embracing VOD as a way to premiere and distribute films, this column covers movies that might be worth a look even though they aren’t playing at your local multiplex.
Why VOD?
With last year’s Sundance (and now Oscar nominated!) Margin Call making over $4 million in video-on-demand sales while it was in limited theatrical release last year, theater ticket sales down, Netflix and Hulu now producing original content, and a host of independent films trying to find an audience by any means necessary, it’s clear that all movie studios, regardless of size, are seriously considering the potential of first-run VOD distribution if they haven’t already. Unfortunately with the ever-shrinking number of art house movie theaters, low budget films in limited theatrical release aren’t finding the audiences they used to when they’re only playing in a few dozen theaters. Meanwhile, VOD allows studios to debut a film to a nationwide (if not worldwide) film audience.
Latest VOD News
One of the most significant benefits that VOD allows is U.S. distribution of foreign films that don’t get an extensive U.S. releases (if they get U.S. releases at all!) MyFrenchFilmFestival.com is offering a number of recent French films on demand that aren’t available elsewhere, including a number of César Award nominated and winning films like Belle Épine (Dear Prudence) and Un poison violent (Love Like Poison), which ended up on many critics Top 10 of 2011 lists. To view a feature costs $2.63, and shorts are $1.31. Better yet, you can see all of the feature films for a cheap $15.83! The festival (and the deals) runs through February 1
The biggest VOD news out of Sundance so far is that Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions have bought Arbitrage according to Deadline, with a planned day-and-date VOD release like last year’s Margin Call. The film stars Richard Gere as a crooked hedge fund manager and Susan Sarandon.
Shark movie Dark Tide, directed by John Stockwell (Blue Crush) and starring Halle Berry and Olivier Martinez, will premiere on VOD on March 8, nearly two weeks before its March 30 theatrical release. The release is a collaboration between Lionsgate, Wrekin Hill Entertainment and Row 1 Productions.
A tweet from filmmaker Ed Burns, whose movie Newlyweds was released straight to VOD with only a few screenings, calls the initial VOD rental numbers “incredible” and says the film is “a big success.” Newlyweds made it as high as #21 on the iTunes “Movie Rental” chart. It has since dropped, hovering at #50. I’m a big fan of the film (check my review out here) and Burns’ dedication to changing the way films are distributed and promoted.
Independent film theatrical distributor Cinedigm has partnered with New Video, a digital distributor of films across all VOD platforms, to jointly distribute independent films, “creating a new distribution model that’s specifically designed to maximise today’s fast-moving digital landscape.” Combing their efforts, it’s obvious that these two companies can put a film in front of more potential audiences at a much quicker rate.
Filmmaker Kevin Smith, who took his last film Red State “on tour” as an experiment in self-distribution, is looking to continue exploring new distribution models, including VOD. Smith’s Smodcast Pictures has partnered with Phase 4 Films to distribute up to a dozen films per year, with theatrical releases and “via other traditional and digital platforms.” While Smith himself obviously won’t be involved in every project, the partnership will “consider movies from all budget levels to release under the label.”
New distributor Film Arcade has come to Sundance looking to buy its first features. Film Arcade is made up by Ambush Entertainment producers Miranda Bailey and Matthew Leutwyler (Super, The Oh in Ohio) and Andy Bohn and Jason Beck, previous owners of the VOD company Might Entertainment. Film Arcade is looking to release “four to six features a year” with both theatrical and VOD distribution options.
Sundance Buzz: Filmmakers & Actors Still Hesitant to Embrace VOD
Mike Fleming from Deadline looks at whether or not actors are receptive to VOD distribution, especially considering that deals at Sundance this year are slower than expected. A big issue has to do with awards consideration — many awards, like the Oscars, have a theatrical run and/or a film festival screening as a primary qualifier for consideration. Fleming looks at both Margin Call and Melancholia, two films from 2011 that did a significant amount of their business by VOD (neither film had a large theatrical distribution). It’s worth noting that Margin Call has been nominated for the Best Original Screenplay Oscar, so the VOD model certainly didn’t hurt that film. A senior agent offers a telling quote in the article about the potential of VOD: “Isn’t a movie that’s seen by millions across the country on VOD better than a few people watching in ratty arthouse theaters, which are uncomfortable and screens that aren’t that much bigger than large TV screens?”
Curiously enough, in an almost answer to Fleming’s article, in an IndieWire interview with actors Joel Edgerton and Teresea Palmer about their Sundance film Wish You Were Here, Edgerton and Teresea both agree that they’d rather see the movie premiere in the theater. Similarly, IndieWire reports that Sundance Black Rock brokered a deal for a limited theatrical release rather than offers for much-wider VOD release from other distributors. So while studios are increasingly seeing the VOD model as a way for smaller films to make more money (as you can see from the news stories above), people on the artistic end obviously still want to their work on the big screen.
Upcoming VOD Releases
(For films premiering on VOD platforms, or hitting VOD after limited theatrical runs.)
[D2V] denotes movie that is also being released direct to DVD and/or Blu-ray on the same day.
January 27:
Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie
Funny or Die comedy duo Tim and Eric star in their first feature film, which is about the two getting a billion dollars to make their own movie. Unfortunately, things don’t go as planned, and Tim and Eric buy a shopping mall instead. Featuring cameos from Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, and Zach Galifianakis, the comedy premiered at Sundance on January 20. There will be a limited theatrical release on March 2, but the movie will be available on demand a week earlier. You can check out the trailer, with Graham’s comments, here!
January 31:
Blubberella [D2v, streaming on Netflix on February 1]
Critically lambasted German director Uwe Boll — whose film adaptations of video games are seen as an annual opportunity for ridicule — might have topped himself with Blubberella, which features an overweight female half vampire fighting Nazis and Boll himself as Adolf Hitler. If you want to see it that badly, it’s also playing on Showtime Women starting February 10.
You and I [D2V]
Despite the title, You and I is not about Lady Gaga but does feature other eyebrow-raising musicians, the Russian duo t.A.T.u. Starring Mischa Barton, You and I was originally shot in 2007 at the height of t.A.T.u.’s popularity, but has not been released in the U.S. until now. The film has been on the shelf so long that the movie’s official website has since disappeared!
February 1:
White Knight
A comedy about an imprisoned KKK leader being put in the same cell with a Hispanic field worker? It stars Tom Sizemore and the skinny Hispanic guy from Nacho Libre? And I have to wait until February 1?
February 7:
Stormhouse [D2V]
This British horror film reminds me of The Mist, though it hasn’t gotten as good buzz.
Gnarr (Documentary)
Think Stephen Colbert’s run for president is funny? Then you’ll get a kick out of Icelandic comedian Jon Gnarr, who similarly entered politics in 2009… with much different results. Check out Alex’s review of Gnarr here!
February 10:
Fancypants
A professional wrestling comedy that was a hit at several festivals, starring newcomer Patrick Gleason and wrestling legend “Rowdy” Roddy Piper.
February 14:
About Fifty [D2V]
Two fifty year old dudes (Martin Grey & Drew Pillsbury) decide to hit the road and party like their younger selves. The trailer reminds me of when those creepy old guys would come into the college bars around my school who didn’t seem to get why none of the girls would talk to him. Definitely has potential with an older crowd.
Elite Squad: The Enemy Within
Elite Squad opened in only seven theaters here in the U.S., but it’s worth checking out on VOD. Check out Alex’s review here! It will also be released on DVD/Blu-ray on the same day.
February 21:
Inkubus
It’s always worth noticing when the original Freddy Kruger, Robert Englund, does another horror film. However, I never thought I’d see the horror icon in a moving co-starring a boy band member (Joey Fatone). After a 16-theater run in October, Inkubus is being released on DVD the same day and will also be available at Redbox kiosks.
February 24:
Goon
Goon is a surprising experiment — this hockey comedy starring Seann William Scott and directed by Michale Dowse (Take Me Home Tonight) has gotten some positive press (Graham posted the trailer here). It’s also premiering on VOD a week before its limited theatrical release on March 30.
February 28:
Return
Starring Linda Cardellini (Freaks & Geeks) as a soldier returning to civilian life and Michael Shannon (Take Shelter), Return premiered all the way back at Cannes but wasn’t picked up for a full theatrical release. The film is being released in two theaters (New York and L.A., of course) on February 10, but obviously will reach most of its audience via VOD.
The Collapsed
This post- apocalyptic horror movie won the Best of Festival award at the Metropolitan Film Festival and has been making the rounds of film festivals since late 2010.
Have news about an upcoming VOD movie? Want to have Movie Buzzers check out your upcoming VOD release? Contact me here!
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