On Demand Weekly

VOD not only offers PPV Movies that screened in theaters months ago, but they have partnered with cutting edge, independent film distributors to bring you films the SAME DAY AS THEATRES. Whether you want to see films made outside the Hollywood system or future stars in breakout performances, see the latest from the film festival circuit in the comfort of your own home.

Premiering This Week: September 14 – 20, 2009

SUNDANCE SELECTS ON DEMAND

UNMADE BEDS (93 min)

Young, attractive and misguided youth from all over Europe descend to a squatters apartment in London in this stylish and sexy film. Be the first on your block to say you saw captivating young actors Deborah Francois and Fernando Tielve, before they become well known. (Rated R) $6.99. Available until 11/17/2009

VOD not only offers PPV Movies that screened in theaters months ago, but they have partnered with cutting edge, independent film distributors to bring you films the SAME DAY AS THEATERS. Whether you want to see films made outside the Hollywood system or future stars in breakout performances, see the latest from the film festival circuit in the comfort of your own home.

Premiering Wednesday, September 30, 2009

IFC In Theaters

AFTERSCHOOL (106 min)

One of this year’s Independent Spirit Awards nominees for Best First Feature, AFTERSCHOOL is a startling look at youth in today’s media age. Robert is a new student at an East Coast prep school who captures the horrific death of two girls on camera. Their deaths and the access of seeing the incident online shake the school. A terrific debut film that marks the arrival of director Antonio Campos.

In another step to bring the preeminent U.S. film festival to film fans living outside of Park City, UT, Robert Redford has announced Sundance Selects, a new video-on-demand (VOD) service offering films and documentaries. The films will be available to digital subscribers of Comcast, Cox and Cablevision, often available the same day in theaters. The exciting new indie film option will make its VOD debut on August 26 with Spike Lee's new documentary, "Passing Strange: The Movie," which premiered at the 2009 Sundance festival. The film records the Broadway musical of the same name that tells of a young black man finding his way in life.

At Sundance, increasing the size of the market for independent film has always been our mission, in addition to just giving exposure to new voices, so this allows us to electronically take that vision to a broader group," Redford told Reuters.

On Demand Weekly rounds up stories affecting the On Demand TV / VOD Industry.Industry.
 

Talking About a Revolution (for a Digital Age)

This year’s Sundance was abuzz about entries that were available for rental on YouTube or through video on demand during the festival, as filmmakers try out new ways to make an impact. These small-screen efforts have met with skepticism even while reaping the expected publicity, because it’s unclear how they might affect a movie’s distribution chances post-festival.

Now, as the independent cinema nurses its Hollywood hangover, the future remains unclear even as one message is getting louder: It is time to blow the whole thing up..... (New York Times)
 

Sundance: Is video-on-demand the future of indie film? For titles like 'The Freebie' and 'Bass Ackwards,' yes
I can say that Bass Ackwards will be available in millions of homes in exactly four days, on Feb. 1, via cable VOD. It’s the kind of truly and redemptively quirky cinema that adventurous moviegoers will be grateful to see. And happy to demand… (EW)
 

Film Execs look at the state of Indie Distribution
“People go to the movies to get away from their daily lives. What is selling now is comfort food movies. We have had movies that did under $20,000 at the box office but did a million dollars in sales on VOD” – Eamonn Bowles, President, Magnolia Pictures ...  (The Global Film Village)
 

The Doctors Are In: Sundance Ponders New Distribution Solutions
Based on general information garnered among a variety of sources, it’s widely known that in some cases VOD can generate as many as 200,000 buys on the highest end for the sort of films released by companies in this sector... (Indiewire)

 

Read our review from a few weeks ago.

THE EXTRA MAN

http://ondemandweekly.com/blog/article/the_extra_man_-_on_demand/

“Comcast is thrilled to extend the reach of independent movies into living rooms across the country, providing more exposure for these films, which have a passionate following,” said Diana Kerekes, Vice President of Entertainment Services for Comcast. “It’s all part of giving our customers more choice, value and a sense of excitement and closeness to indie filmmakers. With the popularity of indie films, we’re proud to be working with leaders in this field, like Edward Burns, Tribeca Film, SnagFilms and others, to make that happen.”

On Demand Weekly provides new movie reviews of movies on demand from the POV of watching from the comfort of your home. Today’s review: 3 BACKYARDS (Screen Media).

 

3 BACKYARDS - On Demand
By Amy Slotnick

 

Two-time winner of Sundance’s directing award, Eric Mendelsohn follows up his first feature film JUDY BERLIN, with the poetic drama, 3 BACKYARDS.

3 BACKYARDS follows three interwoven stories, all set during one autumn day in a quaint Long Island town. A businessman, a housewife and a child are the main characters all of whom appear at first as very familiar archetypes.

 

Observing them as they go on brief but emotional journeys, we witness each find something unexpected. Their stories are connected by the theme that unseen, and sometimes secret, happenings can be found in one’s metaphoric backyard.

 

Jonathan Sehring, President of Sundance Selects, announced today that Sundance Selects' digital sister, SundanceNOW, a new online destination for independent film, has launched "Doc Club," an innovative SVOD (Subscriber Video-on-Demand) program for documentary films. The company has turned to Thom Powers, one of the world's leading authorities on documentary films, to create a slate of curated titles each month for film enthusiasts.

Powers and the SundanceNOW team have spent the past year looking through the film libraries of several of the world's great documentary distributors, IFC, Zeitgeist, Icarus and Docurama, finding both many well-known titles as well as a number of hidden and hard-to-find gems. Subscribers may access "Doc Club's" monthly themed selections via streaming or downloading and can also retrieve the entire archive of previous months, as well as Powers' commentaries created just for "Doc Club" plus additional special materials.

Notes Powers: "I am very proud of the work I do in New York with 'Stranger Than Fiction' as well as the documentary programming I assemble for the Toronto International Film Festival and DOC NYC. I hope that the establishment of 'Doc Club' means that audiences across the country who are hungrier than ever for documentary films can now share my passion for these great films."

"This past year has been an incredible one for Sundance Selects especially with our documentary films. Audiences across the country and beyond have proven that documentaries are alive and well," said Jonathan Sehring, president of Sundance Selects. "This new 'Doc Club' via SundanceNOW will cater directly to online fans of documentaries. I feel strongly that any way a person can discover a documentary film is a great thing. With Thom's curated selections of beloved titles and hard-to-find gems, and his fascinating commentaries, lovers of documentaries will have a terrific new destination to explore."

SundanceNOW's "Doc Club" kicks off with an Errol Morris Spotlight. Films include THE THIN BLUE LINE, GATES OF HEAVEN and VERNON, FLORIDA as well as the hard to find entire FIRST PERSON series. The cost is $3.99 a month for access to 6-10 titles or $19.99 a year.

Films to be showcased over the coming months include some of the best of recent documentary filmmaking including BILL CUNNINGHAM, ART OF THE STEAL, MY WINNIPEG, BLACK POWER MIXTAPE, TOUCHING THE VOID and LAST TRAIN HOME; classics like WORDPLAY, ATOMIC CAFÉ and BROTHERS KEEPER plus some of Thom's favorite lesser-known titles that he hopes will discover new audiences via DocClub. These include Agnes Varda's THE GLEANERS AND I, the long unavailable CUL DE SAC, CAT DANCERS and DISCO & ATOMIC WAR.


About Thom Powers