Monday, September 8, 2008
Jaman brings 3,500 indie, international films online
LOS ANGELES--The online movie distribution company Jaman has made a niche for itself in the online film distribution market, focusing on indie and international films rather than big Hollywood hits.
The site offers 3,500 films--the kind that do well at film festivals, like The World's Fastest Indian and Redacted. Films can usually be rented for $1.99 or purchased for $4.99, and some can be watched for free with ads. Jaman CEO Gaurav Dhillon, who spoke with Andy at OnHollywood, said he expects free ad-supported content to be the more pervasive business model in the future.
So while Apple, Wal-Mart, Netflix and Amazon compete over online distribution rights for mainstream films, Jaman heads to the film festivals to make deals. Many of the films on Jaman's site don't get distributed at all in the US, so there's not as much competition.
Dhillon invested $3.5 million of his own money to start the company in 2006. The company has attracted a number of notable advisers and investors, including top Hollywood agent Jeff Berg, former senator Bill Bradley, William R. Randolph Hearst III and the celebrated Hollywood producer Ed Pressman.
Jaman's platform called Cascade makes it possible to transfer and watch the videos on different devices, including computers, iPhones, TiVo and DivX.
--Kelsey Blodget, Associate Producer
Friday, August 29, 2008
Top 5 reasons to stream video with BIG WINDOW VIDEO
1. No Contracts - No Setup Fees:
You get your first 5 GB free
With our affordable prices and our flexible plans, our goal is to make sure you are not wasting money paying for something you’re not using. The power of our entire worldwide network is always available to you whether you are on our smallest plan or our largest – it’s just the right way to do business.
Our plans are month-to-month and will automatically renew until you tell us you no longer need the service. Perfect whether you have short or long term needs or a seasonal application.
2. Pay Only for What You Need:Start with the plan that best suits your needs today. If you go over the limits of that plan, no problem - we will simply move you up to the plan that fits your current usage. Upon monthly auto-renewal, we’ll even move you back down to your original plan just in case your excess usage was temporary – no one else in the streaming business does this!
3. It's Easy!With our Streaming Media Control panel you will be up and running within 5 minutes of placing your order. If you need our help we are available by chat, email and phone if needed. Our commitment to getting you up and running is serious.
4. What's Yours Is Yours:We provide you with both a direct access link to your stream and the code to embed the stream into your webpage, whichever you prefer. There is no need for your viewers to ever come to our site – we are totally in the background.
5. Price:You get your first 5 GB free
With our affordable prices and our flexible plans, our goal is to make sure you are not wasting money paying for something you’re not using. The power of our entire worldwide network is always available to you whether you are on our smallest plan or our largest – it’s just the right way to do business.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Don't Look Past Your Local Internet Audience
By Chris Crum - Wed, 08/20/2008 - 10:04am.
They might be your best customers...
When it comes to Internet marketing for small businesses, it can be easy to get caught up in the enormous number of tactics and resources available online.
You might even forget about the good-old fashioned local media that has been working for businesses for ages.
I'm talking of course about local television, local radio, local newspapers, etc. You can still look to these resources for advertising in the online world, because chances are, most of these outlets have web sites that offer advertising opportunities, providing not only a chance to have your message appear to users across the web, but have it targeted to local residents at the same time.
You've got your obvious local audience looking for local news and items of interest, and thanks to blogs, social bookmarking, and news aggregation like Google News, stories will be linked to and picked up all over the place.
This will translate to more eyeballs on your ad. Think about it.
On WebProNews, Mike Sachoff talks about a study that finds how consumers trust advertising on local newspaper, magazine and television Websites take action after viewing ads on these sites.
According to that same study, the following percentages of consumers taking action correlate with ads on each type of site: Local Newspaper Site: 46%
- Local Television Site: 44%
- Local Magazine Site: 42%
- User Review Site: 39%
- Portal: 37%
These are not small numbers.
When you are evaluating the different pieces of your own Internet marketing puzzle, it is not wise to count out the sites that hit closest to home for your most likely customers.
Friday, August 15, 2008
SUPPORTING FILMMAKERS IN ALASKA
Alaska’s breaks for filmmakers may help Yukon
Alaska's implementation of tax breaks for filmmaking in June should bode well for the Yukon, rather than luring lucrative productions stateside, says Barbara Dunlop, the Yukon Film and Sound Commission's (YFSC's) boss.
READ MORESunday, April 6, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
News For Big Window Video
Laptop Cineplex
Speaking of distribution, Duke City Shootout founder Anthony DellaFlora has partnered with local information technology businessman Dan Latrimurti to create a new company aimed at proving online distribution for independent filmmakers. Launched just this month, the Filmmakers Channel (www.thefilmmakerschannel.com) hopes to give the thousands of filmmakers who may never get their movies screened in a theater or on TV the chance to get their work out to the world. DellaFlora admits there are a lot of online movie distribution sites these days, but insists his is different because it puts the welfare of the filmmaker first. The Filmmakers Channel will feature a streaming, non-buffering video platform for movies that can include a pay-per-view option. Filmmakers will pay a monthly fee for broadcast minutes and channels, starting as low as $10 a month. The Filmmakers Channel has also partnered with Albuquerque filmmakers Rob Ellis and Michael Palumbo (producers of the video Got Art) to create a sister site, Big Window Video (www.big-window-video.com), which will provide educational tutorials teaching people how to write screenplays, shoot on green screens and use the latest digital video equipment. Currently, three short documentaries by DellaFlora and his partners are available through the Filmmakers Channel. Stay tuned (so to speak) for additional content.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
NEWS FROM BIG WINDOW VIDEO
New Mexico Company Announces Distribution Option for
Independent Filmmakers
Albuquerque, NM -- The way films are distributed and the way consumers view them is changing on a daily basis. Hoping to catch the wave, a group of Albuquerque filmmakers and businessmen will launch The Filmmakers Channel March 3.
The online distribution channel will seek to tap the pool of independent filmmakers around the world who have not obtained distribution of their films in theaters or on TV networks, says co-founder Anthony DellaFlora.
"The whole business of distribution is changing so fast," DellaFlora said. "The purpose of The Filmmakers Channel (www.the-filmmakers-channel.com) is to give the thousands of filmmakers who may never get their movie screened in a theater or on TV the chance to get their movie out to the world, and to make some money off of it."
"I think that's the difference with our program," DellaFlora added. "A lot of movies are being distributed online through various sites, but the emphasis is on the distributor and the consumer. We're putting the welfare of the filmmaker first."
The Filmmakers Channel will feature a streaming, non-buffering video platform for movies, that can include a pay-per-view option. Filmmakers will pay a monthly fee for broadcast minutes and channels, starting as low as $10 a month, said company co-founder Dan Latrimurti, a local businessman with background in information technology.
The video platform, the same one used by Disney and ABC News, can be embedded in other websites and blogs in addition to The Filmmakers Channel, thus allowing the filmmaker to create an online "theater chain," as it were, Latrimurti said.
The Filmmakers Channel also plans to offer video tutorials to its filmmaking customers on the art and business of filmmaking, from screenwriting to distribution. The company will also provide assistance in online marketing.
DellaFlora, a New Mexico producer, was sold on the idea early last year, after Latrimurti convinced him to put his 10-year-old documentary "High Strange New Mexico" online using the video platform. With minimal publicity, the documentary was quickly picked up for distribution by a California company and is now available from a variety of outlets, including NetFlix.
"When Dan presented me with the option to sell viewings of my movie online, and the opportunity to do away with printing DVDs, packaging them, standing in line to mail them, I was sold," DellaFlora said. "The distribution deal was gravy."
The Filmmakers Channel is partnering with Albuquerque filmmakers Rob Ellis and Michael Palumbo, who have created a sister website, Big Window Video (www.big-window-video.com). Big Window Video will help with the educational side of the venture, providing links to tutorials on everything from screenwriting to shooting on green screens, tips about the latest equipment, and helping to produce interviews with independent filmmakers for podcast.
"They're also big into online social marketing, so they'll be a huge help in spreading the word," DellaFlora noted.
Los Angeles entertainment attorney Peter Dekom noted on a recent podcast that between 4,000 and 5,000 English-language feature films are made every year that do not have distribution. Many will go the film festival trail, hoping to get picked up for distribution. But if the recent Sundance Film Festival -- considered the mecca for independent film -- is any indication, things are looking grim for filmmakers. Of the 3,624 films entered, 121 were selected. Of those, Dekom said, four received domestic distribution rights for $1 million or more.
Considering the industry was faced with a potential shutdown of filmmaking with the recently settled writers' strike and a potential actors' strike, observers thought there more films would be picked up for distribution. Dekom speculated that the high cost of marketing films, which typically overshadows production cost, is the reason distributors have shied away from anything they don't consider a sure thing.
The studios also feel threatened by current trends. Film attendance has dropped over the last 15 years, and DVD sales have declined slightly, Dekom said. Lastly, more and more people are finding their entertainment on the Internet. As computers and television sets become more connected, more and more people will be selecting programming from the Internet instead of broadcast TV or cable.
"The trends look good for what we're doing. But we will unveil a plan to get filmmakers connected directly with distributors," DellaFlora said. "There's nothing wrong with a fat distribution deal for TV or theatrical release. In the meantime, we think we have a great alternative for filmmakers."
-- END--
The Peter Dekom interview can be heard in its entirety at
http://www.modavox.com/voiceamericacms/WebModules/HostModaview.aspx?HostId=148&ChannelId=4&Flag=1
FILMMAKER NETWORK
Independent Filmmakers
Albuquerque, NM -- The way films are distributed and the way consumers view them is changing on a daily basis. Hoping to catch the wave, a group of Albuquerque filmmakers and businessmen will launch The Filmmakers Channel March 3.
The online distribution channel will seek to tap the pool of independent filmmakers around the world who have not obtained distribution of their films in theaters or on TV networks, says co-founder Anthony DellaFlora.
"The whole business of distribution is changing so fast," DellaFlora said. "The purpose of The Filmmakers Channel (www.the-filmmakers-channel.com) is to give the thousands of filmmakers who may never get their movie screened in a theater or on TV the chance to get their movie out to the world, and to make some money off of it."
"I think that's the difference with our program," DellaFlora added. "A lot of movies are being distributed online through various sites, but the emphasis is on the distributor and the consumer. We're putting the welfare of the filmmaker first."
The Filmmakers Channel will feature a streaming, non-buffering video platform for movies, that can include a pay-per-view option. Filmmakers will pay a monthly fee for broadcast minutes and channels, starting as low as $10 a month, said company co-founder Dan Latrimurti, a local businessman with background in information technology.
The video platform, the same one used by Disney and ABC News, can be embedded in other websites and blogs in addition to The Filmmakers Channel, thus allowing the filmmaker to create an online "theater chain," as it were, Latrimurti said.
The Filmmakers Channel also plans to offer video tutorials to its filmmaking customers on the art and business of filmmaking, from screenwriting to distribution. The company will also provide assistance in online marketing.
DellaFlora, a New Mexico producer, was sold on the idea early last year, after Latrimurti convinced him to put his 10-year-old documentary "High Strange New Mexico" online using the video platform. With minimal publicity, the documentary was quickly picked up for distribution by a California company and is now available from a variety of outlets, including NetFlix.
"When Dan presented me with the option to sell viewings of my movie online, and the opportunity to do away with printing DVDs, packaging them, standing in line to mail them, I was sold," DellaFlora said. "The distribution deal was gravy."
The Filmmakers Channel is partnering with Albuquerque filmmakers Rob Ellis and Michael Palumbo, who have created a sister website, Big Window Video (www.big-window-video.com). Big Window Video will help with the educational side of the venture, providing links to tutorials on everything from screenwriting to shooting on green screens, tips about the latest equipment, and helping to produce interviews with independent filmmakers for podcast.
"They're also big into online social marketing, so they'll be a huge help in spreading the word," DellaFlora noted.
Los Angeles entertainment attorney Peter Dekom noted on a recent podcast that between 4,000 and 5,000 English-language feature films are made every year that do not have distribution. Many will go the film festival trail, hoping to get picked up for distribution. But if the recent Sundance Film Festival -- considered the mecca for independent film -- is any indication, things are looking grim for filmmakers. Of the 3,624 films entered, 121 were selected. Of those, Dekom said, four received domestic distribution rights for $1 million or more.
Considering the industry was faced with a potential shutdown of filmmaking with the recently settled writers' strike and a potential actors' strike, observers thought there more films would be picked up for distribution. Dekom speculated that the high cost of marketing films, which typically overshadows production cost, is the reason distributors have shied away from anything they don't consider a sure thing.
The studios also feel threatened by current trends. Film attendance has dropped over the last 15 years, and DVD sales have declined slightly, Dekom said. Lastly, more and more people are finding their entertainment on the Internet. As computers and television sets become more connected, more and more people will be selecting programming from the Internet instead of broadcast TV or cable.
"The trends look good for what we're doing. But we will unveil a plan to get filmmakers connected directly with distributors," DellaFlora said. "There's nothing wrong with a fat distribution deal for TV or theatrical release. In the meantime, we think we have a great alternative for filmmakers."
-- END--
The Peter Dekom interview can be heard in its entirety at
http://www.modavox.com/voiceamericacms/WebModules/HostModaview.aspx?HostId=148&ChannelId=4&Flag=1
FILMMAKER NETWORK
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