SnagFilms Adds $7M In Equity And Loans, Looks To Be Netflix Of Indie Film

 

Washington, DC-based SnagFilms, which offers access to a library of about 3,000 indie movie titles for viewing on over 100 types of digital devices, took another step in that direction Monday when it announced an additional funding and financing to the tune of $7 million.

The infusion marks yet another expansion of a four-year-old company that has quickly grown into perhaps the most potent digital distribution force in indie film today. Few companies in the movie business beyond the major studios have the ability to distribute through as many digital VOD and streaming channels.

The company’s emergence has coincided with the roiling of the independent film sector, which has seen production funding and traditional theatrical and TV distribution channels dry up in the global economic downturn. There is now an ample supply of inexpensively produced indie film in need of some kind of distribution, and companies like SnagFilms and New Video have positioned themselves to be the ones to lead the charge in releasing this content into streaming and VOD channels. Unlike, say, New Video, however, SnagFilms has its own streaming destination that plays on pretty much every digital device.

Rick Allen, SnagFilms’s CEO, said the money will be used to further expand the company’s library and market its films. It also will be used to augment its technology. “Going up on more than 100 devices and platforms was not an inconsiderable task,” Allen told paidContent, noting that the company plans to begin streaming to Apple’s iPhone within the next 90 days.

SnagFilms’ viewing module now plays on 95 percent of tablets, including the iPad and Kindle Fire, all Android smart phones, and connected TV devices including Roku and Boxee. The company also conducts distribution to a wide range of cable/satellite VOD service providers, as well as digital and electronic sell-through services.

“The question really is what will become the premiere destination for independent film, and Snag has been making some very smart moves,” said Marc Schiller, founder and CEO of BOND Strategy and Influence, which consults producers and entertainment companies on digital marketing.

SnagFilms’ viewership is still in the “low millions” in terms of unique monthly users, Allen said. But Schiller thinks that given its reach and growing catalog, the company has the opportunity to establish a brand presence in indie-movie streaming similar to what Netflix has built in the realm of mainstream film. “Netflix only is the only company that I can think of that’s available on this many devices and platforms,” Allen added.

All of SnagFilms’ current investors participated in this latest round, including chairman Ted Leonsis, and Steve and Jean Case’s Case Foundation Ventures LLC. Meanwhile, veteran media executive Terry Semel, who joined the company’s board last week, also participated.

External Reference: www.paidcontent.org

IndigoBoom Pioneers Flat Rate Digital Distribution

 

If you’re an independent musical artist, getting your music out on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify and all the major music retailers is key for connecting to your audience. Until now digital distributors, who act as middlemen to facilitate distribution and royalty collection for artists not signed to the majors, have been offering a complex maze of coded rates, designed to confuse, and suck more cash out of the starving artist.

No Nonsense
Enter IndigoBoom, a brand new company, whose mission statement reads: “Your Music Everywhere”. The goal is simple: What you see is what your get. For $59 a year, you get to distribute all of your music in all relevant digital music stores. This takes the hassle out of trying to figure out complicated pricing structures, allowing the artist to get back to what they love to do, making music. Artist have varied needs. For some it’s all about being heard on the major streaming services. For others, downloads pay the rent. IndigoBoom gives the artist total freedom to choose territories and services for every single release.

Money For Nothing
Using the YouTube “content ID” system, music released by IndigoBoom is recognized, so the system also tracks and matches any music uploaded to YouTube, even uploads done by other YouTubers of your music. In this way, royalties are calculated based on a pro rata calculation of advertising revenues, as offered by YouTube. This is how the stars have been earning money, from other people uploading their tracks to YouTube for some time now. Here’s a system that gives every artist that exact same possibility! The world is truly advancing for content creators these days! So start creating. The audience is listening, and Indigoboom is there to make life easier.

External Reference: www.webwire.com

Apple's Approach to Digital Text Book Distribution

The upcoming Apple press event scheduled for this Thursday is rumored to bring a new way to author, distribute and read textbooks. Picking up on a ZDNet article, Dave Caolo reiterated an argument he made regarding the benefits of digital textbooks for publishers:


What happens at the end of each semester? Students sell their used books back to the campus bookstore, which the school then re-sells to next year’s class. The publishers earn nothing from the sale of used books, which e-books would eliminate.

Should Apple manage to deliver an appealing solution for the digital distribution of textbooks, there might be even bigger implications for publishers and students than many of us are considering at this point. With a resale market effectively gone, educational publishers could lower the prices of books, as the need to cover costsand make a profit during the first year of sales wouldn’t be as great. Books, especially in higher education, tend to be very expensive, making it costly for students to easily obtain up-to-date information on certain subjects.



Furthermore, the licensing model might be very important: Textbooks probably won’t be offered as a standard ePub, but be subjected to some kind of DRM. This would bar customers from moving purchased content to a platform other than Apple’s. Especially in higher education this could prove to be a strong deterrent, if students and scientists find the possibilities of consumption too limiting.

Finally, Customers’ expectations regarding the price of corrected and new editions of a book they’ve purchased might shift. People have gotten used to getting an almost infinite number of free updates for apps bought in the App Store; trying to sell customers a nigh unchanged book for the same price might not be easy in a digital distribution.

These are only three issues that will sooner or later have to be addressed, should a digital distribution solution for textbooks see the light of day on Thursday. Trust us, there’s probably a myriad of other concerns and problems a revamped textbook publishing platform could have on the industry. Just ask The Financial Times how they felt about having to pay Apple a stipend for their subscriptions. Short version, they decided to leave the App Store and create an HTML 5 application instead. No one saw that one coming when Apple extended a helping hand to magazine and news publishers.











External Reference: www.macagasm.com

SOPA and its effect on digital distribution for independent development

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is one of the most contentious pieces of legislation to hit the Internet in recent history, even more so than the Pro IP Act. The Act is purportedly designed to institute measures that will restrict piracy arising from foreign websites. However, the effectiveness of those measures has been put into question by the legislation’s opposition. According to opponents of the Act, the government and private authority granted by the legislation creates a number of complex concerns, includingfreedom of speech, user privacy, and Internet security. These concerns are only the tip of the iceberg.

Additionally, that original purpose seems to only appear sporadically in the legislation. Some of the procedures and policies presented in the body of the Act, particularly those concerning private enforcement actions, seem to have little to do with preventing piracy originating in foreign countries. Instead these provisions raise the question as to whether they are meant to work hand in hand with the DMCA safe harbors or operate as back door. While the DMCA safe harbors are a far cry from perfect for the purpose of eliminating piracy, they are at the very least effective, although not always efficient.

The 78 page Act in its original form is a substantial body of legislation with a bare minimum of eight moving parts. These parts break down to both government enforcement and private enforcement. This poses another problem in the Act: according to opponents, the Act’s lack of cohesion and the sheer number of regulations it imposes on any number of Internet businesses makes meaningful discussion concerning the entirety of the Act a difficult proposition. Tackling the entire body of the legislation in one go would be next to impossible.


Yet taken in parts, we can get a clearer picture of the potential effect this Act may have on things like digital distribution for small game developers. One of the more disconcerting parts of this legislation from the perspective of independent game development comes in the form of the private enforcement actions available under Section 103 of SOPA.

Section 103

This section permits private individuals and entities to pursue civil actions against website owners. Additionally, the legislation gives private parties the authority to cut off financial support to that website by forcing payment vendors and advertisers to suspend their services.

External Reference: www.gamasutra.com

GoDigital Acquires Digital Distribution Competitor Might Entertainment

GoDigital Acquires Digital Distribution Competitor Might Entertainment

Santa Monica digital distribution company GoDigital on Tuesday said that following its successful recapitalization it has acquired Beverly Hills video-on-demand competitor Might Entertainment.

GoDigital, which was founded in 2008, distributes more than 300 films to Netflix, Hulu and other Internet services. Might Entertainment, founded in 2010, has multiple distribution deals, including one to distribute content for Lions Gate Entertainment Inc. Last fall, Might also acquired digital rights to the 700-plus title Kino/Lorber library.

The expanded company now will have rights more than 1,000 films. Financial terms were not disclosed.


Logan Mulvey, who had been GoDigital’s president, now becomes chief executive of the combined companies, with Might Entertainment co-founders Andy Bohn and Jason Beck joining the board. Mulvey will continue to manage the GoDigital distribution, marketing and digital delivery team, while Bohn and Beck will oversee business development and content acquisitions, the company said.

“Once we had the financial resources to expand the business, it was clear that there was no better complementary asset to GoDigital than Might Entertainment,” said Mulvey in a statement. “GoDigital is well positioned for success in the growing marketplace of digital and VOD distribution.”

External Reference: www.labusinessjournal.com

Zinio to Distribute Global Digital Magazine Newsstand on Ultrabook

 

Zinio, the world's largest and most popular magazine marketplace today unveiled a distribution relationship in which Ultrabook owners can access Zinio's library of more than 5,000 digital magazine titles through Intel AppUp(SM) center. Announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the Zinio reading app will give Ultrabook owners access to thousands of magazines in multiple languages from around the globe, and the ability to explore top articles across all genres of interest for free.

"Intel is leading the push in Ultrabook devices, which are transforming the mobile computing experience; while Zinio continues to propel the digital reading experience forward, pioneering new ways for people to read and interact with digital magazines wherever they are," said Zinio President and CEO Rich Maggiotto. "The distribution relationship for Ultrabooks expands the broad lineup of device and platform availability for Zinio, and enables Ultrabook owners to easily read and explore their favorite magazines."

The innovative relationship gives consumers one-click access to an immense library of global reading options on a powerful and portable device. The new Ultrabook devices are sleek, at less than one inch (21 millimeters) at its thickest point, are incredibly responsive and offer more than five hours of battery life. This extreme mobility allows users to access and enjoy their Zinio library on the go, with serious computing power for ideal display of graphics and interactive features.

"Intel is leading the industry to re-invent the personal computing experience and offer people access to the best, most innovative products on the market," said George Thangadurai, general manager of PC Client Services division at Intel Corporation. "Introducing the Ultrabook and following with collaborations with top notch content providers like Zinio improves the experience of consumers."

External Reference: www.sacbee.com

Gaming and Digital Distribution

For most people who grew up with games, getting the latest title generally meant queuing up at the shop to grasp that shiny box in your mitts. To a large extent, this is still true, but equally many games are now being played without the user ever touching a plastic container, or browsing an instruction manual. Xbox Live Arcade, the PlayStation Network and Nintendo Wii Store are all growing in prominence, but also Facebook, Apple's iOS, Google Android and OnLive are fast coming front-and-centre. So what does this all mean? Is games retail as we know it about to die a slow death?

Well, UK revenue from sales of software, hardware and accessories was down 13% in 2011, at £2.52bn, but it's rather premature to call in the bailiffs. Instead, we are seeing a step change in the industry, in which the old model of publishers making boxed products and selling them to customers (via retailers) is being challenged by new routes to market. Developers are increasingly 'cutting out the middle man' and taking their games direct to the players. Digital Spy investigated how Finland is at the cutting edge of the latest innovations in video gaming distribution.


Finland has one of the fastest growing games industries in the world, increasing its revenues from 105m euro in 2010 to 165m euro last year. Famous Finnish studios include Max Payne and Alan Wakedeveloper Remedy Entertainment and social games maker Playfish, which was bought by EA in 2009 for £160m. But what has most dramatically put the country on the map is Rovio, the company that became a multi-million dollar behemoth on the global success of Angry Birds.

So how has this tiny Nordic country of just 5.4m people become such a player on the global gaming scene? Well, perhaps the situation is best summed up best by Timo Koski, the late chief strategist of Finnish mobile phone giant Nokia in the 1970s and '80s. Koski once said that when an aspiring US inventor opens his door, he sees the biggest technology market in the world. But when a Finnish entrepreneur does the same thing, all he sees is snow.

This witty adage demonstrates that developers and technologists in Finland have had to work harder to innovate. A studio like Rovio would have had little chance to challenge the video games giants in the days of purely physical products. But the new means of digital distribution on mobile, social networking and online allow the firm to compete. For example, Zynga - the US maker of Facebook games such as Farmville and CityVille - recently floated on the stock market, attracting a value that made it the third-biggest American games company based on stock market value, just behind EA and Activision.


Ville Vesterinen is the co-founder and chief executive of Grey Area, the Finnish developer behind Shadow Cities, an iOS game that turns mobile maps into real-time battlegrounds. The game is essentially an MMOPRG, involving two teams of players fighting a fantasy war for territory, engaging in weekly battles to earn XP, unlock spells and take more of the map.

"What we have done is combined mobile gaming with the real world," said Vesterinen. "Shadow Cities pushes what games are in the modern age by turning the world around you into a battleground." Vesterinen feels that we are now seeing a "paradigm shift" in the way games are delivered, as the previous concept of purchasing a boxed product in a shop increasingly feels outmoded for many people. The same trend is being seen across music, film and TV; users have sophisticated devices such as smartphones and tablet computers that are always connected to the web, and they expect to access entertainment, content and games on them.

Speaking at a recent event arranged by Nokia in London, Vesterinen said that a crucial part of gaming on these new digital platforms is the concept of shared emotions. He pointed to the most watched non-music video on YouTube, a short clip called 'Charlie bit my finger...again', featuring a baby biting a boy's finger, which has been watched a staggering 394m times. It seems strange that such a simple video should attract such attention, but Vesterinen feels that is missing the point.


The video is popular because it connects to such a broad range of people, in whatever way. This, says Vesterinen, is what is making some online games work. With Shadow Cities, he said that location is the "shared anchor" that brings people together, but also crucially keeps them playing. "They form relationships through the gameplay," he said. "There is regional rivalry between people, which makes it feel alive and real. They can level up, unlock spells and keep competing in weekly battles. But it is the social that brings them together."

The success of Finland's gaming industry has not gone unnoticed by investors. Rovio recently attracted $46m of fresh investment and Supercell, creator of the Gunshine browser-based game, has pulled in $15m. A note should be made here, though, to the support from the Finnish government, which has very much got behind the industry and offered significant funding grants for new projects, as well as tax credits. This fact provides further evidence for the case brought by UK games industry trade body Tiga, which has consistently lobbied the British government to introduce support for our studios to help them compete with other state-backed global industries.

That gripe aside, there are many things the world can learn from Finnish innovation. Supercell chief executive Ilkka Paananen said that Finnish studios were given confidence by the success ofAngry Birds, which he feels "raised the bar" for everyone. Gunshine is free role playing game available through browsers and Facebook, in which players come together to form clans, fight battles and conquer bases. It has a heavy focus on social interaction, a feature many games are now embracing as it makes players more engaged and also more likely to purchase additional content (something particularly important in free-to-play titles). But also, such an open user experience throws up some interesting player behaviour trends.



Paananen gave an interesting example of this in Gunshine. When the RPG came out of public beta last year, the players who had already become fans decided to celebrate the landmark with a party. With no input from Supercell, they gathered in a place called The Pirate Bay nightclub (which Paananen noted has no other function in the game than decorative) and had a virtual knees-up. They got together, they chatted, they pole danced (!), and even used spells that they had paid for to liven up the atmosphere. "Here's the key point - we did not design that in the game," Paanenen noted. "It was the users who invented it. They created it and it was a social experience."

Remedy Entertainment is one of the more established studios in Finland, having sold 10m physical units over the years, generating $500m in revenue. Alongside blockbuster releases likeMax Payne and Alan Wake, the studio has also joined others in embracing the new digital platforms.

The company offers the Death Rally combat racing game on iOS devices. Despite being priced at just 99 US cents, Death Rally recouped its original investment in just three days and has since generated $1m in revenue from its 3m players. The studio is so keen on digital distribution that it has opted to release the next instalment in its flagship franchise, Alan Wake's American Nightmare, exclusively on Xbox Live Arcade.

Aki Järvilehto, executive vice president at Remedy, said that digital distribution is having a "major impact" on the industry as it is enabling studios to "do things that were not previously thought possible". He said that studios previously viewed the publishers as their customers, but they are now increasingly fostering direct relationships with the consumers of their games.


Independent developers now no longer need to bow to the whims of the publishing overlords, and can self-publish new titles with considerably-reduced upfront costs and hassles. Järvilehto noted, for example, that getting games on Android is a "single-click process" in some cases. There are issues that must be beared in mind with developing for digital platforms, such as that average playtime of Facebook games is only 3.4 minutes and many people would baulk at paying more than £2.99 for a mobile game, but Järvilehto feels that the more level playing field makes up for these drawbacks.

"People tend to vote with their wallets on the Apple App Store," he said. "Ad campaigns have a major impact on physical sales, but it's not the same for the digital channels. Its more about getting to the top of the Apple charts, and the only way to do that is by making a kick-ass game that people buy, update and recommend to others. As an indie developer, that is a really great thing."

External Reference: www.digitalspy.co.uk

Deluxe Serves over 100 Million Trailers to Targeted Audiences

Deluxe Digital Studios, a subsidiary of Deluxe Entertainment Services Group Inc., announced today that it has delivered over 100 million movie trailers directly to Blu-ray consumers, with nearly 6 1/2 million trailers delivered directly to consumers' connected Blu-ray players in a single month.


"The number of connected Blu-ray players increased dramatically over the last year," says Jin Kim, SVP New Media and Creative at Deluxe Digital Studios. "Trailer Pre-Roll usage has climbed well beyond our initial expectations and we expect our deliveries to exceed 10 million per month during 2012, which is exciting as it offers our partners an incredible source of incremental media value."




Deluxe's Trailer Pre-Roll technology enables trailers to change depending on what movie the consumer decides to watch. Trailers are streamed to internet connected Blu-ray players each time a disc is inserted. "Studios now have the option to promote and stream fresh trailers of new films rather than presenting old and dated trailers over and over again," continues Kim.


Data shows over half of consumers watch entire trailers instead of skipping ahead to the movie menu. "Trailer Pre-Roll allows studios to reach a substantial number of households and target specific audiences based on the movies they watch," says Kim.

External Reference: www.sacbee.com

Camelot Entertainment Group Focuses More on Digital Distribution for 2012

Camelot Entertainment Group, Inc ("Camelot"), working to become one of the nation's leading independent producers and distributors of motion pictures, is acquiring and producing new mass-appealing theatrical and home entertainment releases through its Camelot Distribution Group subsidiary while continuing its ongoing market-driven innovation efforts in 2012.

"As consumers enjoy motion picture viewing on everything from iPads to the theater big screen, in multiple formats that enable viewing at any hour and in any location, the market for entertainment consumption choices is proliferating. 2012 will see continued growth for our newly acquired and produced content for consumers wherever they enjoy our content," stated Jessica Kelly, Co-President, Camelot Distribution Group. "Our broad array of genres within the independent film making arena and our close integration with the creative community sets the stage for growth in 2012," she added.

2011 SUCCESSES

The successful December 2011 launch of "A Warrior's Heart" shows that Camelot Entertainment Group can generate revenue from multiple delivery formats. A Variety review by Joe Leydon (December 1, 2011) stated, "fans of the 'Twilight' franchise may be drawn by the marquee value of attractive leads Kellan Lutz and Ashley Greene in non-vampiric roles. Limited theatrical run kicked off Dec. 2, but the pic is more likely to score as VOD and homevid fare."

Camelot Entertainment Group's quality also stands above the crowd. The Variety review of "A Warrior's Heart" mentioned the "well-cast players (including Gabrielle Anwar, who makes the most of her small role as Conor's mom) help the pic sustain interest. Special credit should go to (Adam) Beach's effortlessly macho underplaying as the beer-swilling, aphorism-spouting taskmaster who helps Conor be all that he can be."

2012 FOCUS

"In 2011 we saw the growth of several trends that we plan to focus on in 2012," said Kelly. "The potential growth of Blu-ray DVD, video-on-demand, and the proliferation of cloud computing will all contribute to give extended sales legs to the movies we produce and acquire. The availability to the consumer of these formats increases the market for our entire film library," she added.

GLOBAL DEMAND EXPANDING

The world-wide demand for independent commercially driven features is growing. The Asian Pacific film marketplace, with China leading the way, is now estimated at over $10 billion annually. With reported growth of 30 to 40 percent, the Asian pacific marketplace may represent the single biggest opportunity in the international film market anywhere in the world. In the United States the home entertainment market (packaged media and digital delivery) is at $18 billion annually. The onset of cloud computing creates yet more space for the distribution of Camelot Entertainment Group's content. There are over 200 films in distribution through Camelot Distribution Group and its genre division, DarKnight Pictures.

Camelot is building a different kind of motion picture studio infrastructure by redefining the development, financing, production, and distribution process of independent film, television, and digital media. Camelot integrates early studio models, education, new technologies and fiscal responsibility to acquire, develop, finance, produce, market and distribute high quality commercial motion pictures, television and digital media.