SUNDANCE GOES “PAY-PER-VIEW” STYLE

By Odemaris Byrd

Media conglomerate Rainbow Media and Sundance festival organizers will premiere three Sundance films nationwide for the next 30 days on Video on Demand (VOD). This is great news for the future of the independent festivals circuit.

Now, more than just a few festival winners will have opportunities for distribution with this new way of exposing Independent films. This technology takes some of the power away from large distributors and places it in the hands of the audience. With more viewers laying eyes on these films there is much more potential for other sleeper hits like “Paranormal Activity” to become a success.

Each of the VOD movies will be available beginning the night of their premiere in about 40 million homes via Comcast, Cablevision, Cox, Time Warner and satellite provider DirecTV. It costs about $7 to view each movie. YOUTUBE is also jumping on board by offering renting services for several of the Sundance films.

The three films picked for VOD include “Daddy Longlegs”, a drama about a divorced father taking care of his two young sons; “7 Days”, a revenge tale of a man who tortures a murderer; and “The Shock Doctrine”, a documentary about how capitalism is used in exploiting countries in crisis. Now these films will have the ability to touch families outside of cultural hotspots of New York and Los Angeles.