Search Results for: “Cinedigm”

Specialty Box Office: ‘Frances Ha’ Triumphs As Fellow Newcomers Take A Nose Dive

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Sunday May 19, 2013 @ 10:12am PDTTags: Frances Ha, Specialty Box Office

Brian Brooks is a Deadline contributor.

Indie FilmsIFC Films‘ Frances Ha had the last laugh this weekend, opening solid in a pair of theaters each in New York and Los Angeles. The critically well-received feature directed by Noah Baumbach and starring Greta Gerwig grossed $134K, averaging $33,500. It came fairly close to his last feature, Greenberg, which averaged $39,384 when it opened in March 2010 in three locations. But that film, which also starred Gerwig, also included Ben Stiller, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Juno Temple. Frances Ha inched out Baumbach’s acclaimed 2005 Best Screenplay Oscar-nominated The Squid And The Whale in terms of first weekend PSA. That film opened in four runs, averaging $32,461. Frances Ha‘s fellow newcomers, however did not fare nearly as well.
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Specialty B.O. Preview: ‘The English Teacher’, ‘Frances Ha’, ‘Augustine’, ‘Pieta’, ‘Black Rock’, 33 Postcards’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday May 16, 2013 @ 5:07pm PDTTags: 33 Postcards, Frances Ha, Greta Gerwig, Specialty Box Office

Brian Brooks is a Deadline contributor.

After co-writing last summer’s animated box office hit Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted, Noah Baumbach returns to the Specialty realm with Frances Ha, which debuts this weekend theatrically. Baumbach co-wrote with Greta Gerwig, who also stars in the film. Also opening is veteran TV director Craig Zisk’s The English Teacher, starring Julianne Moore. French period drama Augustine joins Friday’s newcomers, starring Chiara Mastroianni, while Sundance Midnight thriller Black Rock also joins the fray along with Venice Golden Lion winner Pieta and Guy Pearce starter, 33 Postcards.

The English Teacher
Director: Craig Zisk
Writers: Dan Chariton, Stacy Chariton
Cast: Lily Collins, Julianne Moore, Michael Angarano, Greg Kinnear, Nathan Lane
Distributor: Cinedigm

The feature, directed by Craig Zisk had its World Premiere at the recent Tribeca Film Festival, though distributor Cinedigm caught a private sneak of the film last fall in New York. “We fell in love with the playful wit of the screenplay, the polished direction by Craig Zisk and the terrific performances by the stellar cast, including Julianne Moore, Greg Kinnear, Nathan Lane, Michael Angarano and Lilly Collins”, noted Cinedigm’s co-president entertainment Susan Margolins. “We chose this weekend to follow closely on the heels of the film’s premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.” The comedy-drama stars Moore as a high school English teacher who lives in a small town living a simple existence. A former pupil (Angarano) returns after failing to succeed as a playwright in New York, and she convinces him to produce his play at the school. But his overbearing father has other plans. Read More »

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Hammond On Cannes: Opening Night ‘Gatsby’ Party Wet But Elaborate

By PETE HAMMOND | Wednesday May 15, 2013 @ 7:28pm PDTTags: Baz Luhrmann, Brian Grazer, Cannes Film Festival, Cannes Wrap-Up, Christoph Waltz, Jeff Robinov, Leonardo Di Caprio, Moulin Rouge, Steven Spielberg, Sue Kroll, The Great Gatsby, Tobey McGuire
Pete Hammond

Baz Luhrmann followed up his biggest opening day in America with his biggest opening day in France as The Great Gatsby took in $78K in partial-day results that still were bigger than his Moulin Rouge and Australia. Understandably in a party mood thanks to the overperformance of his U.S. box office last weekend, the director pronounced himself pleased with one of the most elaborate after-parties which Cannes has seen since Moulin Rouge premiered here in 2001. Warner Bros co-hosted the gala event with Gatsby‘s other key financier, Village Roadshow. “I love it.  I think Jay Gatsby would have loved it too. ‘Screw the rain,’ he would have said,” Luhrmann laughed.

The Cannes celebration of its opening-night film continued into the early morning hours despite a monsoon-like downpour. When I left around 2 AM, though, the party showed no sign of winding down. Luhrmann was frequently out on the dance floor whooping it up with the likes of Warner Bros worldwide marketing czarina Sue Kroll (“When you open the festival, you have to spend a good amount of money on the party,” Kroll told me), his co-star Isla Fisher, and his WME agent Robert Newman. Also there was the festival guru Thierry Fremaux, who told me that the first film he ever programmed when he first snagged the prestigious Cannes gig was Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge.

Luhrmann said he was now really optimistic about the global … Read More »

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Cinedigm And Magnet Media To Partner On Five Features

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Wednesday May 15, 2013 @ 7:27am PDTTags: Cinedigm

Los Angeles, CA, May 15, 2013 — Cinedigm (NADSAQ: CIDM) and Magnet Media Productions today announced they have entered into partnership to distribute five feature films over the next three years using Cinedigm’s expansive digital distribution and marketing capabilities.

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Cinedigm Fare Going Home With Universal

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday May 14, 2013 @ 5:00am PDTTags: Cinedigm, Universal Studios Home Entertainment

Los Angeles, CA, May 14, 2013  Cinedigm, the global leader in digital content distribution, and Universal Studios Home Entertainment, the premier home entertainment company, have entered into a multi-year agreement whereby Universal will provide comprehensive supply-chain services across North America for Cinedigm’s growing DVD and Blu-ray library of independent films, documentaries, TV programs and other content, the two companies announced today.  Cinedigm’s existing sales force will continue selling directly to customers. The arrangement encompasses Cinedigm’s library of over 5,000 titles which includes award-winning documentaries from Docurama Films, next-gen indies from Flatiron Film Company and acclaimed independent films and festival picks through partnerships with the Sundance Institute and Tribeca Film. Cinedigm also distributes many award-winning and Oscar-nominated films including “THE INVISIBLE WAR,” “HELL AND BACK AGAIN,” “GASLAND,” “WASTE LAND,” and “PARADISE LOST 3: PURGATORY.” Bob Fiorella, Chief Strategy Officer of Cinedigm, negotiated the agreement on Cinedigm’s behalf.

Related: Cinedigm Will Outfit Drive-Ins With Digital Projectors

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Specialty Box Office: Sarah Polley’s ‘Stories We Tell’ Opens Strong; ‘Mud’ Sticks

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Sunday May 12, 2013 @ 9:59am PDTTags: Mud, Sarah Polley, Specialty Box Office, Stories We Tell

Brian Brooks is a Deadline contributor.

Indie FilmsCanadian filmmaker/actress Sarah Polley‘s documentary Stories We Tell is leading the pack of specialty releases among titles reporting early Sunday afternoon ET. The Venice/Telluride/Toronto ’12 debut, which headed into release with strong word of mouth and festival acclaim, grossed a solid $31K in two locations and saw its grosses shoot up Friday to Saturday by a spectacular 172%. The feature, which is a personal account of Polley’s family, received a 92 score on Metacritic and 94% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

“The opening is in the range of openings of last year’s doc hits Searching For Sugar Man from SPC ($9153 a screen opening on 3 screens in NY/LA, $3,657,684 final gross) and Queen Of Versailles from Magnolia ($17,109 a screen opening on 3 screens in NY/LA, $2,401,999 final gross), which is right where we want to be,” said Roadside Attractions Sunday.

The film will head into 20 runs in the top 7 markets next weekend.

Also opening with decent numbers is Zeitgeist’s doc One Track Heart: The Story Of Krishna Das, which took in $7,500 in one Manhattan theater. IFC Films’ comedy/thriller hybrid Sightseers languished with a $4,200 average in its debut in two runs, while Anchor Bay’s No One Lives opened in an ambitious 53 theaters but only scraped together an $866 average.
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Will Indie Distributors Hit It Big With Paid YouTube Channels?

By JEN YAMATO | Thursday May 9, 2013 @ 1:13pm PDTTags: Cinedigm Digital Cinema Corp, Docurama, Gravitas Ventures, Roger Corman, YouTube

Among the more interesting new paid YouTube channels of the 30 unveiled today are the ones belonging to indie film distributors leading the charge into untested digital and outside-the-box models. Cinedigm relaunched their Docurama brand in April with a library of 1,250 documentary features, also plotting a streaming app for launch this spring which would make more than 150 Docurama titles available for free on multiple devices. Their new curated Docurama YouTube channel could similarly boost digital niche moviewatching and carve a path for other distributors and filmmakers exploring alternative distribution online. For $2.99 a month, users will get access to Docurama’s playlist of docu features and bonus materials refreshed each week, with 25% of those feature offerings being new or recent releases. (All of YouTube’s new premium channels will first launch with a 14-day free trial.) The ambitious growth plan set in motion last year under Cinedigm CEO Chris McGurk so far has also included a plan to help outfit drive-in theaters with digital projectors and last month’s Arthur Newman BitTorrent experiment.

Related: YouTube Unveils First 30 Paid Channels Read More »

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Myriad Lands International On Julianne Moore-Michael Angarano ‘English Teacher’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Tuesday May 7, 2013 @ 6:06pm PDTTags: Big Deals Film, Cannes Wrap-Up, Julianne Moore, Myriad, The English Teacher
Mike Fleming

Myriad Pictures has acquired international distribution rights to The English Teacher, starring Julianne Moore (The Kids Are All Right; Crazy, Stupid, Love), Michael Angarano (Brass Teapot, The Forbidden Kingdom, Haywire), Greg Kinnear (Little Miss Sunshine, Baby Mama, Stuck in Love), Lily Collins (Mirror Mirror, Abduction, The Blind Side), and Nathan Lane (The Producers, Mirror Mirror, “Modern Family”). Following the film’s recent world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, Myriad will screen the film for the first time for buyers at this month’s Cannes Marche du Film. The English Teacher is the charming story of a small town teacher whose mundane routine is turned around when a former student returns after failing as a playwright in New York City. The film was written by Dan Chariton and Stacy Chariton and is an Artina Films production.

Linda Sinclair (Moore) is a forty-year-old unmarried high school English teacher in the small town of Kingston, Pennsylvania. She shares a small apartment with two Siamese cats and her rich collection of great literature, and she likes it that way. But Linda’s simple life turns an unexpected page when former star pupil Jason Sherwood (Angarano) returns to Kingston after trying to make it as a playwright in New York. Now in his 20s, Jason is on the verge of abandoning art, pressured by his overbearing father (Kinnear), to face reality and go to law school. Linda can’t stand the thought of Jason giving up on his

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BitTorrent Bundle Offers First Ever ‘Gated Torrent’ For Content Creators

By JEN YAMATO | Tuesday May 7, 2013 @ 11:00am PDTTags: BitTorrent, BitTorrent Bundle, Digital Distribution

BitTorrent seems an unlikely ally for content creators given its past association with online piracy. But the file sharing site today unveiled yet another tool designed to help media makers to connect with fans – and profit from it. Its latest initiative, the BitTorrent Bundle, introduces a “gated” multimedia torrent designed to boost engagement within its 170 million-strong user base. The format allows creators to put content on offer on BitTorrent, add supplemental multimedia content of any file format or size, and set parameters for how fans can access the bonus materials, potentially via email gate, donation, or pay gate. BitTorrent’s Bundle launches in alpha with EDM music label Ultra Music but the company hopes film and TV creators take advantage of the program as an option for digital distribution. Bundle’s gated torrent could be unlocked, for example, by driving fans to Netflix, iTunes, a movie theater, or a Facebook page for a like. The file sharing site got a huge response last month when it partnered with Cinedigm to release the first seven minutes of Arthur Newman free to BitTorrent users, even if the experiment was more of a success for BitTorrent than for the film. The promo had 1.4 million downloads with 150,000 of those downloaders subsequently visiting the movie’s website for more information.

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Film Arcade And Cinedigm Pick Up Sundance Winner ‘Afternoon Delight’

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Tuesday May 7, 2013 @ 8:02am PDTTags: Afternoon Delight, Cinedigm, Jill Soloway, Sundance Film Festival, The Film Arcade

Afternoon DelightJill Soloway is having a pretty good year. She won the U.S. Dramatic Directing Award at Sundance in January, and now her feature debut Afternoon Delight has a distributor. The Film Arcade acquired theatrical rights with Cinedigm handling ancillary markets. The dark comedy follows a bored woman (Kathryn Hahn) in an uneventful marriage who hires a stripper (Juno Temple) as her live-in nanny. Josh Radnor and Jane Lynch co-star in the film produced by Jen Chaiken and Sebastian Dungan. “We fell in love with Afternoon Delight at Sundance and look forward to working with Jill, Jen and Sebastian to bring their film to audiences throughout the country,” said The Film Arcade’s Miranda Bailey today in a statement. Before turning to features, Soloway earned three Emmy noms for outstanding drama series as a writer and co-executive of HBO’s Six Feet Under. Her TV credits also include How To Make It In America and United States Of Tara. UTA’s Rena Ronson and Hailey Wierengo and Linda Lichter and Jamie Feldman of Lichter, Grossman, Nichols, Adler & Feldman repped the filmmakers on the deal.

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Specialty Box Office: ‘The Iceman’ Scores Cool Opening, ‘What Maisie Knew’ Solid

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Sunday May 5, 2013 @ 9:48am PDTTags: Specialty Box Office, The Iceman, What Maisie Knew

Brian Brooks is a Deadline contributor.

Indie FilmsMillennium Entertainment’s The Iceman warmed over the specialty box office this weekend despite the Iron Man 3 juggernaut. The film averaged a cool $23,287 from four runs and that wasn’t the only good news for the distributor. Millennium also bowed What Maisie Knew in one location, grossing $23,268. The duo were among a large number of specialty newcomers this weekend, though they did by far the best among titles reporting. Pantelion’s Cinco De Mayo: La Batalla averaged $3,500 from 20 runs, while SPC’s Love Is All You Need averaged $9,739 from its initial four theaters opening. Cannes 2012 debut Post Tenebras Lux took in $5,525 in one theater, while the weekend’s new doc Scatter My Ashes At Bergdorf’s grossed $38,294 for a $9,574 average in four theaters. Meanwhile IFC Films’ French-language Something In The Air bowed in three theaters, averaging a slight $5K.
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Specialty B.O. Preview: ‘Kiss Of The Damned’, ‘What Maisie Knew’, ‘The Iceman’, ‘Generation Um…’, ‘Scatter My Ashes At Bergdorf’s', ‘Dead Man’s Burden’, ‘Something In The Air’, ‘The Happy House’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday May 2, 2013 @ 5:20pm PDTTags: Something In The Air, Specialty Box Office, The Happy House, The Iceman

Brian Brooks is a Deadline contributor.

Specialty Box OfficeFollowing last week’s hefty rollout of new Specialty films, the coming weekend is also awash in a large number of diverse titles that will hit the limited release slate, including titles with stars, soon-to-be stars and big screen novices. Xan Cassavetes will open her drama/thriller Kiss Of The Damned via Magnolia this weekend with a cadre of French vampires. Julianne Moore, Steve Coogan and Alexander Skarsgard star in Millennium Entertainment’s What Maisie Knew. The distributor is doubling up this weekend, also bowing The Iceman with Michael Shannon, Winona Ryder, Chris Evans, Ray Liotta and David Schwimmer, while Keanu Reeves stars in Phase 4′s Generation Um… Cinedigm will open indie Western Dead Man’s Burden from newcomer Jared Moshé, starring Barlow Jacobs, Clare Bowen and David Call, while First Run Features’ The Happy House will also be looking for its niche among the weekend’s new titles. IFC Films will bow veteran French filmmaker Olivier Assayas’ latest, Something In The Air, while doc Scatter My Ashes At Bergdorf’s joins the weekend’s packed lineup.

Kiss Of The Damned
Director-writer: Xan Cassavetes
Cast: Joséphine de La Baume, Milo Ventimiglia, Roxane Mesquida, Anna Mouglalis, Michael Rapaport
Distributor: Magnolia Pictures/Magnet Releasing

Xan Cassavetes initially had the idea for Kiss Of The Damned after touring a house some years ago. The home eventually became the venue for the thriller/drama which revolves around a vampire, Djuna, who resists the advances of Paolo, but soon gives into their passion. “I went through the house and the nature of its setting felt so transitory — it’s a weekend house and it’s the setting for a transitory vampire,” said Cassavetes. “I looked at the house a year and a half before writing the screenplay.” After working on other projects, Cassavetes recalled the house and wrote the screenplay for Kiss Of The Damned in only three weeks. She and her team were able to put together the financing elements from previous films. “I wanted French actors because the movie has the flavor of a beautiful European flavor,” said Cassavetes. “I also wanted relatively unknown actors because I thought it was more powerful to buy into that.” Read More »

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Hot Trailer: ‘Violet & Daisy’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday April 30, 2013 @ 6:16pm PDTTags: Alexis Bledel, Cinedigm, Saoirse Ronan, Violet & Daisy

Saoirse Ronan and Alexis Bledel star in Violet & Daisy as a pair of hit girls swept up in intrigue with their latest target (James Gandolfini). Precious writer Geoffrey Fletcher wrote and directed the 2011 Toronto Film Fest entry. Cinedigm is promising a June release but has yet to lock down a date. Check out the trailer:

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BitTorrent’s ‘Arthur Newman’ Marketing Push Draws Eyeballs, But What About Optics?

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday April 29, 2013 @ 3:21pm PDTTags: Arthur Newman, BitTorrent, Cinedigm Digital Cinema Corp, Digital Hollywood

David Bloom is a contributor to Deadline.

Cinedigm Chief Marketing Officer Jill Calcaterra said the company was delighted with the online uptake of their recent experiment with BitTorrent to promote Arthur Newman, the just-released film starring Colin Firth and Emily Blunt. Under the deal, the file-sharing site was used to distribute 10 minutes of the Cinedigm-distributed film to whomever wanted to download it. “We had 1.4 million downloads in just the first five days”, Calcaterra said today during a panel at the Digital Hollywood conference in Marina del Rey. “That was huge for this little tiny independent film”. Even more importantly, she said, 150,000 of the downloaders then went to the film’s website for more information. Of course, the deal might have attracted hundreds of thousands of possible audience members, but it couldn’t do anything about critic opinion — Arthur Newman’s Metacritic score is a rugged 42, and it made just $108K this weekend in its platform rollout in 248 theaters, a dismal $435 average. Read More »

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Specialty Box Office: ‘Mud’ Slings A Snazzy Debut; ‘Kon-Tiki’ Sails While ‘Arthur Newman’ Flails

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Sunday April 28, 2013 @ 10:46am PDTTags: Kon-Tiki, Mud, Specialty Box Office

Brian Brooks is a Deadline contributor.

Indie FilmsMud kicked up the dirt in the specialty realm with a hefty opening and some decent audiences to boot. The Roadside Attractions release directed by Jeff Nichols and starring Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon bowed with $2.185 million in a release strategy Roadside says is the new path for certain indie/specialties featuring named talent. The Weinstein Company launched Kon-Tiki in one theater each in NYC and LA, taking the weekend’s highest per screen average with $11,167 among limited releases. Another big specialty release, Arthur Newman, however, tanked with a $435 average in 248 theaters. The weekend happened to coincide with the most beautiful weather in New York City in what seems like years. It was a crowded space with many new specialty releases and the lure of staying outside. But roll out they did. Sony Classics’ At Any Price had a slight opening in four theaters, IFC Films fared better with Venice opener The Reluctant Fundamentalist in three theaters, and Paladin/108 Media’s Salman Rushdie-written Midnight’s Children opened with $12,200 in two theaters. Meanwhile one film, which almost didn’t have formal distribution at all — An Oversimplification Of Her Beauty — scored a solid opening with no stars.

Roadside Attractions has verbally called out the traditional NY/LA two-to-four (or so) platform release strategy that has been the norm for many-a-specialty release. Believing it can capitalize on a blitz of media, when the film has at least one star, and a flurry of social media, the distributor has forgone the traditional limited release roll out and opened — at least in indie world numbers — fairly widely. Mud had a $6,022 average. Not gargantuan, but it debuted in 363 theaters. McConaughey and Witherspoon star in the pic, which factored into Roadside’s strategy. For comparison’s sake, Roadside’s Emperor with Tommy Lee Jones opened March 8th in 260 theaters with just over $1 million. That was nearly one-third of its come, which has topped out at a bit under $3.3 million to date. “The world moves fast. Emperor frankly didn’t have amazing reviews but had a million dollar opening,” said Roadside chief Howard Cohen. “I think the old model has come outdated especially when the PR is front loaded.” Cohen noted that their strategy with a release like Mud works when the film includes named talent. The traditional mode is still a good one theatrically when there isn’t”.
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Specialty B.O. Preview: ‘Mud’, ‘Arthur Newman’, ‘At Any Price’, ‘Kon-Tiki’, ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’, ‘An Oversimplification Of Her Beauty’, ‘Aquí Y Allá’, ‘Sun Don’t Shine’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday April 25, 2013 @ 9:55pm PDTTags: Aqui Y Alla, Mud, Specialty Box Office

Brian Brooks is a Deadline contributor. 

This weekend boasts a big number of Specialty Releases ranging from star-powered features to smaller offerings with non-pro actors. Jeff Nichols’ Mud with Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon opens in over 300 theaters courtesy of Roadside Attractions, while Cinedigm’s Arthur Newman stars Emily Blunt, Colin Firth and Anne Heche. Sony Classics will platform release At Any Price, which stars Dennis Quaid, Kim Dickens, Zac Efron as well. The Weinstein Company with its Pacific adventure, Kon-Tiki. Mira Nair’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist with Kate Hudson, Liev Schreiber and Kiefer Sutherland had a wild ride before it finally opened the Venice Film Festival last August and Terence Nance’s An Oversimplification Of Her Beauty received new life after winning a Gotham Award. Joining the fray this weekend are Torch Films’ Aquí Y Allá and Factory 25′s Sun Don’t Shine which will open in L.A. and New York respectively.

Mud
Director-writer: Jeff Nichols
Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Tye Sheridan, Jacob Lofland, Reese Witherspoon, Sarah Paulson
Distributor: Roadside Attractions

Writer-director Jeff Nichols had the idea for Mud back in college during the ’90s. The film follows two teenage boys who encounter a fugitive (McConaughey) and form a pact to help him evade the bounty hunters on his trail and to reunite him with his true love. “I was thinking who I’d like to hang out with on an island on the Mississippi River and that was Matthew McConaughey”, joked Nichols who spoke at the Apple Store in SoHo last weekend in New York. “And I liked him in Lone Star”. “He is the DNA of the project”, said McConaughey. “I’ve done over 40 films and I’ve never done one in which we stayed so closely to the script as on this film”. The Cinema Society hosted the New York premiere of Mud last Sunday and Nichols and McConaughey were joined by Reese Witherspoon and Sarah Paulson at the event and party at nightspot Harlow. Witherspoon did not join the Apple store conversation and she also notably cancelled scheduled appearances on GMA and Fallon following her recent arrest in Georgia. Asked if he thought Witherspoon’s turn from the public eye might affect the film’s opening weekend, Roadside Attractions chief Howard Cohen sounded upbeat. “We’re doing a big television buy and we have Matthew out everywhere”, he said. “We’re totally focused on the great things we’ve done and she’s great in the movie. It happened and it’s played out, but she’s great and did a ton of press ahead of time and she also attended the premiere and I don’t think it will have an impact”. Read More »

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CNN Films & Cinedigm Acquire ‘Our Nixon’; Presidential Docu To Air In August

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Wednesday April 24, 2013 @ 8:07am PDTTags: Big Deals Film, Big Deals TV, Cinedigm, CNN, CNN Films, Our Nixon

CNN Films and Cinedigm have picked up Our Nixon for TV broadcast and theatrical release this summer. The film of Super 8 home movie footage of Richard Nixon and his administration is set to debut on CNN in August and will be released theatrically by Cinedigm the same month. Directed by Penny Lane, the film consists of footage shot by the 37th President’s top aides H.R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, and Dwight Chapin from 1969-1973. Our Nixon had its North American premiere at this year’s SXSW. Production and acquisition unit CNN Films was formed in October and made its debut as a buyer at this year’s Sundance.

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BitTorrent Counters Piracy Rep With Indie Distribution Partnership

By JEN YAMATO | Saturday April 20, 2013 @ 1:45pm PDTTags: BitTorrent, Cinedigm

The P2P filesharing company long associated with illegal piracy is engineering a PR facelift. On Monday BitTorrent will post the first seven minutes of Cinedigm‘s April 26 opener Arthur Newman, launching an experimental promotional partnership with the distributor that Cinedigm Chief Marketing Officer Jill Newhouse Calcaterra says will include a half-dozen upcoming releases. A romantic drama isn’t the easiest sell for BitTorrent which skews 64% male, with 40% of users aged 16-34. But 57% of BitTorrent’s users are 25-54, the film’s target demo. And BitTorrent has 170 million users according to the company. On that scale the potential reach is huge. “The average Youtube movie trailer hits tens of thousands of views in a few weeks”, says BitTorrent’s Christian Averill. “We should hit that number in downloads of the Arthur Newman content in a matter of hours”. Using BitTorrent’s “Bundle” protocol, the promotion will make available the film’s trailer and images and link to the film’s media campaign including VOD and online ticketing. BitTorrent is currently in discussions with major Hollywood studios on several other high profile summer films. But BitTorrent‘s VP of Marketing Matt Mason tells Deadline the longer-term plan is to build a direct-to-fan initiative for creators to share and monetize their own content, developing within the next 12 months.

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MIPTV Roundup: Content Vs. Pipes, The UK’s Tax Credit, Spanish Formats & China Buyers

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Friday, 12 April 2013 19:59 UKTags: BBC, Endemol, MIPTV, YouTube

Along with an emphasis on cross-border series, among the takeaways from this week’s Mip-TV market was the increased merging of technology and content. Of the 4,000 acquisition execs in town, 800 were VOD and digital buyers – a 30% jump on last year. Cinedigm did a digital/VOD deal for more than 1,000 episodes of TV shows from Australia’s ABC which CEO Chris McGurk said reflected the “ever-growing importance of efficient, cost-effective delivery of digital content worldwide.”

YouTube was part of the discussion. Tim Hincks, president of Dutch giant Endemol, which has over 100 YouTube channels, said the company will soon launch a new Fear Factor channel, effectively reviving the brand in the U.S. But he stressed that “It’s not how much you’ve got, it’s what you do with them. It’s tying them together and marketing to the consumers and YouTubers on the different channels.”

But BSkyB managing director of content, Sophie Turner Lang, urged attendees to “Talk about the shows, not the pipes.” It’s storytelling that engages audiences, she said, noting that creative meetings have reversed from mostly being about story and talent to being about “protection and digital delivery.” Read More »

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