NATO’s Official Statement: (Washington, D.C. and North Hollywood, California) Recently there have been various reports in the media regarding a proposed movie release model called “The Screening Room”. Within a few days of the first report, several different high profile movie directors publicly stated their support for the model, some claiming that the model is… Read more »
My latest column for Boxoffice. Many industry analysts noted exhibition’s oft-stated resistance to simultaneous release, pointing to the DirecTV early premium video-on-demand plan in 2011 and the canceled Tower Heist plan to offer the movie on VOD three weeks after its theatrical debut for $59.99. Several major exhibition companies announced that they would not play the movie… Read more »
My latest in Boxoffice Pro on Netflix and simultaneous theatrical release: The entire argument for simultaneous release is founded on bad faith, shoddy data, and mysterious bookkeeping. John Sloss made waves in the industry with his call for transparency in the reporting of VOD revenues. It’s long past time for that call to be heeded. Netflix… Read more »
Patrick Goldstein says it is in the L.A. Times. The only question for him seems to be how big of a flop. The headline for his post gives you some idea: “Is DirecTV’s $30 movie rental test a flop of ‘Ishtar’-like proportions?” Yikes. Why he thinks it flopped mirrors NATO’s thinking on the issue precisely:… Read more »
Twenty-three prominent directors and producers signed an open letter calling on the four studios involved in the early “premium video on demand” offering from DirecTV. The Hollywood Reporter covers it. One of the letter’s signers, former Fox studio chief Bill Mechanic, speaks at length with David Poland of Movie City News about the value of… Read more »