Evaluating a Digital Distributor or Aggregator

Evaluating a Digital Distributor

or Aggregator

CINEMAflix E-NEWS

UPDATE * NEWS BRIEFS * COMMENTARY * FILM EXCHANGE

"Genius begins great works; labor alone finishes them."---Samuel Gompers

UPDATE

Filmmakers who want to thrive in today's marketplace must work to get their films listed on the major digital platforms like iTunes, Amazon, and Hulu. A listing on such platforms offers huge possibilities: (1) The film can be accessed in almost every major country in the world, (2) Once listed it can remain on the platforms for a long period of time, maybe even months, and (3) Income from streaming can be steady and substantial.

The agonizing question is what company do you choose to submit your film to these digital platforms? Who is going to be your aggregator?

The answer is simple: use this checklist and compare services:

1. Is there an up-front cost?

2. Is there a charge for encoding and doing the QC (Quality Control)?

3. What are the digital outlets and cable stations being offered?

4. What percentage is the distributor keeping as a fee?

5. Are there deductions for expenses and overhead?

Our CINEMAflix DIRECT Program offers one of the best deals for filmmakers interested in getting their films on these platforms. For a flat fee of $950.00, we'll encode the film, do the Quality Control (QC), compile the package, and submit it to the major digital platforms like iTunes, Amazon, Hulu, Fandango Now, Google, Sony, Vudu, TubiTV, Hoopla, and more platforms as they become available. Check out our website, www.cinemaflixdirect.com, for details. Or contact me directly at 1-212-628-4990 or [email protected].

NEWS BRIEFS:

Content is a growing slice of Apple's pie. A little more than 80% of Apple's total revenues have come from hardware sales like iPhones, iPads, and Macs. But content is Apple's fastest-growing segment.---Jan Dawson, Variety.com.

Two upcoming Hollywood movies, RED SPARROW and KURSK, are deleting references to Vladimir Putin. The reason is a fear of hacking.---Richard Morgan, New York Post.

Disney, the world's largest entertainment company, is starting two online streaming services to offer its sports, movies, and television programming directly to consumers. It's a broadside against distributors like the cable providers and Netflix.---Erich Schwartzel and Joe Flint,

The Wall Street Journal.

WILL ROGERS QUOTES

They are so apt today in our highly politicized country:

"The taxpayers are sending Congressman on expensive trips abroad. It might be worth it except they keep coming back." ..."I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts." ..."The only difference between death and taxes is that death doesn't get worse every time Congress meets." ..."The short memories of American voters is what keeps our politicians in office." ..."The income tax has made liars out of more American than golf." ..."Never miss a good chance to shut up." ..."If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is to stop digging." ..."Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying for." ..."Good judgement comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgement."

FILM EXCHANGE:

I'm losing track of the hundreds of streaming services that are now being offered. Although most viewers (me included) subscribe to Netflix and Amazon Prime, I've added MHz solely because it offers an outstanding series, A FRENCH VILLAGE. It ran for six seasons in France so you've got 42 shows you can watch. It's about the complex arrangement in France during the Nazi occupation. The country was split in two: occupied France to the North and semi-autonomous Vichy France in the South. It tore apart families and produced collaborators, many of them executed after the war. It's a series that will be riveting from the beginning to the end.