The Digital Cinema Distribution Coalition has announced that longtime film industry veteran Howard Kiedaisch will take the reigns as CEO, effective July 7. Kiedaisch succeeds Randolph “Randy” Blotky, who is stepping down as CEO.
A new digital platform with the working title Cinnovate has secured € 380.000 funding through the European Union programme Cinemas as Innovation Hubs for Local Communities. The effort’s partners include four of Europe’s leading arthouse cinema networks – Folkets Hus och Parker, Folkets Bio (both from Sweden), Access Cinema (Ireland) and Art kino mreža Slovenije (Slowenia) – that together count 308 screens in three territories and will be coordinated by Cologne-based video-on-demand and digital distribution experts Rushlake Media and independent consultant Jan Runge. Additional content and network partners are the Event Cinema Association (United Kingdom), Spielfabrique (Germany) and IMZ International Music + Media Centre (Austria).
The social cinema platform Kinema has launched following a $2 million seed funding round backed by key investors, including Kindred Ventures, Lupa System, Galaxy Interactive and I2BF Global Ventures. According to the company, the Kinema platform expands the film marketing and distribution industry by enabling a social and immersive cinema experience. With the goal of eliminating ‘theater deserts’ and expanding access to engaging film, Kinema is building a world-wide network of screening hosts, filmmakers and filmgoers.
MacGillivray Freeman Films has announced a partnership with MetaMedia to bring educational films to conventional commercial theatres and drive-ins across the U.S. and Canada for educational and group screenings. A number of MacGillivray Freeman’s films will be shown at theatres throughout North America, including Into America’s Wild, America’s Musical Journey and Great Bear Rainforest, among others.
As director of distribution at Picturehouse Entertainment Marc Allenby helped bring the Metropolitan Opera and Bolshoi Ballet to cinemas in the UK and launched both NTLive and RSC Live. In 2017 he helped facilitate the management buyout that re-established the company with its experienced team as Trafalgar Releasing, where today he is CEO. In 2018 he established offices in the United States, a move he sees as “a vital part of the companies’ future plans and growth.” Headquartered in London, Trafalgar Releasing today also has offices in New York and Denver. Before the pandemic the company experienced significant growth and won numerous accolades including most recently the largest ever event cinema release with BTS’ Burn the Stage: The Movie. Despite the pandemic Trafalgar was moderately successful in 2020.
Deluxe has acquired Sony New Media Solutions, a subsidiary of Sony Electronics. Sony NMS provides a wide array of media platform services to many leading global media companies including Sony Pictures Entertainment. Terms of the deal will not be disclosed.
Netflix and Disney+ Hotstar accounted for 50 percent of all streaming video-on-demand subscribers in India in 2020, according to Omdia’s latest 2021 Online Video Market and Consumer Trends Report. Omidia’s principal analyst, TV and online video, consumer Constantinos Papavassilopoulos said, “The online video market of India is steadily growing its foothold in every direction. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the growth rate of an already dynamic and robust OTT market.”
The European Audiovisual Observatory, part of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, has just released an updated edition of the report: The Circulation of European Films in non-national markets – Key figures 2019. The study, authored by Patrizia Simone, film analyst in the Observatory’s department for market information, looks at the volume and theatrical performance of European films in non-national markets, that is, theatrical film exports.
Specialist audiovisual translation firm IT Pros Subtitles has invested in the Next-TT localization platform to manage and organize its expanding remote workflow infrastructure. Next-TT enables IT Pros to manage teams of freelance translators, and offers remote access to SubtitleNext’s proprietary tools, technologies, and delivery capabilities.
Cinenso has launched the Cinenso Channel, a secure platform, with multi-digital rights management, and payment infrastructure and storage at a nominal cost for global programmers of independent film content, from short films to niche genre films. It will enable curators – including scholars, rights holders and programmers – to create channels for film screenings, discussions, and archival content.
