Vimeo is providing filmmakers with movies at the Toronto International Film Festival the opportunity to have their films viewed by larger audiences through online streaming. Vimeo is offering a $10,000 advance to filmmakers who agree to feature their movies exclusively on the site for 30 days. With consumers increasingly turning to their mobile devices for viewing movies, the partnership may prove profitable for emerging filmmakers. Continue reading Vimeo Partners with Toronto Film Festival in Streaming Deal

With Labor Day the traditional end of summer, pundits survey the uneven landscape of a fickle summer. Disappointing openings and steep weekend-to-weekend drop-offs jarred execs and provided fodder for commentary and soul-searching. It may be easy to find irony in the titles of two financially successful movies — the low-budget “The Purge” and “This Is The End,” which spoofed the end of the world against a backdrop of contemporary Hollywood — to suggest that this summer truly marks the end for movies. But that would only happen if there were a total failure to recognize emerging trends, acknowledge this is not the first time Hollywood has faced a changing market and apply new ideas to shape the future. Continue reading EXCLUSIVE: Looking Beyond Summer Box Office as Trends Emerge

The AMC movie chain filed an IPO last Friday. Through its filing, the company reveals new plans to deal with ticket sales declines. AMC plans to develop its food concessions by expanding its alcohol and food service to more theaters. It also plans to offer assigned seating. The company was purchased by the Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group for $2.6 billion, and AMC had a $41.1 million profit on $2.69 billion in revenue ending on June 30. Continue reading AMC Theaters Bring Changes to the Movie Going Experience

Book publisher Penguin Random House has announced its media diversification with planned film and television projects, an effort that first began when Random House created a movie unit. The company hopes that this expansion will help generate revenue and promote its authors. The company’s first TV co-production, “Heartland Table,” will debut September 14 on the Food Network and star chef Amy Thielen, whose new book will be released shortly after. Continue reading Publishing Giant Expands into Film and Television Projects

Last week, the MPAA rejected findings of a European study that suggests the shutdown of piracy site Megaupload damaged revenues for theatrical films other than blockbusters. Megaupload was shut down by the FBI in January 2012. While researchers at Carnegie Mellon found that the shutdown boosted legitimate digital sales of movies, a new study from Ludwig Maximilians University Munich and Copenhagen Business School argues that anti-piracy measures may have unintended consequences for different kinds of movies. Continue reading Megaupload Shutdown: MPAA Rejects Findings of Piracy Study

As a standalone app for iOS and Android, Peel has been working toward becoming the next-generation TV remote control. The second screen remote control app allows users to discover and access TV shows and movies from their tablets and phones. Due largely to recent partnerships with mobile device manufacturers, Peel has been gaining momentum, growing from 1 million registered users in Q1 of 2012 to nearly 26 million registered users today. Continue reading Tune-In: Peel Wants to Become the World’s Next-Gen TV Remote

In a major victory for the Motion Picture Association of America and its member studios, a Florida federal judge has ruled that Hotfile is liable for copyright infringement. According to the MPAA, the decision marks the first time a U.S. court has ruled against a cyberlocker regarding copyright infringement. Hotfile is one of the most popular cyberlockers and of the largest scale, but its claims of safe harbor from copyright liability and no indirect liability of its users failed. Continue reading MPAA Wins Lawsuit Against Hotfile for Copyright Violations

I recently spent an hour with Richard Raddon, co-founder of ZEFR (formerly MovieClips), a Venice, California company that is “connecting fans and franchises for the good of all.” MovieClips was co-founded by Raddon and Zach James about three years ago. The company developed proprietary technology that allowed them to identify content on YouTube. When MovieClips became ZEFR, it shifted its focus to help studios, sports, TV and music videos collect and monetize postings on YouTube. Continue reading ZEFR Helps Content Creators Reach Their Hidden Audience

Online movie ticket service Fandango has entered an agreement to purchase Quantum Loyalty Solutions, a competitor that runs the popular Hollywood Movie Money gift certificate system. Studios often use Hollywood Movie Money to promote DVD and Blu-ray releases with tickets to theatrical releases. Fandango, which has been working on its own voucher system, generates revenue by processing online ticket sales and selling advertising on its site. Continue reading Fandango to Acquire Hollywood Movie Money in Quantum Deal

French video game developer Ubisoft is pushing for a more interactive television experience, one in which viewers have more control over what happens, similar to the control players have with games. As a new generation of game consoles get ready to hit the market, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot hopes to join forces with Hollywood to help make this happen. Game developers say consumers have a growing appetite for new entertainment experiences. Continue reading Ubisoft CEO Envisions New Wave of Interactive Entertainment

Now that Barnes & Noble is getting out of the tablet business, the company announced it is launching free Nook Video Apps for Android, iOS and Roku devices. The new apps enable users to purchase or rent movies for streaming and includes integration with individuals’ UltraViolet collections. No longer keeping content exclusive to Nook devices, the retailer has also updated its Android and iOS e-reader apps with the ability to read Nook Comics titles, previously not available outside of the Nook ecosystem. Continue reading Nook Video Apps Now Available for iPad and Android Tablets

Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Foundation (WCF) has been restoring rare films since 2007. The public will benefit from these efforts when eight of the rescued films will be made available for the first time in the U.S. on Hulu, in a partnership with the Criterion Collection. The films will initially be offered for free with ads. After August 24, commercial-free WCF movies (and more than 800 Criterion titles) will be available only to paying Hulu Plus subscribers. Continue reading World Cinema Foundation Unveils Restored Films on Hulu Plus

Los Angeles-based startup Hive Lighting has developed energy-saving plasma lights intended to make film and television production more energy efficient and environmentally friendly. Although Hollywood has launched initiatives in recent years to make the industry more green, it has been a challenge transitioning to productions that use less energy and minimize pollution. Hive’s plasma solution can potentially lower on set energy usage by 50 percent and power costs by 40 percent. Continue reading Hollywood Going Green with New Energy Saving Plasma Lights

Two San Diego startups, Verance Corporation and PirateEye, have developed technologies to prevent and reduce media piracy. PirateEye uses cameras in theaters to scan for illegal recording, while Verance uses an audio watermark to determine if a video on a Blu-ray player is legitimate, and gives purchase options if the disc being played is a pirated version. Both Verance and PirateEye have received funding from film studios for their projects. Continue reading Startups Use Spy Cameras and Audio Tech to Stop Film Piracy

Facebook recently announced two new features for its mobile Web and iOS and Android mobile apps that will allow users to book restaurants and access TV and movie listings without ever leaving the world of Facebook. These features could help the social network compete with services offered by the likes of Fandango, Yelp and GroupOn. Ultimately, by influencing offline spending, Facebook hopes to generate more revenue and draw more advertisers. Continue reading Facebook Launches New Features to Influence Offline Spending