Posts Tagged ‘Lionsgate’

Netflix and Relativity Media have made a deal that will allow the video-rental giant to stream up to 30 of the studio’s films during the “traditional pay-TV distribution window.” Netflix has deals with all major studios that allows them to stream online a certain amount of those studios’ films, however up until now only Disney and Sony were allowing the streaming of their movies during this period.

The deal will begin with only the 10-12 films that Relativity will release over the next year (their typical output) but Netflix will be able to max out at 30 over the next five years. Both companies have stated that they believe this deal will be the beginning of a different age of distribution, away from pay-TV channels.

“Our continued goal is to expand the breadth and timeliness of films and TV shows

Netflix's streaming rights continue to grow, which will possibly help smaller studios gain better exposure

available to stream on Netflix,” Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos said.

“We have always been about finding new ways to grow and monetize our business,” Relativity chief Ryan Kavanaugh said. “This clearly is a natural step in the evolution of the movie business and opens up a whole new world of revenue and marketing opportunities.”

Source: Hollywood Reporter

Quick Opinion: That Netflix is now making streaming deals with non-major Hollywood studios should be encouraging for those who are excited about the idea of “big” Hollywood not having as big a monopoly on exposure. With more streaming movies being from smaller (but not small) production and distribution studios the greater leverage they have in making distribution deals with those bigger companies. The more people see your films – and the more evidence you have that they do – gives you more creative authority because there is less reason to bend over backwards to appease a big distributor’s standards. One easy example to cite is how Disney doesn’t tell Pixar how to make their films, they simply get a cut of the profits for distribution. What this all could do is open up an opportunity for production studios like Relativity (Lionsgate, Focus Features, Rogue Pictures, etc.), who prefer to create movies for peripheral audiences.

Oscar winning director Martin Scorsese

It was announced today that director Martin Scorsese will be the recipient of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s Cecil B. DeMille Award for his outstanding contributions to the field of entertainment at the 67th annual Golden Globes on January 17th. He joins a list of fellow recipients that includes the likes of fellow director Steven Spielberg, Warren Beaty, and Anthony Hopkins.

Source: Variety

In Other News…

Vice chairman of Lionsgate Michael Burns has officially announced plans to make a Saw 7, which will reportedly be shot in 3-D. The news comes shortly after Saw VI concluded a relatively unsuccessful box-office run (making less than $23 million), even though it landed Lionsgate in the black.

“As long as we make money on it we’ll keep doing this,” Burns said, pointing out that such franchises tend to have a long shelf life across different platforms. “Dirty Dancing,” he pointed out, still sells 2,000 DVDs a day for the company, and that’s after 20 years. – The Hollywood Reporter

[The rest of this full article also details Lionsgate's plans to push other brands under its control, such as the critically acclaimed Precious and various Tyler Perry projects.]

Source: The Hollywood Reporter