It seems like only yesterday since straight-to-video was the best option for indie film makers to get their stuff seen. Because putting a film in front of an audience is no small task when the cinema doors are closed to you (thank you very much, Roland Reagan). As physical media breathes its last, those options for small, independent crews are further shrinking.
In an effort to bring their new film to the meat, production company Reels in Motion is distributing its new comic book-based movie Pulp entirely via the Xbox 360 console’s Live service. This marks the first time a film has opted for an entirely digital distribution, foregoing a box office release and DVD or disk-based production.
“Theatrical distribution, nowadays, costs on average about £2 million per movie for marketing, prints and advertising,” Pulp director Adam Hamdy tells the BBC. “[Xbox Live] is a great fit. The film is really well aligned with our audience.” The movie is available for download through the console from today, priced at 1180 points for the standard definition (around $15, £10 or €14), or 1420 points ($20, £13.50, €18.50) for the HD version.
Console distribution has proven to be very successful for other indie entertainment projects, such as The Guild, which also chose to take its web series to Xbox Live rather than traditional broadcast channels. And with the global roll out of 4G cellular data, streaming content such as movies to secondary screens is becoming an increasingly practical and attractive option, and offers much more targeted and willing audience access than a DVD release.
Would you be interested in receiving a new film release via your smartphone or tablet, rather than going to the popcorn factory? Tell us all about it in the comments section below.
