Major news rocked the documentary film world last week when Ted Leonsis, co-founder of AOL and, more recently, a documentary producer whose films include NANKING and KICKING IT, simultaneously announced the launch of SnagFilms, a new online distribution platform dedicated to documentary film, as well as SnagFilms' acquisition of indieWIRE, the essential online news resource about independent film and filmmaking. Eugene Hernandez, editor-in-chief of indieWIRE since its inception 12 years ago, remains at the helm of indieWIRE, reportedly with complete editorial freedom from his new masters. SnagFilms replaced AOL TrueStories, which went dark with the launch of the new service.
Last Wednesday, SnagFilms execs Stephanie Sharis and Andrew Mer described the service as a way to get documentary films to consumers via "over a million virtual movie theatres". The service, by which one can watch feature length documentaries for free via a downloadable widget, launches with a library of several hundred films - perhaps the most famous of which are Morgan Spurlock's SUPER SIZE ME and Ondi Timoner's DIG!, but which also includes such noted films as SUMMERCAMP!, CAN MR. SMITH GET TO WASHINGTON ANYMORE?, BLACK WHITE + GREY, WHAT WOULD JESUS BUY?, OFF THE GRID and HEAVY METAL IN BAGHDAD SnagFilms' reported goal is to grow the library substantially in the first year.
According to two people familiar with SnagFilms' deals, filmmakers receive money based on how many ads are viewed in the course of watching a film. Ads are sprinkled throughout a film, with each representing a new payment for a filmmaker. Watch an entire film and the filmmaker gets the maximum payment, which one person pegged at just over a dollar.
The advertising is likely necessary to make the films available for free. Still, it doesn't make it any less surprising to happen upon plugs for Oreo Cookie Bites and Ritz Crackers in the midst of SUPER SIZE ME or WHAT WOULD JESUS BUY?
According to Sharis and Mer, no original content is planned for the site, at least during the first year, with SnagFilms focusing on acquisitions of completed films. Expect to see Sharis and Mer upping the company's profile at film festivals this summer and fall (Mer will be attending BritDoc in Oxford next week).
While Leonsis' dive into the indie film waters has been rumored since late last year - he had expressed dissatisfaction with THINKFilm's handling of NANKING and by last December had called for new distribution opportunities for nonfiction:
"Mr. Leonsis seemed dissatisfied with the current distribution models for documentary films, and sobered by his experience with Sundance. Of the 3,287 films submitted to the festival in 2007, he noted, only 64 were accepted for competition, and only 16 were American-made documentaries, roughly a dozen of which would receive any kind of theatrical release. Yet, he said, there are dozens of theatrical distributors, cable channels and DVD companies looking for nonfiction films and a potential audience of millions to watch them on the Internet. “When you see a bottleneck like that,” he said, “you see a real opportunity.”
Mr. Leonsis declined to elaborate on his own plans, but suggested that a confluence of Internet technology and advertising dollars might soon allow for documentaries to be seen by wider audiences outside traditional theaters and DVDs. “There’s $30 billion of advertising in search revenue, and they want to put it into YouTube videos, so you know there’s going to be some breakout things here,” he said."
Similarly, indieWIRE had been quietly looking for a new buyer for nearly as long. Still, the marriage of the top indie film website with an active distribution portal surprised many indie film watchers. Of chief concern to many was indieWIRE's independence, but according to an article co-written by Anne Thompson in Variety, Eugene Hernandez insisted that his editorial autonomy be written into the deal. Hernandez also become VP in charge of editorial content for SnagFilms.
In one of the first fruits of the union, indieWIRE co-founder Mark "The Rabbi" Rabinowitz launched Docsider, a new blog dedicated to coverage of documentaries, just as both deals were announced. (Full disclosure, I am friends with folks on both sides of this deal and have written for indieWIRE in the past. Indiepix, which sponsors this blog's festival coverage and is a partner in the Cinema Eye Honors, is one of several production/distribution companies to allow their films to screen on SnagFilms.)
Sharis and Mer told me that the current upheavals in indie film and the dwindling options for nonfiction filmmakers were essential to Leonsis' desire to launch SnagFilms, which he founded and funded personally, despite the new company being a succession of AOL TrueStories and receiving backing from fellow AOL co-founder Steve Case.
"Really, what Ted found when he was amongst documentary filmmakers at Sundance was that the statistics (of films being produced) was staggering," Sharis and Mer said. "The number for production was going up and the number for distribution was going down. He wanted to address that bottleneck."
Each film on the SnagFilms website has its own webpage, which will allow viewers to purchse a DVD and may ultimately feature original content via indieWIRE, one element of the deal that seems to still be in the planning stages.
Driven by Leonsis' view that documentary can be a powerful tool for social justice causes, there will also be a way for viewers to donate money to a cause. While ultimately SnagFilms hopes to be able to direct funds toward a specific cause or organization featured in a film, it launches with a single philanthropic partner, Global Giving.
More background:
indieWIRE announces the deal
indieWIRE's Letter to Readers
Eugene Hernandez talks with Ted Leonsis
Hollywood Reporter on the news
A note from your blogger: The acquisition of indieWIRE by a doc-centered entity and the launch of said doc-centered entity will, of course, prompt a variety of thoughts from these corners. For personal thoughts on this week's big news, go here.
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