By Jenna Wortham EmailOctober 22, 2008 | 12:22:00 AMCategories: DIY, Movies, Web/Tech
Picture_6 Is the web destined to become the new go-to venue for must-see indie flicks?
That's what former Miramax and IFC executive Mark Lipsky is banking on with his latest venture, Gigantic, a digital screening room that will showcase independent feature films.
"I honestly don't know if we have the right leverage or the right product yet," Lipsky told Variety. "But everybody is going to be doing this soon. This is the way things are headed. And the upside if this works is limitless."
Gigantic lifted the velvet rope this week with two films: animated, adult-themed fable Year of the Fish (pictured) and a mockumentary about the New York party scene called The Doorman.
The web is steadily picking up speed as a viable distribution outlet to successfully debut indie films.
Guerrilla filmmaker Michael Moore successfully used video platform BlipTV as a launch pad for his film Slacker Uprising; Hulu recently debuted Crawford, a documentary about President Bush's hometown. Even YouTube got into the fray this week by unveiling its first full-length feature, Princess of Nebraska.
But where the feature films on Hulu, YouTube and BlipTV streamed for free, Gigantic is relying on a pay-for-play model: Viewers pay $3 for three days of unlimited plays of the movies in its catalog, which currently consists of just the two mentioned above.
Unlike Netflix, which offers streaming versions of certain films to subscribers, Gigantic may not yet have the library and big name underground titles to draw viewers. Still, with movie prices potentially on the verge of a price hike, moviegoers might be planning more nights in with their computers.
