As you probably know the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival wrapped up a few days ago, and you can find the list of winning films at many film websites. I’ve been keeping my eye on the TIFF YouTube channel, which would make a good model for how to use online video for a festival with an educational mission like the Wisconsin Film Festival.
I’ve found two videos particularly useful and helpful for those who want to understand what does and doesn’t come to Madison theaters. The first panel, “Industry Dialogues: Day-and-Date Release Models,” specifically discusses the simultaneous release to theaters and video-on-demand platforms. The success of Snowpiercer using day-and-date has prompted distributors to take a second look at the model, which has affected whether films like Frank (with Michael Fassbinder) will come to Madison theaters (answer: it won’t now, despite initial interest at Sundance Cinemas).
The second video is “Bob Berney: State of Distribution,” which features a 30 minute overview of the state of the distribution industry by Bob Berney, the founder and CEO of Picturehouse.