On Demand Summit: RADiUS Duo Charts VOD Grow, Urges Wider Data Sharing

New York -- Tom Quinn and Jason Janego, copresidents of the Weinstein Co.s RADiUS multiplatform label, leavened a serious business discussion at the On Demand Summit with an intoxicating blast from the French Riviera.

The pair touted upcoming Cannes competition entry Only God Forgives. After showing the ultra-stylized trailer for the reteaming of Ryan Gosling and his Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn, they talked about the strategy behind its premiere in two weeks in Cannes and its day-and-date release in July.

VOD more adequately serves this film than launching it on 5,000 prints, Quinn said. I cant keep up with the demand for this film with old-fangled prints. But in the multiplatform world, I can reach 85 million consumers, and theatrically I can still have a robust release for people who want to see it that way.

Success on simultaneous platforms, widely considered impossible as few as three years ago, is now an attainable goal. During the keynote, moderated by Multichannel News editor-in-chief Mark Robichaux, Quinn and Janego explained how hits like the Will Ferrell-produced Sundance pickup Bachelorette last summer and Aaron Eckhart revenge thriller Erased this spring have shown the viability of day-and-date.

The No. 1 thing is picking the right movie, Quinn said of the task of managing the companys slate of 18 films a year. Picking the right season and release date is also key. With Bachelorette, we launched in August. It turns out thats a great time of year to launch a VOD because everybodys away but they still want to watch movies.

While RADiUS and the entire on-demand world have made big strides, Janego and Quinn both said more data needs to be released and promoted, as it is with theatrical releases and TV ratings. In the 70s, studios were complaining that they were being forced to release box office data on Sundays and Mondays and then they realized, Oh, wait a minute, this is a huge marketing tool. Theres no reason we shouldnt be thinking the same way in the VOD space.

Rentrak, a leading tracker of VOD transactions from many top providers, is still developing a more comprehensive data offering that would fold in digital stats from iTunes, Amazon and game consoles.

Were only scratching the surface, Janego said. Of the total number of homes that providers reach, only a small percentage of those are actually consuming movies on demand. That means there is a huge audience that we havent even touched yet. This market will only expand. This audience isnt going to shrink.

LINK:	http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/493340-On_Demand_Summit_RADiU...
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