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 can't 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 company's 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 that's a great time of year to launch a VOD because
everybody's 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.' There's no reason we shouldn't 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.
"We're
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 haven't even touched
yet. This market will only expand. This audience isn't going to shrink."
