Article on ZDNet/CNet

GreenCine was featured in an article entitled "DVD upstarts carve out niche businesses," by John Borland, on ZDNet today.

The piece includes the following GreenCine-related tidbits:

"We see ourselves as more of a supplemental service in the DVD rental field," said Craig Phillips, one of the company's editors. "Diversification seems to be a key, as well as being creative. We're really filling in gaps that aren't catered to by Netflix or the other big services."

...

The most successful DVD upstarts have focused as much on community as on content, however.

Greencine's catalog cuts across a handful of niches, ranging from anime to early Japanese to Italian horror. It maintains a large catalog of adult films, and Phillips said these account for a considerable, but not dominant portion of its business.

But the company drives much of its traffic through blogs and newsletters written by its staff of editors. On virtually every page are links to lists of favorite films created by users, which the company says has helped create a critical sense of participation by subscribers.

"People feel like there is someone behind the curtain," Phillips said. "People can be part of a film community instead of just someone renting from a big faceless corporation."

...

Several are already toying with the video-on-demand services rumored to be coming from Netflix and others. Greencine offers thousands of on-demand movies through its Web site and plans to move more heavily in that direction during the next year, Phillips said. Many of the early titles were adult movies--largely because their copyright owners proved quickly amenable to the on-demand model--but the catalog is now being expanded with independent and foreign films.