June 13, 2008
DVD Panache Interviews GreenCine's David Hudson
DVD Panache came up with a fun Q&A to get to know our own David Hudson, venerable (some would say, indestructible, but we don't want to jinx him) editor of the GreenCine Daily blog and many a fine article on the main GreenCine.com site. Read on:
FRIDAY SCREEN TEST: David Hudson
If you've ever spent any time at GreenCine Daily, then you know the name is misleading: it should be titled GreenCine 24/7 or GreenCine Perpetua if you want to sound smarter. The site, "joined at the hip" with GreenCine, is a constantly-updated snapshot of the movie world and the words that describe it. The ringleader is Berlin-based David Hudson, who keeps a hundred fingers on the pulse of the net's film circles and reports his findings back to GreenCine Daily. Thanks to David, every day you have an endless gateway to film information and writings, and you never doubt that he's leading you in the right direction.
EARLIEST MOVIE-WATCHING MEMORY: 'I'm guessing it'd be Mary Poppins. I don't know if I saw it during its initial run (I would have been five years old when it was released in August 1964), but I do remember that it was an event. I had some sort of tiny plastic model of Mary Poppins, umbrella aloft, that would rise and fall when you put it in a glass of water, thanks to some fizzy stuff in there. What I do remember is this: A teacher mentioned in class (kindergarten, maybe?; then again, movies would run forever back then) that the kids had to run up the stairs to the bank (or *down* the stairs *from* the bank?; hey, it's been decades) over and over again before they got it right. And it was a revelation to me, my first inkling of what it took to make a movie. They (whoever "they" were) don't just point a camera, shoot and move on. Evidently, this whole movie-making thing was hard work.'
Read on for the rest of the DVD Panache Friday Screen Test with David Hudson >>
Posted by cphillips at 12:24 PM
March 12, 2008
TakePart takes a liking to GreenCine
TakePart's Gina Telaroli was kind enough to include our GreenCine Daily blog in her list of the Top Ten Film Blogs -- in fact, we're #1! And some kind words about our main DVD rental service, too.
1. GreenCine Daily : http://daily.greencine.com/
A great blog about indie cinema, classic cinema, foreign cinema etc… They are always covering the latest festival and films that aren’t always in the mainstream. More than that, they have reviews, interviews, previews and lots of good old regular views on films, directors and all the other folks who help to bring us great cinema. Give a read and also be sure to check out their sister site, http://greencine.com - an awesome online rental service.
Posted by cphillips at 3:33 PM
February 26, 2008
Shout out from Open Culture
Thanks to Open Culture for this swell shout-out:
The Best Place on the Web for Film Junkies
| Category: Film | |
Some of you may know GreenCine as a highbrow video-rental company, one that serves as an alternative to Netflix and Blockbuster. But the best thing about Greencine is its blog, maintained by David Hudson and updated several times a day. A thoughful and unpretentious collection of reviews, interviews, festivals and other worthwhile online film discussions, refreshingly free of snark or invasive opinionating. Think of it as a very, very smart aggregator. This particular cineaste makes it as her homepage.
Posted by cphillips at 3:04 PM
January 10, 2008
GreenCine Gets Some Love from Salon.com
Beyond the Multiplex
By Andrew O'Hehir
Jan. 10, 2008 | When I posted my lovingly crafted year-end article about the state of the indie-film business a couple of weeks ago, several of you wrote in -- in the loveliest possible way -- to point out that I was a mainstream media hack who had missed a major element of the story. Well, that may be true, but you know what? It's hard out here for a pimp.
Readers observed that the people in the movie biz whom I interviewed indulged in a lot of bellyaching about how "specialty films" are moving gradually but inevitably out of the theaters toward some not-yet-specified home-delivery mechanism. There was a lot of talk about IFC's move toward video-on-demand as its primary mode for distributing art-house films, but none of my interviewees even mentioned the more old-fashioned elephant in the room. "Have you heard about this revolutionary new service called Netflix?" one reader inquired. Hmm, I don't know; do I detect a note of sarcasm there?
This acerbic commentary points out a real phenomenon: Everybody in and around the film business knows that Netflix and its competitors have altered the behavior of film buffs, perhaps fundamentally. But most of us are so deluged with movie screenings and DVDs that we don't often use those services, so we don't experience the change at a personal level. (In addition to the mainstream rivals of Netflix, like Intelliflix and Blockbuster, let me nudge you toward Chicago's Facets Multi Media and San Francisco's GreenCine, probably the two best online sources for renting independent films, foreign films and art-house classics. Other faves? Let me know.)
Posted by cphillips at 12:05 PM
June 11, 2007
GreenCine's David Hudson interviewed for Cinematical podcast
The Rocchi Review -- with Special Guest David Hudson of GreenCine Daily!
How much is too much when it comes to online film journalism? Even with your RSS reader and constant connectivity, how do you find new stories and voices? What do readers really want? And is the general public even aware there's actually smart, engaging writing about film on-line? This edition of The Rocchi Review features a guest who's thought about all these topics and more -- David Hudson, the man behind the must-visit news and review roundup GreenCine Daily. David and I talk about these topics and much more - from what films are so big you can ignore them to the fierce fight for eyeballs in an overloaded age. You can download the entire podcast right here -- and we hope you enjoy.
Posted by cphillips at 2:25 PM
June 7, 2007
GreenCine Daily Small Business Blog of the Day (a year ago).
Don't know why it took us so long to come across Brian Brown's nice shout-out to our blog GreenCine Daily, but better late than never.
Green Cine Daily: Small Business Blog of the Day
by Brian Brown
If you like watching movies, and independent film in particular, there is one website that will quickly jump to your top ten list and that website is a blog. Today's blog is the best example I've see yet of a company who decided to blog about their entire industry, and as a result, became the website for that industry. ...Phenomenal. I can't imagine improving this blog, that's how good it is! There are two approaches you can take when creating a small business blog: 1) write a blog that talks about your company, or 2) write a blog that talks about your industry. This is a top example of an industry-focused blog that has been used to affix the company at the top of its niche. The result is the blog commanding absolute authority in their field, in this case resulting in 80,000 visitors a month according to a San Francisco Chronicle article about the company.
Belated thanks from GreenCine, Brian!
Posted by cphillips at 4:27 PM
March 20, 2007
GreenCine in New York Times
Little Films on Little Screens (but Both Seem Set to Grow)
by Noah Robischon
New York Times, March 18, 2007
Excerpt:
GreenCine (greencine.com), the five-year-old grand dame of the online indie film scene, has the quirky documentary “24 Hours on Craigslist� alongside such classics as the 1961 Marlon Brando film “One-Eyed Jacks�...."[GreenCine's] video-on-demand catalog of 12,000 titles is huge compared with the 400 or so movies now available from Apple’s iTunes store."
---
Also see:
The Revolution Will Be Downloaded (if You’re Patient)
By Manhola Dargis
March 18, 2007
Posted by cphillips at 5:30 PM
March 8, 2007
GreenCine's David Hudson Interviewed in Austin Chronicle
GreenCine editor David Hudson, in Austin now for the SXSW festival, is interviewed by the Austin Chronicle's Spencer Hudson on "cyber cinephilia."
"What I try to do at GreenCine Daily (daily.greencine.com) is keep track of it all, to whatever extent that's actually possible," David Hudson tells me via e-mail. "People don't turn to the Daily for insight; they turn to the Daily to see where to turn for insight." For the addicted, it lives up to its billing as a daily destination, and the communities it helps to connect give the lie to rumors you might have heard about the death of serious film writing. On the evidence of what Hudson pulls together, and through his own contributions, it actually becomes clear that cinephilia is alive and well and living on the World Wide Web. Hudson will moderate the panel LonelyGirl15: A Case Study on Sunday, March 11, 11:30am, Austin Convention Center, Room 12AB.
Read the whole interview: New Joy: David Hudson on cyber cinephilia >>
Posted by cphillips at 9:13 AM
February 21, 2007
Delaware Shouts Out GreenCine
We greatly appreciate the GreenCine shout-out from all the way in Delaware, the News-Journal to be precise. (Thanks to Tom Vincent, too!)
Excerpt:
The last time Vincent went to the movies it was for the final installment of the "Star Wars" series.
He says he went at a time when he thought the fewest number of people would be there. When he walked in, he was alone.
But not for long.
A couple soon arrived, sat right behind him and talked throughout the film.
"I just got tired of it," he says.
So he joined the DVD rental service GreenCine.com, deciding against Blockbuster and Netflix. (Blockbuster does not carry unrated films and Netflix has a system in place where heavy users of the service get some of their films slower than casual users.)
GreenCine.com specializes in independent and foreign cinema and that's where Vincent now gets his films. He also downloads films from iTunes and rips video from YouTube onto his computer using an application called iTube.
Posted by cphillips at 5:13 PM
January 11, 2007
GreenCine Mention in SF Chronicle
GreenCine was quoted in an article in the San Francisco Chronicle on exercise videos, which tied in with New Year's resolutions (of course).
WORKING HARD FOR LITTLE MONEY
When exercising to DVDs, try before you buy
Camper English, Special to The Chronicle
Excerpt:
Netflix, GreenCine and Blockbuster each carry dozens to hundreds of workout titles, available for rent by mail without late-return fees. (Members can work on their no-procrastinating resolutions later.) Exercise DVDs are somewhat hidden on these sites, usually filed away under the "Sports and Fitness" category, if they're categorized at all. It's easier to find them by searching for words like "workout" or "yoga" than by scrolling through the endless list of sports documentaries.Perhaps the reason these DVDs don't merit their own category is that they're not very popular. Craig Phillips, an editor at San Francisco's GreenCine.-com, says, "We do have some people who are interested in Pilates and yoga videos, so we do have a variety. They rent pretty well. Any other kind of exercise or fitness videos don't rent very well through us. My general sense is that people would rather own (the DVDs), just as they want to own 'Toy Story' for their kids because their kids want to watch it 500 times."
One thing that was cut out of the above quote is our emphasis on the fact that GreenCine also does sell exercise titles and they're fairly cheap. [Some pilates DVDs for sale; some yoga titles for sale]
Posted by cphillips at 11:50 AM
October 30, 2006
GreenCine mention: Winston-Salem Tech Bytes article
Thanks to the Winston-Salem (NC) Journal for including us in their nice piece on fast ways to see Horror films this Halloween, "Fear Factor: Horror films are a click away":
GreenCine (www.greencine.com) is a subscription service similar to Netflix, offering a mix of mainstream films, arthouse favorites and independent films on DVD. The site has recently moved into "video on demand," streaming video and downloads. Prices vary depending on the film. They include more than 100 horror films.
Read the whole article here.
Posted by cphillips at 11:25 AM
September 12, 2006
Another Variety Article Mentioning GreenCine
Web opens new pic pipelines
Digital download sites offer a number of viewing possibilitiesGreenCine.com may be the real go-to site for independents. GreenCine's VOD service began in 2003 with 12 titles, but today boasts upwards of 12,000, more than CinemaNow and Movielink combined. Many titles were acquired through direct deals with indie filmmakers.The site has been extremely successful selling and renting DVDs from both studio and independent sources, but bringing in studio titles for VOD and digital downloading has been difficult, says head of acquisitions Jonathan Marlow. "Given the contracts offered by the studios," he says, "we'd have to reinvent the whole system for each studio. We'd end up losing money."
Posted by cphillips at 3:13 PM
Variety article on GreenCine
Variety 's Matthew Ross wrote a nice piece on GreenCine, this past Sunday, September 10. Here it is, in its entirety.
GreenCine digs deep
Netco serves serious film loversBy MATTHEW ROSS
Last December, at an Apple Store panel hosted by indieWIRE in Gotham, a group of the film community's most respected indie film bloggers was asked which blog had the best, most relevant content for hardcore cinephiles. The answer was unanimous: GreenCine (daily.greencine.com).
The blog is the brainchild of David Hudson, an American expat who edits the site from his home base in Berlin. "When (New York Times film critic) Manohla Dargis was in Berlin a couple of years ago, she told me she sees the blog as a daily briefing," explains Hudson.
But the blog is only one part of GreenCine's operation.
Since 2002, the San Francisco-based Netco has been offering film fanatics titles they might not be able to find on Netflix or anywhere else. It's also been a pioneer in video-on-demand rentals and is offering a third of its 30,000-film catalog for temporary download.
Earlier this year, GreenCine launched a sell-through service. Filmmakers receive a share of the profits: $1.50 for each rental transaction and $5 for each download.
Co-founder and managing partner Dennis Woo, who started GreenCine as a side project of eLine, another Bay Area technology company, says, "We're known for having a very extensive catalog, including thousands of titles even our behemoth competitors don't touch."
But, he adds, what sets GreenCine apart from the competition is its ongoing connection with serious film lovers: "I don't think Netflix suits would go out into local pubs to host trivia nights and carouse with its members.
"Bigger groups oriented solely toward commerce are less interested in forming bonds with their members and between members; we're looking for ways to interact with them and to guide them better, both on the site and through events."
As a result, GreenCine has a loyal following from its readers, renters and the filmmakers whose work it has distributed.
"My experience with them has been nothing but wonderful -- they have been consistently honest, responsive and farsighted," says helmer Caveh Zahedi, who worked closely with GreenCine to release his early work on DVD. "I only read the blog occasionally -- I'm not a big blog reader -- but whenever I do, I'm always stunned by the depth and breadth of the writing that goes on there. They seem to know everything that is happening."
Posted by cphillips at 2:25 PM
August 28, 2006
Boston Globe Story Features GreenCine
ENTERTAINMENT 2.0
Netflix spawns a mailbox full of imitators
Excerpts below:
"GreenCine focuses on 'auteurist and experimental filmmakers' such as Hal Hartley, Caveh Zahedi, and Craig Baldwin, according to the company's head of business development, Jonathan Marlow. 'We have over 10,000 films that Netflix doesn't carry,' says Marlow. That includes a selection of adult movies offered by a subsidiary service called, appropriately, BlueCine.""Netflix chief executive Reed Hastings has long assumed that the future of media delivery will be digital, but the company hasn't yet unveiled a digital downloading service. In contrast, many of the smaller disc-by-mail companies, like Simply Audiobooks and GreenCine, have started experimenting with download services.
"'The rent-by-mail model is not the model of the future,' says GreenCine's Marlow. His company has made a few thousand movies available for digital rental (with a 10-day rental period ) or permanent ownership in digital form."
Posted by cphillips at 10:10 AM
July 31, 2006
GreenCine Thinks Outside the (mail)Box: Interview for Zoom In
Zoom In has published the interview they conducted with GreenCine's Jonathan Marlow for the Zoom In Online blog.
A conversation with Jonathan Marlow, Director of Content Acquisitions for VOD pioneer GreenCineGreenCine is an online DVD Rent-by-Mail service and independent film distributor, with a large catalog of films available on your website as Video-on-Demand (VOD). In your own words, “GreenCine LLC (www.greencine.com) is the #1 shop and stop for film addicts, featuring one of the largest libraries of independent, international and documentary films in the world and exclusive interviews with the world's most influential filmmakers. GreenCine offers more than 30,000 films for rent through its award-winning DVD Rent-by-Mail service and over 10,000 titles available on-demand from its extensive VOD library from its own site and through its technology partners Akimbo, Google Video and others. Supporting one of the largest film communities on the Internet, www.greencine.com enables members to review and debate their favorite films and connect with other members with similar interests.” Originally appeared in April 2006 in the Zoom In email newsletter
Q. How did GreenCine get started?
A. GreenCine was launched in June 2002, primarily as a DVD Rent-by-Mail service. It was created by as a side-project of eLine, a San Francisco-based technology firm, and co-founded by Dennis Woo, GreenCine's Managing Partner. Our VOD service debuted in September-2003. We will introduce a long-awaited sell-through service in March.
Read the rest here.
Posted by cphillips at 12:32 PM
July 14, 2006
Some love for GreenCine: Sacramento News and Review
Thanks to Jonathan Kiefer for the shout-out for GreenCine in his article in the Sacramento News and Review, "Art House Blues."
But not just Netflix! There’s another video-on-demand and DVD rent-by-mail outfit you should know. San Francisco’s Greencine (www.greencine.com) specializes in the arty, indie, non-corporate stuff, from all over the planet. It’s guaranteed to have a better selection than any brick-and-mortar video store in Sacramento—unfortunately.
Posted by cphillips at 11:38 AM
April 24, 2006
The VOD Trailblazer: An Interview with Jonathan Marlow
Marlow was recently interviewed by Daniel Nemet-Nejat about the secrets of indie film distribution and GreenCine's plans for its VOD service.
GreenCine has cemented itself as a staple of the indie film scene. Its blog, the GreenCine Daily, is required reading. Its VOD service defines itself by offering independent and international cinema that is previously unreleased in the United States. Offering non-exclusive deals to filmmakers, GreenCine provides a cost-efficient ways for indie filmmakers to reach an audience. There are surely more lucrative ways to survive and thrive in world of online distribution, but the folks at GreenCine believe they are fulfilling a purpose by allowing these unique voices to be heard.
Jonathan Marlow, GreenCine’s direct of content acquisitions and business development is, in my humble opinion, one of the more forward thinking dudes, in the biz. He sees online technology as a constant and growing source of opportunity—be it VOD, set top boxes, a VOD/DVD hybrid release—for indie filmmakers to reach audiences. I had the opportunity to pick his brain, appropriately via email, about the future of VOD for indie filmmakers and what lies ahead for GreenCine. Below is the transcript. His comments are untouched. Only my long-winded questions have been mercifully cut down.
There are probably more lucrative ways for GreenCine, but you remain committed to indie films. Where does this sense of mission come from?
We have always championed the work of lesser-known filmmakers. In part, this is a reflection of our own interests. We are simply more attracted to these films than the majority of movies that find their way to the multiplex. There is also a larger strategy at work. With our virtually unlimited shelf-space, we can feature titles that bricks-and-mortar locations are unable to offer. I suspect that it is natural for GreenCine to gravitate to these films versus the movies that are available everywhere. Did we choose the independent route or did it choose us? In a sense, the answer can be found somewhere in-between.
To read the rest of the interview please click here
Posted by clewis at 9:37 AM
April 10, 2006
GreenCine's Video-on-Demand service featured in Zoom In Newsletter
GreenCine's Jonathan Marlow discusses the benefits, history and future of GreenCine's VOD service (as well as some thoughts on the current state and future of the industry) in a recent interview in the Zoom In newsletter.
A quick sample:
Q. Why are DVD rental customers drawn to your site over Netflix, Blockbuster, or Walmart?
A. According to our customers, it is our selection (which, while slightly smaller than some of our competitors, is better focused on our areas of interest- independent, international, documentary, esoterica- and includes thousands of titles not available at other services). They also appreciate our articles, interviews and primers, which allow for the discovery of little-known films. Wal-Mart, furthermore, is no longer in the Rent-by-Mail space – we outlasted them (and about fifty other nascent Rent-by-Mail services).
Q. Do you premiere films on VOD? If so, how have they done?
A. A number of films, after ending their festival life, have surfaced on GreenCine. Generally, they perform quite well; several rank among the best-performing titles that we have. Given that they are unavailable elsewhere, this is not surprising. One of the initial reasons for introducing our Video-on-Demand service was to create a low-risk, low-cost avenue for film distribution, allowing well-known and unknown films to compete equally for the attention of potential viewers. In that way, we quickly increased our selection by offering titles that were not available in any format. This has allowed a number of rights-holders to make their films available without the investment of replicating thousands of DVDs.
Click here to read rest of article
Posted by clewis at 4:37 PM
April 6, 2006
GreenCine mentioned on Roger Ebert's Web site
Jim Emerson, the editor of Roger Ebert’s website (www.rogerebert.com) and an esteemed film writer in his own right, has a mention of GreenCine’s recent interview with David Cronenberg on his blog:
No filmmaker is more intelligent and articulate about his own work, and his creative process, than David Cronenberg, whose "A History of Violence" was one of 2005's best films and one of 2006's top DVDs. I've interviewed him several times (for "Dead Ringers," "Naked Lunch," "Crash") and I always find the experience of talking with him enlightening and inspiring. Some great directors either don't want to, or don't know how to, talk about their work, but not Cronenberg.
David D'Arcy has a typically invigorating interview with him on GreenCine.com, in which Cronenberg examines the various kinds of censorship that spell death for an artist.
Posted by clewis at 10:22 AM
December 16, 2005
indieWIRE digs GreenCine and GreenCine Daily
Check the GreenCine noise at indieWIRE -- LOOKING BACK AT '05: The Year of the (Film) Blogs, With More To Come.
One excerpt:
Lively, intelligent blogs that feature frequently updated, conversational postings about cinema -- as opposed to celebrity gossip -- are flowering. They're trying to create an interlinked community devoted to those passionately interested in film, similar to what the pioneering urban art houses of the 1950s and 1960s did. And if they haven't yet reached the point where they have a measured impact on box office, they're trying.These blogs include, but certainly aren't limited to, film critic and writer Dave Kehr's new blog, online film journal Reverse Shot's Reverse Blog, S.T. VanAirsdale's The Reeler, the Twitch blog, MovieCityNews' MovieCityIndie blog, and GreenCine's Green Cine Daily.
And our David Hudson was quoted as such:
"For the indies, blogs can potentially be much more important for any given film for a variety of reasons, not least of which is that other forms of publicity are relatively so much more expensive yet not necessarily more effective and certainly not as 'targeted'," said Green Cine Daily's David Hudson, in an E-mail."When an indie production has a particularly intriguing or creative personality involved, getting them online and blogging can arouse not just a certain level of buzz but also, if something sparks between them and their readers, a whole core of evangelists for that particular film."
Posted by dwoo at 2:49 PM
December 2, 2005
PowerPage reviews GreenCine.
O'Grady's PowerPage has offered up a nice review of GreenCine, now available for your reading pleasure.
There are two types of people in the internet world; people who don't rent DVDs on-line and hard-core "Oh-my-God, I love NetFlix" types. For a long time the only real option for on-line movie rentals was NetFlix. Well, for those of you who are considered getting that NetFlix tattoo, I'd hold off on that trip to the parlor and check out GreenCine.GreenCine is a San Francisco based DVD rental company that specializes in genres that may be hard to find on NetFlix. In addition to the regular genres that your friendly, neighborhood Blockbuster carries, GreenCine's genres have fun/realistic titles like Comic Books, Cult, Espionage, Biopics and Quest to name a few. New DVD titles aren't highlighted on their web-site, but they're in there. I did a side-by-side comparison and found many, but not all, of the same new releases that the competition has on their site. Another notable difference between GreenCine and NetFlix is the adult-targeted materials. GreenCine refers to it as "BlueCine".
Besides renting DVDs, GreenCine also offers its members two other options for watching movies. Video-On-Demand (VOD) and DivX downloads.
Read the rest of the review here.
Posted by cphillips at 2:41 PM
August 5, 2005
MovieMaker Magazine on GreenCine's VOD
Now Playing at Your Local Laptop
The Internet resurfaces as a viable option for indie movie distribution
By Daniel Nemet-Nejat
A snippet from the larger piece:
But a solution is emerging for frustrated moviemakers. With little fanfare, video-on-demand (VOD) Internet movie services like Movielink, CinemaNow, MovieFlix and GreenCine are delivering movies—via streaming and download—to a mass audience. Dave Networks, which debuts this summer, will offer on-demand viewing through a computer as well as a TiVo-like set box. While all of these sites feature independent films, it is GreenCine, which launched its online service in 2003, that trumpets its collection of independent and international films. When Zahedi went to the San Francisco company to design the DVD jacket for In the Bathtub of the World, he found a fan of his work in Jonathan Marlow, the company’s director of content acquisitions and business development. Last May, GreenCine began distributing Zahedi’s films, marking the first time that any service had made films that were not released on DVD available online for on-demand viewing.Marlow developed GreenCine’s VOD as a way to give exposure to a growing number of quality films that were unable to secure a theatrical release. "The opportunities for theatrical distribution—particularly for international and independent films—were getting worse every year. The number of screens were increasing, but the number devoted to non-traditional fare was decreasing," he says. "So why not create new distribution avenues? Video-on-demand seemed to be a very good avenue to reach an audience without having to figure out the theatrical angle for filmmakers."
...
At present, neither the exposure nor the dollars of a VOD run rival those of even a limited art-house release. Despite his cult following, Zahedi says that to date he has only received a few hundred dollars in royalties from VOD. Marlow says that "the range of current revenues varies from under $100 to over $10,000, depending on the film." But he predicts that GreenCine's audience for a given film will soon be comparable to a small DVD release of 1,000 to 5,000 copies, without all of the production and warehousing costs. GreenCine's deals are non-exclusive, too, meaning moviemakers are free to exhibit their work on other sites. Despite resistance from moviemakers who are apprehensive about this new medium, GreenCine has expanded their VOD library from 100 to 2,500 since its inception. Marlow hopes that, as on-demand grows, moviemakers will be freed from trying to make movies that fit the Sundance mold and make the movies they want, secure in the knowledge that there is a distribution avenue for their work.
To read the entire article, click here.
Posted by cphillips at 10:34 AM
July 13, 2005
AVN Piece Featuring GreenCine VOD
As a sort of follow-up to the CNet article on VOD which featured GreenCine, AVN's Charles Farrar wrote a piece called "Mixed View on Whether VOD Will Conquer DVD—for Now" for AVNOnline.
CYBERSPACE - Early takes in and out of adult Internet entertainment appear mixed as to whether Video-on-Demand (VoD), Web-based and elsewhere, will eventually overthrow DVD as a platform of choice for movie consumers.Greencine content director Jonathan Marlow – a cinematographer whose company is a small outfit out to become the Netflix of the indie film world and whose resume includes a stint at e-tail giant Amazon.com – ignores mainstream Hollywood because its rapture with big DVD revenues won't let it take the VoD plunge until VoD is a proven moneymaker.
"DVD revenues are so out of proportion to every other aspect of this business," Marlow told CNET.com. "There has to be some proven revenue in the space before the big studios will even think about dismantling a model that has proven so lucrative for them."
Read the rest of the piece here.
Posted by cphillips at 11:33 AM
July 6, 2005
GreenCine Featured in CNet article on VOD
Where's the iTunes for movies?, by John Borland, CNet Staff Writer
Jonathan Marlow has spent much of the last two years trying to persuade filmmakers to put their most valuable products on the Net. On some days, the task feels a little like pulling teeth.
Marlow, a cinematographer and Amazon.com alumnus, is director of content acquisition at Greencine, a small San Francisco-based Netflix rival that is increasingly offering online access to films alongside its rent-by-mail business.
Unlike most video-on-demand providers, he's all but ignored Hollywood. Greencine launched the on-demand service in September 2003 with a small independent documentary called "Mau Mau Sex Sex," about a pair of exploitation filmmakers from the 1950s, and he's continued to focus on indie productions since.
For now, Marlow says it just isn't worth working closely with the big studios. Hollywood is too in love with its own soaring DVD revenues to risk supporting an attractive Internet alternative, and it needs to be shown that video-on-demand services can make money, he said.
"DVD revenues are so out of proportion to every other aspect of this business," Marlow said. "There has to be some proven revenue in the space before the big studios will even think about dismantling a model that has proven so lucrative for them."
Marlow's complaint is echoed by virtually anyone who has tried to make a business from video-on-demand services: Even as consumers and technology are showing signs of being ready for a video-on-demand service with the scope and appeal of Apple Computer's iTunes music service, Hollywood remains unconvinced.
Read the rest of this informative article here.
Posted by cphillips at 10:10 AM
June 8, 2005
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.
Posted by cphillips at 2:37 PM
June 2, 2005
GreenCine Top 10 DVD Rentals in Paste Magazine
Our friends at Paste Magazine now list GreenCine Top DVD Rentals in their print edition (see p. 96 of the current issue). The GreenCine Top 10 from June/July:
1 The Corporation
2 The Motorcycle Diaries
3 Sideways
4 Super Size Me
5 House of Flying Daggers
6 I [Heart] Huckabees
7 Maria Full of Grace
8 Closer
9 Hotel Rwanda
10 Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
Posted by dwoo at 12:46 AM
May 16, 2005
SF Bay Guardian piece on GreenCine
Mike Nowak's lovely piece about us in the San Francisco Bay Guardian was published awhile back (Nov 10, 2004), but is worth pointing out again here.
Down with the cine Local online DVD rental service GreenCine is kicking some blockbuster butt. By Mike NowakTHE HOMEPAGE OF giant DVD rental service Netflix shows a pair of Abercrombie and Fitch-type models curled up with some red wine and popcorn, while a sleek coffee table and overstuffed pillows glow softly in the azure hue of Entertainment. The promise of unlimited cinema beckons – along with, apparently, true love and an Ikea display room.
Contrast this filmic dreamland with the Web site of San Francisco-based GreenCine and you'll find cinephilia trumps fashion and image, and hordes of obscure film titles leave no room for pinot noir cameos. And if you're looking for a good movie, whether a cult fave or proof of Jean-Luc Godard's influence on Dogma, there may be no better resource in all cyberspace.
GreenCine (pronounced "green scene") was founded in 2002 by Andrew Sullivan and Dennis Woo, a pair of techies with a passion for film and a quirky, sage business sense. To those familiar with Netflix, the business model is nothing new: pay a monthly fee, have DVDs mailed to your home, keep them as long as you want, mail them back when you're through, and wait a day or two for new DVDs to arrive.But GreenCine sets itself apart from other services by emphasizing the fringe elements of the movie universe: documentaries, indie flicks, foreign films, anime, and other art-house fare. According to former Netflix and current GreenCine member Scott Mignola, "GreenCine had every single movie that Netflix had and even a few others that Netflix didn't carry." Plus, he says, "I liked that GreenCine had a more subversive tone."
For Woo, however, the key to the company's success goes beyond selection; equally important is the sense of community it fosters. "In the post-dot-com detritus, we've harked back to the pre-dot-com boom."
This sense of community is driven largely by the service's users. Chatty members keep themed online discussion boards lively, and, in a nod to the most enduring idiom of indie culture, generate lists upon lists of movies. With such subjects as "Adult Cult Films for the Extremely Jaded Viewer," "Mark Mothersbaugh Soundtracks," and even "Best Films GreenCine Doesn't Have," the lists are a particularly effective way of sparking interaction online. Jennifer Leen, a GreenCine member for almost two years, says, "I have several of my own film lists.... I would say that my Working-Class Heroes film list has sparked the most interest from other GreenCine members. A number of people have e-mailed me with film recommendations, which I always appreciate."
GreenCine editor Craig Phillips sees this type of digital confabulation as serving an important role in society. "Everyone's sort of alienated and isolated these days, and they want to reach out and connect," he says. "The idea is to get people connected to each other as much as they want."
But with Internet schmoozefests a dime a dozen, GreenCine has further set itself apart by bringing its community into the off-line world. The company hosts regular trivia nights at the Make-Out Room and sponsors movie screenings at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. In addition, it's donated a significant portion of its proceeds to such local cultural institutions as the San Francisco Film Arts Foundation and the San Francisco Silent Film Festival.
If GreenCine continues its successful growth, will it eventually go down the Netflix path, forsaking its indie roots and catering to the wine-and-popcorn-pairing mainstream? From what Woo says, it doesn't sound like it. "We're all movie geeks here," he says. "We felt we could win a niche by not being just another Blockbuster store – if a bunch of crazy people run a service for a bunch of crazy people, all the crazy people will congregate together."
Posted by cphillips at 2:12 PM