red envelope entertainment
new york, ny – august 22, 2007 – ifc entertainment and red envelope entertainment jointly announced today that they have partnered for us rights to christophe honore’s musical drama love songs (les chansons d’amour). the announcement was made today by ifc entertainment president jonathan sehring and bahman naraghi head of red envelope entertainment, a net flix company .
for netflix to re - enter the content business. it is time to revive red envelope entertainment and start making great episodic programs .
the la times reports that netflix is closing the red envelope entertainment division because
... the red envelope entertainment unit competed with its main suppliers, hollywood studios .
a netflix spokesperson told hackingnetflix that only 4 employees will be moving on (the l. a. netflix office has 77 employees) .
netflix' s red envelope entertainment invested in more than 100 films, including sherry baby, helvetica, confessions of a superhero, john waters: this filthy world, and cowboy del amor. you can view the entire list of red envelope entertainment movies on the netflix website (many are available through through netflix' s watch instantly) .
red envelope entertainment, who also jointly acquired shane meadows’s 2007 film this is england with ifc entertainment, continues to be a significant force of innovation in film distribution, giving its consumers entre to little known films while providing filmmakers a platform to expose less commercial projects to a broad audience. with its acquisition and distribution of original content, red envelope entertainment offers consumers a wide variety of films they might not otherwise see .
netflix has closed down its all - rights acquisitions venture red envelope entertainment (ree) and feature production activities, citing a desire to focus on its core business of online distribution .
about red envelope entertainment red envelope entertainment (ree), a netflix company, seeks to acquire and fund original content projects to increase consumer options and provide an innovative method for film distribution. ree works to democratize film distribution by providing films and filmmakers with a platform to expose less commercial projects to a broader audience. red envelope entertainment looks to leverage its proprietary technology to offer this unique and original content to netflix’s more than six million subscribers. the initiative creates a national distribution channel for films and entertainment programming otherwise not available to broad audiences. the company’s name and logo were inspired by the company’s iconic red mailers. for more information, visit www. netflix. com .
new york - - in a move that could have a big impact on indie film sales and distribution, online film rental service netflix is shuttering its film financing and acquisition arm red envelope entertainment .
red envelope provided negligible competition, but the fact that they were putting any money at all into marginal indies gave the fish a larger barrel .
this is such a lie. red envelope did not compete with any hollywood studio. i never heard a single major studio complain about losing a film to red envelope. this was a last chance distribution deal to films that had completely fallen through the cracks that nobody saw any potential in purchasing. if red envelope passed on your film, that pretty much was the signal to just burn dvd - rs and sell them out of the back of your car .
this is not a great loss. the vast majority of red envelope titles i recieved were substandard at best, and
coaster worthy
was the norm .
arianna bocco, vice president of acquisitions and production at ifc and rob williams from red envelope entertainment negotiated the deal with olivier aknin from financing agency backup films on behalf of alma films as backup films also provided production finance through its coficup fund .
netflix inc. is shutting down a division that invested in low - budget films and documentaries, saying the red envelope entertainment unit competed with its main suppliers, hollywood studios. red envelope, with about 50 employees, invested in more than 100 films, including
the bituminous coal queens of pennsylvania ,
a documentary about a small - town beauty pageant, and
favela rising ,
a documentary about rio de janeiro street musicians .
orange sky golden harvest entertainment co. ltd. / wins’ movie production & i / e co. (1991 )
netflix inc. has become a hollywood player, turning to star - studded promotions and teaming with a - list actors on movie projects to raise itself above a cluttered market for online movie delivery. los gatos, calif. - based netflix, best known for pioneering dvd rentals by mail, also owns a content acquisition firm called red envelope entertainment .
i only yesterday got the chance to watch a red envelope film called
super high me
( recommended !). i didn' t even know until yesterday that netflix was in the biz of buying indie films. sad that it' s come to an end .
thats a link to the red envelope movies... there were some good ones i was impressed with... . but overall, nothing to cry about... i guess you can say the losing of another indie movie producer is a sad day indeed ...
i had a film that red envelope was interested in. i enjoyed my talks with their people. i understand why they had to back away from the table (idiot director hadn' t secured rights to a variety of high profile clips). i feel bad that they shut re down. but right now the market is dead .
i was born and raised in southern california. i have been practicing law since 1988. before that, i was in music, media and advertising. my law practice is focused on representing entertainment investors in evaluating and closing transactions. i am also an active film producer, and i continue to represent other creative and business personnel in the entertainment industry .
since then, the division, called red envelope entertainment after the packaging the discs are delivered in, has boosted the careers of many filmmakers. it struck a deal to distribute born into brothels on dvd six months before the movie won an oscar for best documentary. sarandos also points to the success of open hearts, a picture by susanne bier, whom he calls
the most popular romantic - comedy director in denmark .
it bombed theatrically in the us but did so well on netflix that sony is considering picking it up for wider dvd distribution .
about ifc entertainment ifc entertainment consists of ifc films, a leading theatrical film distribution company bringing the best of independent and specialized films to theaters; ifc first take and ifc in theaters, the operations that together make up ifc entertainment’s theatrical and on - demand day and date initiative; ifc productions, a feature film production company that provides financing for select independent film projects; the ifc center, an art house in nyc and ifc films on demand, video - on - demand offerings. recent films included ken loach’s the wind that shakes the barley, and shane meadows’s
hastings says red envelope is something of a mission for sarandos .
for him, it & apos; s as much about giving back to the film community as it is about growing the netflix content base ,
he says. but, sarandos insists ,
this isn & apos; t philanthropy. we & apos; re not & apos; supporting the arts. & apos; this is a market - based solution using technology .
about rainbow media holdings llc rainbow media holdings llc is a subsidiary of cablevision systems corporation (nyse: cvc). rainbow media is a leading producer of targeted, multi - platform content for global distribution, creating and managing some of the world’s most compelling and dynamic entertainment brands, including amc, ifc, we tv, lifeskool, sportskool, and voom hd networks. through its ifc entertainment division, rainbow media also owns and manages the following: ifc films, a theatrical feature film distribution company; ifc first take / ifc in theaters, a day and date theatrical feature film / vod initiative; the ifc center in new york city; ifc productions, a feature film production company; and ifc entertainment, which owns and operates a film library. rainbow media also operates rainbow advertising sales corporation, its advertising sales division, and rainbow network communications, its full service network programming origination and distribution company .
“lyrical and beautiful, love songs joins a select, high quality, original and daring collection of international films that ree has been rapidly building”, said naraghi. “we are extremely proud to introduce this latest gem from christophe honore to the us audience in partnership with our friends at ifc entertainment, and very excited to offer it to its widest possible audience through the netflix service. ”
access denied economists, politicians, anti - poverty activists and impoverished citizens discuss whether the true nature of contemporary poverty is rooted in colonialism and its consequences. featuring amartya sen, joseph stiglitz, susan george, eric toussaint, john perkins. directed by philippe diaz. cinema libre studio, october. blindsight six blind tibetan teenagers are inspired to climb a 23, 000 - foot peak near mt. everest. directed by lucy walker. robson entertainment, march 14 .
filmed in paris, love songs was directed by french filmmaker christophe honore, whose most recent film, dans paris, is currently in release through ifc entertainment. the modern day musical, which was a huge box office success in france, features some of the most exciting new talent of this generation including louis garrel, ludivine sagnier, clotilde hesme, gregoire leprince - ringuet and chiara mastroianni. the film will be screening at the upcoming toronto international film festival. love songs was produced by paulo branco at alma films .
in 1999, sarandos bought his first dvd player. inside the box was a red flyer advertising a new rent - by - mail service. netflix was a dream come true for the cinephile. he wrangled a meeting with netflix ceo reed hastings and coo bill henderson to discuss opening a line of retail stores. hastings and henderson didn & apos; t bite, but they found sarandos & apos; enthusiasm infectious. soon after, he was working for the company .
he had a gleam in his eye ,
hastings recalls .
he & apos; d spent his whole life in the business as a film fanatic .
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ree' s key staff of four including acquisitions and distribution chief liesl copland will be moving on .
in recent months ree had focused on acquiring rights for netflix' s streaming facility and executives had begun to question the purpose of acquiring single films for theatrical distribution while netflix enjoyed comprehensive relationships with independent distributors .
' we experimented with it for two and a half years and we acquired some really outstanding titles and released some movies that we' re really proud of,' a spokesperson for netflix said .
' however netflix is a distribution company and we can bring these films to members without having to acquire them. we were running into our studio partners in the same acquisitions meetings and we want to focus on our core business.'
new boss warns staff of challenges ahead as cable channel looks to boost viewers’ ’hours of engagement’ .
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tell us we & apos; re brilliant ,
mark duplass says. he and his brother jay are standing in front of an audience that & apos; s just seen the puffy chair, a movie the brothers wrote, directed, produced, and starred in. their euphoria is understandable: the indie film they made has finally been released in theaters, and this is their publicity tour .
this article has been reproduced in a new format and may be missing content or contain faulty links. contact wiredlabs @ urltoken to report an issue .
the post - screening q & a session at mezzanine, a san francisco club, gets under way, but the first question isn & apos; t about the movie & apos; s quirky plot (a guy buys an overstuffed recliner on ebay and hauls it cross - country to give to his dad as a surprise birthday gift). it isn & apos; t about the shoestring production, either – the $ 15, 000 budget, the crew of one, the free catering by the lead actress & apos; s mom. what the audience really wants to know is how these scruffy twentysomething neophytes ever got a distribution deal .
it was really painful ,
mark tells the crowd .
every studio came to us after the screenings and said, & apos; we love this movie. & apos; we thought we were gonna be millionaires .
the puffy chair toured festivals or more than a year, drawing raves and racking up awards. but no studio believed the audience would be big enough, so no theatrical deal. finally, in january, the brothers were approached by a film distributor that loved the picture and knew exactly how to find an audience for it. but it wasn & apos; t fox or universal. it was netflix .
netflix & apos; s move into distribution and production calls to mind early miramax. back in the 1980s and & apos; 90s, bob and harvey weinstein, the founders of the company, toured independent film festivals like sundance, signed innovative movies (early distribution deals included sex, lies, and videotape and reservoir dogs), created savvy marketing campaigns, and – eventually – produced their own box office gold. netflix is pursuing a similar model, and in just a few years it has distributed as many exclusives as miramax did in its first 15 years of existence .
last year we acquired four new titles from sundance, and this year we & apos; re working on about 12 deals ,
says ted sarandos, chief content officer of netflix .
eventually we & apos; ll be coming to sundance and saying, & apos; we can buy everything. & apos; there & apos; s a deal for every film .
sarandos, 42, oversees all of the company & apos; s dvd purchases. he has an annual budget north of $ 100 million and a mission to keep expanding the company & apos; s library of more than 60, 000 titles. it & apos; s a job he was born to do .
as a youth, sarandos fell in love with video stores because they exposed him to indie cinema even though he lived in the
very secondary movie market
of phoenix. by 30, he was a regional sales director for etd, a company that buys videos for blockbuster, and he was observing firsthand the effects that big chain stores were having on the video rental business .
it mirrored what was happening in theaters ,
he says .
eighty percent of the business was coming from the 10 top - grossing movies each year .
at first, sarandos spent all his time securing rights to rent out films that were playing in theaters. but he was hoping to do more. he floated what he now calls
a harebrained idea
to produce original content to supplement the company & apos; s dvd library. but higher - ups gave him only $ 100, 000 for the project –
this way you won & apos; t feel so bad if it doesn & apos; t work out ,
hastings told him – so sarandos started small. he used the funds to sign obscure, overlooked films that had no theatrical or video distribution .
the first deal – a simple revenue - sharing agreement – was for a low - budget romantic comedy called nice guys sleep alone. he & apos; d seen it at the 2000 us comedy arts festival, in aspen, colorado, and knew that it had languished unsigned for two years .
it was very funny ,
he says .
nothing groundbreaking, but it deserved to be seen .
sarandos told the film & apos; s director, stu pollard ,
send me 500 dvds. every time it rents, we & apos; ll pay you something .
pollard was eager to comply – he had thousands of copies of the film in his louisville, kentucky, garage. nice guys sleep alone fared so well with subscribers that netflix doubled and then quadrupled the order .
an awful lot of people started renting this no - name title with zero marketing budget ,
pollard says .
as a result, it was picked up by hbo .
knowing so much about your customers makes acquiring unknown film properties a little less risky. it & apos; s also how netflix determined that a critical mass of subscribers across the country – particularly the ones who loved garden state and sideways – would probably like the puffy chair, and that a critical mass of subscribers in boston, san francisco, and five other cities would actually trek to theaters to see it .
funding the production of new films is the next step. the company has partnered with the independent film channel to coproduce several shows, and netflix is executive producer of six original features, including john waters & apos; this filthy world and the documentary this film is not yet rated. ifc general manager evan shapiro says money from netflix has allowed him to triple the number of his original productions, and he gushes about the reach of his business partner .
they buy and move more independent film than anybody else on the planet ,
he says .
they & apos; re the google of dvd. they are fedex .
so how long until netflix becomes the new miramax? both companies started out acquiring movies and ended up making them. bahman naraghi saw this transition six years ago, when he was named executive vp of finance and operations at miramax .
it was a fascinating period. miramax shifted from being an independent distributor to producing shakespeare in love .
now naraghi may see it happen again: he & apos; s gone from being
the guy harvey and bob would throw ashtrays at ,
he says, to the new vp of original content at netflix, where he & apos; ll work under sarandos .
there & apos; s a link two clicks away from the urltoken homepage where anyone can submit a movie for possible distribution. netflix will not only rent it out, but may get it into theaters and then help you shoot your next flick. soon the only barrier to success for filmmakers will be lack of talent .
erin biba (erbiba @ urltoken) wrote about a superhero reality show in issue 14. 07 .
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since it was founded two years ago, ree invested in more than 100 films and partnered on key acquisitions for small distributors. until this january, the division typically put up half of a film' s total acquisition and theatrical release costs in return for netflix disc and digital streaming rights and half the total profits. these partnerships allowed indie studios to take risks on smaller projects and fueled many buys during and after film festivals .
in january, ree changed its general approach to pay a flat fee for dvd rights and nonexclusive netflix online rental streaming, done day - and - date with the retail dvd release, typically taking less risk for less money. ree' s closure means smaller distributors have lost a key partner which allowed them to purchase and give a theatrical release to riskier low - budget films .
some of the acquisitions ree partnered on include the war docu
no end in sight
with magnolia pictures and the romantic comedy
two days in paris
with samuel goldwyn pictures .
according to a los angeles times report, the company said the reason for its shuttering was that the buys put it in competition with its hollywood studio partners. ree employed approximately 50 people .
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eric kohn and anne thompson discuss their favorite films of the year so far. they also debate several new releases and share some streaming recommendations .
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friday across the universe the songs of the beatles score this love story set against the political and social upheaval of the 1960s. julie taymor (broadway' s
the lion king
) directs. with evan rachel wood, jim sturgess (below), joe anderson. written by dick clement & ian la frenais from a story by taymor & clement & la frenais .
friday choking man a shy ecuadorean dishwasher strives for a tentative bond with a chinese waitress in this mix of psychological drama and magical realism at a queens diner. with octavio gomez berrios, eugenia yuan, aaron paul and mandy patinkin. written and directed by steve barron. international film circuit - - fred claus up at the north pole, st. nick (paul giamatti) gets an unwelcome visit from his no - account brother (vince vaughn) in this holiday - themed comedy .
friday american pastime a japanese american family, interned at utah' s topaz camp during world war ii, finds hope, strength and transcendence through the game of baseball. written and directed by desmond nakano. with gary cole, leonardo nam, aaron yoo, masatoshi nakamura, judy ongg, sarah drew and jon gries. t & c; pictures * so? line drive chalk morgan spurlock presents this faux documentary about the comic ups and downs of an awkward year in the lives of three schoolteachers .
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i' m really disappointed that netflix has decided to stop buying independent films. there are so many great small films that languish because they can' t find an audience or get funding, and netflix was able to provide both. in a 2006 wired story, ted sarandos, netflix' s chief content officer, said that he eventually wanted to buy every film at sundance .
netflix' s stake in streaming films unfortunately makes them much more subject to hollywood whim .
right of first sale
is now meaningless, they need licenses !
and if netflix isn' t supplying that infusion of cash during production, it means they' ll probably be able to pick up the same indies in even cheaper packages somewhere up the road .
i wonder which studio strong armed them. this has to be some kind of concession for a deal. hopefully, something along the lines of more movies added to
watch instantly
.
i' ve seen things like this play out plenty of times .
you can be my supplier, distributer, whatever, but you will not be my competition .
i only say that this can' t be the real story because the hollywood studios have no problem in hbo & showtime owning films and shows. while you might say that' s apples and oranges, in contracts, watch now is on par with cable' s ondemand .
this has gotta be a cost saving effort. retool the direction to get out of theatrical aspect. they' ll just make a deal with the producers of these festival projects that can' t get a proper distribution deal to supply them with dvds for rental .
why should netflix even pay $ 20, 000 for the rights and the costs of manufacturing? this way netflix can tell the indie producer that they' ll get 40 cents a rental. right now the profit margin in indie film (especially indie docs) is a lost hope. when risk outweighs reward - make someone else pay for it .
seems like netflix will become the itunes for indie producers who can' t secure a deal with magnolia or an even smaller distributor .
i go to full frame in durham. for the last several years, the panel about the marketplace has been a celebration of riches. every distributor on the panel had a success story. this year' s panel was like a wake. all the hot films from the year before had completely stiffed theatrically .
actually, studios own hbo (timewarner) and showtime (part of cbs). big difference .
i' m going to either guess weinstein, maybe thinkfilm... it has to be a strong indy studio or a major with a strong indy division. i guess if we see a rush of films from a particular studio, we' ll know .
it' s too bad this happened, but i' m not surprised .
the weinsteins have an exclusive deal with blockbuster. and they are dead fish at this point. they can' t even afford to make a tarantino film. thinkfilm is barely in the game as they owe way too much money to filmmakers. these two are cripples at this point .
while hbo is owned by time - warner, they also run films from other studios. same with showtime. and they put those films on their ondemand channel. netflix through watchnow and the little box have become a cable channel .
this was a hobby that never struck box office gold. seems like netflix will just go for streaming rites and your company provides the dvds ,
interesting... what about the 26 half hour programs of the little known classic tv series
the court of last resort
? try and find more than the single dvd out there. as gatekeeper to the complete series we ask... anyone interested in streaming the entire series? hook us up and win a prize! bman
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“we have such a great admiration for christophe honore and are excited to be working with him again after dans paris. this film is such a unique and different musically narrated drama, ” said sehring. “ love songs is about a love triangle gone awry following an unexpected tragedy. each character copes differently with the loss and brings to life their innermost thoughts and desires through song. in competition at the 2007 cannes film festival, love songs truly re - defines the romantic drama with its musical edge and unexpected intrigue. ”
love songs is a musical tale of a love triangle cut into three acts; the departure, the absence and the return. at the start of the film the audience is introduced to the weakening love affair of ismael and julie. to spice up the relationship, julie decides to enhance their relationship into a threesome by inviting alice, ismael’s co - worker at a small newspaper, into sleepovers at their flat in paris. soon after, tragedy strikes suddenly with julie’s death and her family, friends and lovers struggle to deal with the loss. alice moves on but remains concerned for ismael. while searching his soul for healing, ismael is desperately pursued by erwann in a cat and mouse game which ultimately forces ismael to unleash a passion he had kept protected .
the film, which was a huge box office success in france, will be released theatrically and on local cable’s on demand platform .
about backup films backup films acts as a producer’s agent enabling selected films to access tailored international financing solutions including co - productions, distribution, equity and bank finance worldwide. backup films also operates the coficup tax film fund dedicated to the financing of french - qualifying films including minority co - productions. coficup global funds exceeds the us $ 5m figure and will grow regularly on a yearly basis .
over the last five years backup films has contributed, among others, to the films of acclaimed directors such as apichatpong weerasethakul, radu mihaileanu, rodolphe marconi, andrei konchalovsky and talented first timers such as zoe cassavetes, fabrice du welz and jorge sanchez cabezudo. backup films’ references include more than fifty production companies with films regularly selected to the main international festivals .
discussing how netflix gained its power, who is threatened by it and why. on the one hand, the article feels a bit trite in that it looks at the recent offering of a streaming - only package as netflix'
move onto the web .
however, in the body of the article, it becomes clear that digital distribution has been a part of the netflix business for over a decade .
for me, the intriguing discussion is about how netflix threatens the cable television business. again, this is a somewhat obvious point, but still worth making. as online content migrates to the living room tv, it is clearly an alternative to cable. that' s not just netflix, but hulu and vudu and amazon and cinemanow and apple and googletv and... .. the point is that online media delivery to the television is making cable systems potentially obsolete, or at least less relevant. (i covered this point in more detail a few weeks back in
two points: first, cable needs to change. it needs to be as flexible as netflix and find a fresh strategy that capitalizes on its unique qualities. i' ll give that some thought and perhaps comment on some possibilities in a future post .
the other interesting question is what netflix can do to continue its cutting edge success. believe it or not, i think netflix should be developing original short - form programming. netflix really is
, and hbo made its best move when it went beyond simply showing movies and developed its own cutting edge programming. netflix has an installed user base of 15 million households many of who actively use the online aspect of the service. neflix has a very good user interface and first - rate streaming technology. it can best capitalize on all of these assets by offering some exclusive programs .
reed hastings has always viewed netflix as a content distributor. well, every big distributor uses its distribution system to move some of its own content. netflix is a $ 10 billion company. it is big enough to tackle that strategy and it should be doing that right now. i renew
from david poland of movie city news. this guy really does his homework and makes some excellent observations .
very insightful, roger. i agree that netflix needs to get into the programming development and production areas.
red envelope entertainment ( originally netflix first ) was a film production and distribution arm of netflix , designed to generate content for netflix 's dvd-by-mail service . the company produced and/or distributed over 100 films , before ultimately being closed . in 2012 , netflix returned to producing original content , starting with the series lilyhammer . 
red envelope entertainment (originally netflix first) was a film production and distribution arm of netflix, designed to generate content for netflix's dvd-by-mail service. the company produced and/or distributed over 100 films, before ultimately being closed. in 2012, netflix returned to producing original content, starting with the series lilyhammer.
red envelope entertainment (originally netflix first) was a film production and distribution arm of netflix, designed to generate content for netflix's dvd-by-mail service. the company produced and/or distributed over 100 films, before ultimately being closed. in 2012, netflix returned to producing original content, starting with the series lilyhammer.