Video-on-demand film label Sundance Selects has partnered with the Sundance Institute to present three films via nationwide VOD simultaneous with their premieres at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.
The “Direct From the Sundance Film Festival” initiative puts the films on about 40 million homes via most major cable systems, including Comcast, Cablevision, Cox and Time Warner, as well as satellite provider DirecTV.
The selected films will be available for 30 days on each cable system’s main movies-on-demand channel in a special “Sundance Film Festival” branded section.
Films selected for “Direct From the Sundance Film Festival” are Michael Winterbottom’s and Mat Whitecross’ sociopolitical documentary “The Shock Doctrine,” premiering Jan. 28, with the festival premiere screening that day to be followed by an onstage dialogue with Robert Redford, author Naomi Klein and Winterbottom; “Daddy Longlegs” (aka “Go Get Some Rosemary”), an autobiographical fairy tale/bittersweet comedy from Josh and Benny Safdie, on Jan. 22; and Daniel Grou’s “7 Days,” about a successful surgeon whose world is upended by the murder of his young daughter, which premieres Jan. 22 in the Park City at Midnight program.
To promote the partnership, Sundance Selects has created promotional spots that will run on some of the participating cable systems as well as on the Sundance Channel throughout the month of January.
“Moving the storytelling of the Sundance Film Festival beyond 10 days in Utah remains a top priority for us,” said Sundance Institute founder Redford. “This collaboration with Sundance Selects is a new and important complement to this ongoing goal and is a perfect way to introduce unexpected and refreshing voices to wider audiences simultaneous with the event.”
Josh Sapan, president-CEO of Rainbow Media, which owns and operates Sundance Selects, said: “We launched Sundance Selects with the goal of giving national exposure to the type of exceptional films and filmmakers for which the Sundance Film Festival is so well known. As Sundance Selects continues to gain momentum as one of the leading VOD platforms for documentaries and world cinema, we are excited by rich opportunities like this partnership that makes the platform more timely and more closely related to the festival experience.”
The Sundance Film Festival runs Jan. 21-31 in Park City, Utah.
