After the creative marketing team behind viral smash The Tunnel had their collective geniuses unleashed to promote that movie to horror fans worldwide, they couldn't just re-bottle it and stay quiet.
Instead they plan to launch an online movie viewing platform in 2012.
Called eCut, this platform will allow filmmakers to connect with their audiences directly. As the press release enthuses:
eCut is the brainchild of digital innovators Ahmed Salama and Valeria Petrenko, following the success of their crowd funded film project "The Tunnel" [which they executive produced and marketed].The Tunnel gained worldwide recognition for its innovative crowd funding approach and its ground breaking release via BitTorrent, iPad, VOD, Cable and DVD through Transmission Films which saw it downloaded and watched by over 3 million people since its debut in May this year.eCut was conceived out of necessity towards the growing number of filmmakers with content that sits outside of the traditional distribution paradigm."We're seeing the biggest revolution in the history of media, with an emerging class of storytellers that are outgrowing what the existing distribution channels have to offer. They want to engage with their audience and monetise their content in a sophisticated way but lack the right tools or knowhow. eCut will be a great way for them to reach out to audiences, establish a presence and distribute their content all in the one place. For audiences, eCut will be a place not only to experience films, but also connect with their makers, and other passionate film lovers," said Co-creator, Ahmed Salama.eCut will give filmmakers, distributors and online film festivals the power to screen their films and set ticket prices, release windows, Geo block territories down to city level and set live event screenings in multiple time zones. eCut will also boast an in-built merchandising platform allowing filmmakers to upsell physical and digital goods such as soundtracks, commentary tracks, and bonus content."In launching The Tunnel, we designed and built everything from the ground up. From the crowdfunding platform, merchandising right through to the online premiere. eCut offers all of these components in a streamlined platform enabling filmmakers to launch their own films online," said co-creator Valeria Petrenko.Unlike existing content distributors that offer filmmakers no ownership of their fanbase, eCut will place emphasis on filmmakers forging a direct relationship with their audience.The eCut beta program will be open in 2012. Filmmakers can request an invitation to participate by visiting eCut.com.