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James Menzies (MM): How did ALWAYSi originate?
Anthony Soohoo (AS): ALWAYSi was started approximately two years ago by two filmmakers, Gary Zeidenstein and Amine Bitar, who made a film called Triangles and Tribulations. They had taken their film through the film festival circuit and won a bunch of awards, but had a tough time finding distribution. So they thought that there must be a better way. Screening technology at that time was just taking off in terms of being able to broadcast live movies over the Internet, so they decided ‘hey, why not do this ourselves?’
MM: How did the idea to show one film online evolve to the enormous library of films that ALWAYSi houses now?
AS: One thing lead to another and they built their film library up in a year’s time from one film to about 250. At that point, they thought they might be on to something, so they decided to bring in a professional team. That’s when we got around to venture funding and we made this into a real company. Since the focus of the company has been more professional, we have been able to grow this from a base of 250 films to over 2,000.
MM: ALWAYSi’s mission is "to bring the broadest selection of independently created entertainment to audiences everywhere." However, couldn’t that just as aptly be to revolutionize the independent film industry by providing the moviemaker with an audience for his or her work, as well as financial validation?
AS: Our mission is to serve the filmmaker. If we serve our filmmakers well, we believe we will be able to serve our audience well because our audience consists of people who love independent films and, in turn, are the people who filmmakers want to attract in the first place. We see ourselves as the matchmaker between the filmmakers that we serve and a bunch of loyal audience members who have a collective affinity for independent films.
MM: In what ways does ALWAYSi work to promote the independent moviemaker?
AS: On our Website we have what is called the Unlimited Cinema, which is our subscription-based service. If you want to subscribe to our service, you have unlimited access to as many viewings of any films in our library. We ask for a three or 12-month commitment. The prices for a subscription range from $4.99 to $9.99. The unique thing about our subscription-based service is that, versus anything else that’s out there, we are able to provide a revenue stream for the filmmakers that they previously did not have.
MM: How does that work?
AS: When someone views a film on our site, even if it’s not viewed in its entirety, [that filmmaker] gets a percentage of the subscription. So a filmmaker has an opportunity to earn money from their film immediately, as long as the film is accepted on the site. This is in stark contrast to what else is going on out there in the online world - on other sites that exhibit independent movies, filmmakers have to pay to get their film distributed. Why not get your film exhibited and get paid?
MM: Does this benefit the moviemaker in any other way than a financial one?
AS: As a filmmaker, you want to know how attractive and in demand your film is. If you let people view your film for free, you’re not getting a true sense of the value of the film. However, if you charge $4.99, and someone pays to view your film, you’re getting true validation.
MM: How does the syndication aspect of your site work?
AS: We syndicate our content out to other sites. We have some of our content on places like Yahoo! and MSN. We license out the film rights to some of our films; we then share that revenue with the filmmaker.
MM: Does ALWAYSi do any offline business?
AS: We take the top films that are viewed on our site and try to source revenue opportunities in the offline world. Last year we sold the rights to seven films to the Sundance Channel. We also recently licensed the rights of a film to HBO. We are also now delving into some of the emerging DVD distributions and video rentals.
MM: What are the criteria for selecting
films at ALWAYSi?
AS: First - above all else - the film has to have some level
of artistic merit. Second, we do not deal with pornography. Third,
the filmmaker has to be qualified in terms of having an independent
vision, and really wanting to make it big.
MM: How do you really determine that?
AS: There are several ways. Basically the filmmaker
has to make the film in a professional manner, there has to be a
budget and there has to actually be a script that contains a beginning,
middle and an end. Anyone can be filming his or her own fraternity
party for instance. Obviously, we’re not accepting something
like that. With that being said, however, we are still fairly liberal
with our standards. We put the films up on our site and then we
let the audience decide what works and what doesn’t. If, after
two or three months, a piece of content is not working, we tell
the filmmaker it’s not working.
MM: I understand that you hold online film festivals?
AS: The power of the Internet really allows more people to tap in. It breaks down geographical barriers. In other words, a film could have more viewers in a single weekend of our film festival then it could at Sundance or Cannes combined.
MM: With the number of competing sites out there, why should a moviemaker submit his or her film to ALWAYSi?
AS: Because we create revenue opportunities. A filmmaker can look at ALWAYSi as their one stop shop for the distribution of their content.