Cinedigm
![]() | |
Public | |
Traded as | NASDAQ: CIDM |
Industry | Entertainment |
Founded | 2000 |
Founders | Bud Mayo |
Headquarters |
Los Angeles, California & New York City, New York |
Key people |
Chris McGurk, Chairman and CEO Jeff Edell, CFO Bill Sondheim, President, Entertainment |
Products | Motion Pictures, Entertainment, Video on demand, Digital distribution, Film distribution |
Number of employees | 149 |
Divisions |
Cinedigm Corp. Cinedigm Entertainment Group |
Website | cinedigm.com |
Cinedigm (or Cinedigm Corp.) is a North American entertainment company, headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Cinedigm is engaged in digital cinema, software, and content marketing and distribution. Cinedigm is an independent content distributor in the United States, with a library of 50,000 films and TV episodes, and direct relationships with over 60,000 physical stores and digital retailers, including Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Target, iTunes, Netflix, and Amazon, as well as the national video on demand platform on cable television. In addition, the company offers content marketing and distribution services in theatrical and ancillary home entertainment markets to alternative and independent movie content owners, as well as to theatrical exhibitors.[1][2]
Digital cinema
Cinedigm provides the technology and the content necessary for transforming movie theaters worldwide into digital and networked entertainment centers. The transition from 35mm film projection, which had been used for 110 years, to digital projection systems was a worldwide motion picture industry effort and the costs to deploy this new technology were covered primarily through the payment of virtual print fees (VPF) from studios to implementation companies. To date, Cinedigm has deployed 12,601 screens at 1,408 locations with 377 exhibitor partners in domestic and international territories.[3]
Theatrical releases
In 2012, Cinedigm established a theatrical releasing division, distributing numerous Oscar®-nominated films, including The Invisible War, Hell and Back Again, GasLand, Waste Land and Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory. Theatrical releases include Destin Daniel Cretton’s Short Term 12, Godfrey Reggio’s Visitors, Penny Lane’s Our Nixon, Shaul Schwarz’s Narco Cultura, Open Windows, and Night Moves.[4] In 2016, Cinedigm acquired North American rights to comedy film Amateur Night[5] and Punk's Dead premiere in one theater in Salt Lake City
History
Cinedigm Digital Cinema, Corp was founded in 2000 under the name Access IT Digital Media, Inc., through a group led by Bud Mayo, the founder of Clearview Cinemas. Mayo directed Cinedigm until his retirement in 2010, and subsequently founded Digital Cinema Destinations Corp. In September 2013, the company changed its name to Cinedigm Corp.[6]
In January 2011, Chris McGurk joined as Chairman and CEO. Since that time, Cinedigm has grown and transformed from its pioneering origins in the digital cinema rollout in the overall digital entertainment content revolution.[7]
In July 2011, Cinedigm closed the sale for Technicolor to acquire certain assets of Cinedigm's physical and electronic distribution business, which also includes the global licensing of the Cinedigm digital distribution software platform.[8]
In August 2011, Screenvision acquired UniqueScreen Media, Inc. (USM), the cinema advertising division of Cinedigm Digital Cinema Corp. Additionally, the companies entered into a long-term agreement to partner their alternative content businesses, with Cinedigm becoming a major provider of alternative content distribution and promotion for Screenvision.[9]
In April 2012, Cinedigm acquired New Video, an entertainment distributor of independent content, working with independent producers, filmmakers, and television networks, curating content for various platforms, including Digital, Cable, DVD, and theatrical release.[10]
In October 2013, the company acquired Gaiam Vivendi Entertainment, an independent film, television, DVD and digital distribution company operating in the United States and Canada. The acquisition made Cinedigm the largest digital and physical distributor of independent, premium branded content worldwide.[11]
In May 2014, Cinedigm launched Docurama, the OTT documentary channel available on Roku, Western Digital, Google TV, Yahoo Connected TV, Samsung, iPad, Android tablets, PS3, and Xbox.[12][13] With a library of over 1,200 titles, Docurama offers full-length and short-form documentaries, non-fiction TV programming, behind-the-scenes interviews, as well as curated film festival coverage.[14] The channel highlights projects from critically acclaimed and award-winning filmmakers, including Academy Award-winning director Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side), Fred Wiseman (La Danse), winner of the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 71st Venice International Film Festival, and Stacy Peralta (Dogtown and Z-Boys), winner of the Director's and Audience Awards for documentary at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival.[15][16][17][18][19]
Docurama’s titles include Oscar-nominated films such as The Invisible War by Kirby Dick, and Danfung Dennis’s Hell and Back Again, winner of the Jury Award at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.[20] Other award-winning films include Gasland, Josh Fox’s 2010 exposé of the hazards associated with natural gas drilling, and Joe Berlinger’s Paradise Lost 2: Revelations, an investigation of the legal process gone awry in an Arkansas murder case.[21] Excusive features include The Fruit Hunters, featuring Bill Pullman in a movie by director Yung Chang (Up the Yangtze), and London: The Modern Babylon, in which director Julien Temple gives a history of the city leading up to the 2012 Summer Olympics. [22]
In February 2015, Cinedigm and Wizard World, producers of the largest chain of Comic Con and pop culture conventions in the United States, launched CONtv, a digital streaming network. CONtv provides consumers access to thousands of hours of exclusive content, an original slate of programming, as well as a vast digital catalog of over 1,200 titles, including cult television shows and genre movies encompassing sci-fi, horror, fantasy, anime, grindhouse, and martial arts action. Additionally, live coverage of events, panels and programs from Wizard World Comic Cons will be streamed.[23]
The network’s original series include:
- Fight of the Living Dead, a combination of reality and scripted genres following nine YouTube stars as they work to survive the first 24-hours of a simulated zombie apocalypse.[24][25][26][27][28][29]
- Actor Bruce Campbell (The Evil Dead, Army of Darkness) hosts Last Fan Standing, a game show filmed live at Wizard World Comic Con conventions nationwide. The series engages event attendees through a proprietary audience response system, where all patrons play along, competing for cash and prizes. The show culminates with the top four players vying for the coveted title of the Last Fan Standing.[30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37]
- My Morphing Life follows television and digital star Jason David Frank (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers) through his daily adrenaline-fueled antics to give fans a thrilling look inside his base-jumping, high-flying life as he breaks world records, greets fans, raises his daughter and tackles death-defying stunts.[38][39][40][41][42]
CONtv has licensed content from distributors including Starz Digital Media, RLJ Entertainment, DHX Media, The Jim Henson Company, Full Moon Films, Sentai Filmworks (aka Anime Network), Well Go USA, and Zodiak Media. These partnerships enable the network to carry an extensive catalogue from horror, to short-lived TV series, to cult classic films, including a selection of movies from cult directors Ed Wood, John Carpenter and Roger Corman. The digital network will also feature George Clooney’s famous performance in Return to Horror High, Seth Green in Arcade, Bruce Campbell in My Name Is Bruce, Gary Busey’s Gingerdead Man series and Tommy Chong’s Evil Bong films.[43]
In September 2015, Cinedigm partnered with The Dove Foundation to launch Dove Channel, an online streaming service geared towards kids and faith-based viewers.[44]
References
- ↑ "Cinedigm Stock Soars". indiewire.com. Retrieved 2014-04-05.
- ↑ "Cinedigm Set to Become Top Theatrical Home Video Distributor". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved 2014-04-05.
- ↑ "Cinedigm Signs Over 100 Drive-In Movie Theatres to Digital Cinema Program". Dcinematoday.com. Retrieved 2014-04-05.
- ↑ The Deadline Team. "Cinedigm Ups Vincent Scordino To SVP Theatrical Releasing". Deadline.com. Retrieved 2014-04-05.
- ↑ "Cinedigm Acquires Comedy Pic 'Amateur Night'". Deadline. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
- ↑ "Bud Mayo". Opportunist Magazine. Retrieved 2014-04-05.
- ↑ "Cinedigm Digital Cinema Names Chris McGurk Chairman and CEO". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2014-04-05.
- ↑ "Technicolor Acquiring Cinedigm's Digital Cinema Delivery Assets". The Hollywood Reporter. 2011-07-27. Retrieved 2014-04-05.
- ↑ "Cinedigm sells cinema ad unit to Screenvision". BusinessWeek. 2011-09-01. Retrieved 2014-04-05.
- ↑ Lieberman, David. "Cinedigm Agrees To Buy New Video Group". Deadline.com. Retrieved 2014-04-05.
- ↑ "Cinedigm Stock Soars After It Acquires Gaiam Vivendi | Filmmakers, Film Industry, Film Festivals, Awards & Movie Reviews". Indiewire. Retrieved 2014-04-05.
- ↑ "Docurama Releases iPad and iPhone App". Market Watch. Retrieved 2015-05-18.
- ↑ "Flush with New Cash Historically Film Focused Cinedigm Cut to Streaming Future". Forbes. Retrieved 2015-05-18.
- ↑ "Cinedigm Launches Theater Series". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2015-05-18.
- ↑ Frederick Wiseman (biography), The New York Times, December 20, 2014
- ↑ Cynthia Fuchs (2001–2012). ""You Go Blindfolded": An Interview with Stacy Peralta, Dogtown and Z-Boys". morphizm. morphizm.com. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
- ↑ "Cinedigm Launches Docurama". The Video Ink. Retrieved 2015-05-16.
- ↑ "Docurama Streams Free On-Demand Documentaries". CNET. Retrieved 2015-05-16.
- ↑ "Cinedigm's Documentary Arm Announces Brand Expansion and Streaming App". Deadline. Retrieved 2015-05-16.
- ↑ Esteban, Julieta; Frey, Kelly (January 29, 2011). "2011 Sundance Film Festival Announces Awards". sundance.org. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
- ↑ "Documentary Channel Aims at Underserved Audience". New York Times. Retrieved 2015-05-16.
- ↑ "Catching Up with Susan Margolin on Docurama". Retrieved 2015-05-16.
- ↑ "CONtv Announces Film and Television Programming". Retrieved 2015-02-05.
- ↑ "Cinedigm Grabs Alpine Labs Genre-Buster Fight of the Living Dead". Retrieved 2015-02-05.
- ↑ "iJustine Previews Zombie Reality Competition Fight of the Living Dead". Time, Inc. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
- ↑ "Alpine Labs Names Jamie Denenberg Partner and Chief Strategy Officer". Variety. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
- ↑ "Cinedigm Grabs Alpine Labs' Genre-Buster 'Fight Of The Living Dead' For 'Con TV". Penske Business Media, LLC. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
- ↑ "Cinedigm Dips into YouTube Well for Con TV's First 'Original Series'". The Video Ink. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
- ↑ "Behind the scenes of the first zombie reality competition show". Brunico Communications. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
- ↑ "Bruce Campbell to Host Last Fan Standing". Variety. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
- ↑ "Evid Dead Star Bruce Campbell to Host Game Show at Wizard World". WDSU. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
- ↑ "Bruce Campbell Last Fan Standing". Esquire. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
- ↑ "CONtv's First Original Series "LAST FAN STANDING" Starring Cult Hero Bruce Campbell Premieres Today". New York Times. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
- ↑ "Last Fan Standing with Bruce Campbell". Hubbard Broadcasting. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
- ↑ "Bruce Campbell Stands Up for Fans with New ConTV show". Hearst Television, Inc. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
- ↑ "Bruce Campbell plays the anti-Trebek for ConTV". Brunico Communications Ltd. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
- ↑ "Bruce Campbell Searches for Last Fan Standing". Evolve Media, LLC. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
- ↑ "Green 'Power Ranger' Jason David Frank's 'My Morphing Life' On CONtv". Retrieved 2015-02-05.
- ↑ "Jason David Frank on My Morphing Life". ComicBook.com. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
- ↑ "Jason David Frank Talks My Morphing Life, Power Rangers and More". IGN. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
- ↑ "Con TV to Air New Season of Former Power Ranger's YouTube Series". The Video Ink. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
- ↑ "My Morphing Life starring the original Green Power Ranger coming to CONtv". NerdSpan. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
- ↑ "Cinedigm Signs 12 Picture Deal". Retrieved 2015-02-05.
- ↑ Todd, Spangler. "Cinedigm Launches Dove Channel SVOD Service That Strips Out Sex, Drugs and Violence". Variety. Variety Media. Retrieved 9 November 2015.