YouTube said last month that it would try out the digital movie rental business, and its test would be with five independent films tied to the Sundance Film Festival.
This is good news for the indie filmmakers, since some of the films at Sundance may have only been seen by a few hundred people. But the YouTube test may have allowed them to increase their audience with internet speed.
The New York Times BITS blog says, “To be sure, for the independent filmmakers, the YouTube rental model is just one of many avenues they are pursuing because traditional distribution models no longer work for them. Fewer than one in four films from last year’s Sundance festival received commercial distribution.”
The five films, which were available on YouTube for 10 days, received a combined 2,684 views.
The Cove was watched 1,103 times
One Too Many Mornings – 340 times
Homewrecker - 355 times
Children of Invention - 490 times
Bass Ackwards - 396 times
At $3.99 per rental, YouTube netted $10,709.16. While these aren’t numbers that should have executives at Netflix, Apple’s iTunes or Amazon’s video on demand worried, (Netflix said recently that about 6 millions of its customers stream movies online.), YouTube will invite new video partners to join in their rental offerings. They’ll start with video categories like education, health and anime — content areas that aren’t likely to produce blockbuster audiences… at least in the short term.
Of course, YouTube would like to add more popular fare to its rental service, but until their talks with major studios help them secure rights to that content, you’ll be seeing things that appeal to a much smaller audience.
Tags: Internet Speed, YouTube