GreenCine LLC (www.greencine.com), the preeminent DVD Rent-by-Mail and Video-on-Demand company with an unsurpassed collection of independent, international and classic films, and DivXNetworks, (www.divx.com), the company that created the revolutionary, patent-pending DivX(R) video compression technology, announced today the inaugural launch of the GreenCine Online Film Festival, presented by DivXNetworks.
The GreenCine Online Film Festival will target high-quality, feature-length films screened by a distinguished jury including production executives, film journalists, talent agents and video technologists. To be held June 1st to June 26th on GreenCine.com, the new festival presents an opportunity for serious filmmakers to present their work to a much larger audience than a traditional film festival. Winning films will be available for download in their entirety in secure, DVD-quality DivX video to a global audience. Viewers will be able to watch the winning films on any PC or on televisions through one of 20 million DivX Certified consumer electronics devices available from most major manufacturers.
"For the first time, serious filmmakers have the chance to distribute their work in the highest level of visual quality to film lovers all over the world, rather than limiting viewership to a physical audience in one given city as you would in a traditional film festival," said Dennis Woo, founder of GreenCine. "Thanks to the incredible efficiency of online delivery and DivX video, we can now help filmmakers open up distribution for festival-quality films to a much wider audience without sacrificing visual, artistic or commercial viability."
The GreenCine Online Film Festival will offer two open competitions, in narrative features and documentary features. Ten finalists in each category will be available online for download in secure DivX format and open for voting by audiences for an Audience Award. Judges will determine the grand prize in each category, and Grand Prize winners will receive a cash award and will be screened theatrically in San Francisco, with all downloaded films to receive a generous percentage of the revenues.
Festival jury members include David Kopple of the Gersh Agency, documentary filmmaker Mark Kitchell ("Berkeley in the Sixties"), RES Magazine's Holly Willis, NPR commentator and author Hollis Gillespie, Lawrence Inglee, Vice President of the Mark Gordon Company ("Day After Tomorrow," "Saving Private Ryan") and Jerome "Gej" Rota, creator of the DivX codec and co-founder of DivXNetworks.
"This film festival offers an exciting new cinematic experience for filmmakers and film fans alike," said Kevin Hell, Chief Operating Officer at DivXNetworks, Inc. "Leveraging an installed base of over 20 million DivX Certified DVD players around the world, independent filmmakers will now be able to reach much larger audiences at very little cost. We look forward to seeing some great submissions."
The postmark deadline for submissions is April 30th. For more information on rules and regulations, visit http://filmfestival.greencine.com.
About GreenCine
GREENCINE LLC is at the forefront of online DVD rental, with a diverse selection of over 25,000 titles specializing in independent, international, documentary and classic films -- without forsaking mainstream releases. In September-2003, the company introduced its revolutionary Video-on-Demand service, offering filmmakers a lucrative and piracy-free avenue for online feature film distribution. Over 2,500 films are now available in this form. For details on GreenCine's latest VOD and DVD offerings, as well as an incredible array of film-related interviews and articles, please visit our award-winning site -- www.greencine.com.
About DivXNetworks
DivXNetworks is a consumer-focused video technology company positioned at the center of multimedia convergence. The company's core offering is the DivX (R) video codec, among the world's most popular video compression technologies with over 160 million users worldwide. Often called "the MP3 of video," the patent-pending DivX video technology offers DVD-quality at 10 times greater compression than MPEG-2 files, enabling full length films to easily fit on a CD or be delivered over broadband connections. DivX video technology powers a range of applications that span the convergence value chain, from a secure IP-based video-on-demand solution to next-generation consumer electronics products and video software applications. DivXNetworks is headquartered in San Diego, California.