Festival veteran JonFitzgerald has launched Right Angle Studios, an integrated and technologicallysavvy one-stop shop offering consulting, production and distribution servicesfor independent film-makers.

The venture will be linkedto a website offering online resources and links with the aim of providing aguide through the choppy and often overcrowded festival circuit waters.

"In the first stage therewill be an emphasis on supporting film-makers and their festival anddistribution strategy," Fitzgerald, co-founder of Slamdance, and formerdirector of AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival and the Santa BarbaraInternational Film Festival, told Screendaily.

"Distribution will probablykick in before we get going on our production slate, which could happen towardthe end of the year."

Right Angle's consulting andservices division will develop bespoke festival strategies for film-makers tohelp them target appropriate festivals.

Through a partnership withSydney Levine and Peter Belsito's tracking service Film Finders, the companywill also launch Direct Access, an introductions service linking film-makerswith acquisitions executives.

"With so many events forfilm-makers to choose from, it has become more important to set yourself apart.Right Angle looks forward to working with festivals to help them find theirniche and put positive cycles in motion," Fitzgerald added.

Under the aegis of RightAngle's development and production division, Fitzgerald will develop projectsthrough his Marine Street Films banner with an eye on the digital format.

Driven by its marketing anddistribution division, Right Angle plans to release projects through a seriesof partners including digital exhibition pioneer Digital Cinema Solutions.

It will also assist selectedfilm-makers in securing theatrical distribution through a joint venture withMarc and Marla Halperin's Magic Lamp Releasing, distributor of Julie Davis' romanticcomedy Amy's Orgasm.

Fitzgerald is also in talkswith potential online exhibition partners to eventually distribute films on theinternet.

Right Angle will be guidedby an advisory committee whose members include Film Finders' Belsito andLevine, Carol Crowe of Apollo Cinema, producer reps Jonathan Dana and JeffDowd, Jim Steele of Digital Cinema Solutions and David Strauss of festival submissionservice Without A Box.

"He co-founded Slamdance,breathed new life into the AFI Fest and excelled at raising the bar at SantaBarbara," Dana said in a statement.

"Fitzgerald has a proventrack record in producing film festivals and providing film-makers with thatmuch needed avenue of exposure."