Findings of analysis into three new distribution strategies to be presented today.

Initial findings of an analysis of the three pilot projects backed by the European Parliament to explore new distribution strategies will be presented by French academic Thomas Paris this morning (Friday) at an event organised by the European Commission.

Looking at the three groupings - EDAD, coordinated by Curzon Film World, SPEED BUNCH, coordinated by Wild Bunch, and TIDE, coordinated by L’ARP - Paris said that “innovative release formats such as day-and-date or direct-to-VoD can give a boost to a certain number of films that thereby benefit from increase exposure at least cost in a saturated market”.

“Concerning the economics of the system as a whole, the experiments seem to indicate no major risk,” Paris concluded. “VoD consumption mainly concerns the zones where the film is not visible, or only to a limited degree in theatres.”

Among his recommendations, he suggested that multiple distribution schemes, varying the length of release windows, should be tested and that the multi-terrorial dimension of the initiative be extended.