Amazon.com acquires Withoutabox
Withoutabox has a virtual monopoly on film festival submissions. I haven't personally used the system; I haven't heard any complaints. We all know monopolies and vertical integrations is bad for consumers, so hopefully Withoutabox, Imdb and Amazon will reverse that trend:
Dear John,This was no doubt in the works before Apple's iTunes rentals announcement, but it feels very much like a reaction to it. Like rooks in chess, the content is castling. Everything is fortifying. IMDb is getting so crufty lately, I'm wondering if a wiki isn't the way to go with movie info...
We're happy to let you know that Withoutabox has reached a definitive agreement to be acquired by the Internet Movie Database (IMDb), an Amazon.com subsidiary. This presents a great opportunity for all our independent filmmakers, festivals, and industry professionals. The new arrangement preserves the vision that Withoutabox has championed for eight years, teaming it with the Internet's number one destination for film lovers and film insiders.
As Filmmakers and self-distributors, you can look forward to more ways to help reach your audiences and monetize your work.
As Festivals, you can look forward to more powerful tools to scout, collect, select, and schedule films, plus access to a vast audience of movie lovers that only IMDb can deliver - more than 50 million visitors a month.
As film Sellers, Sales Agents, and Acquirers, you can look forward to unprecedented information, discovery, and connectivity at your fingertips, across the entire landscape of commercial and independent film.
The day-to-day operations of Withoutabox will remain much the same, including the entire management team, our experienced staff, and the dedicated customer service you love.
We look forward as always to seeing you at festivals and other industry events.
Happy New Year. Here's to new beginnings!
All the best,
Your Withoutabox Team
posted by J. Ott @ 1/17/2008 05:41:00 PM
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2 comment(s)
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2 Comments:
I seriously question the value of Withoutabox. So far NONE of the 4 films I've submitted to 12 festivals has been accepted through Withoutabout. When I submitted 2 of these same films to festivals MYSELF, not only were they accepted but they also won awards!
The other issues I have are:
1) Film festivals not bothering to update your 'film status' page. I've had a film 'In Consideration' by a film festival that ended months ago. It's still 'In Consideration'.
2) Festivals not bothering to update you on film submission status. One festival's 'Notify By' date passed, and I had to email them to ask them if the two films I had submitted had been accepted or not. They finally, grudgingly told my one of my films was not accepted. This was several weeks after the 'Notify Date'. When I inquired about the second film I submitted, they never bothered to respond. They were quick to grab my entry fee though. No delays there!
In short, Withoutabox is something like paying hundreds of dollars for having someone drop your film projects down a well. As the old adage goes: if you want something done right, DO IT YOURSELF.
Eric's comments should be seriously considered. Furthermore, a complete monopoly of film submissions by one enterprise is unhealthy. As Worldfest note: how secure is all your info in reality. A monopoly can even ruin your chances of getting your film into a festival by confirming to them that the film is over 12 months old - the kiss of death - and you paid them to kill it for you.
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