SnagFilms Celebrates Anniversary - And One Billion PageViews - By Featuring Exclusive, Limited-Time Showings Of Major Unreleased Documentaries, Such As “The Entrepreneur”

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--One year after its launch, SnagFilms drops the “beta” designation with a brand-new homepage, and issues a report card on its progress, as well as a birthday present to indie film fans: The SnagFilms SummerFest, a ground-breaking online festival featuring limited-duration showings of unreleased documentaries, beginning with the U.S. premiere of THE ENTREPRENEUR, directed by Jonathan Bricklin and presented by Oscar®-nominated Morgan Spurlock, whose “Super Size Me” was SnagFilms’ most popular title in its launch year.

“SnagFilms is a great idea for getting documentary films in front of more people. It’s another example of how the Web is changing media distribution for the better. All that’s missing is the popcorn.”

SnagFilms debuted on July 17, 2008 with the declaration that it “was created to address the bottleneck in distribution for quality documentaries that has left many great films unable to reach their potential audience or to provide a viable financial return. It also offers established media companies with deep libraries a way of getting ‘long-tail’ documentaries out of the vaults and before a worldwide, on-demand audience.” Since launch, the site has been bringing the best nonfiction films to the web audience, promoting viral web distribution through virtual movie theater widgets, and engaging viewers to assist in charitable and community efforts.

THE ENTREPRENEUR will have its U.S. premiere via a one-week screening beginning July 24 on snagfilms.com and simultaneously throughout the company’s distribution network (including AOL.com, Hulu.com and Fancast.com). This compelling and insightful documentary is the story of filmmaker Jonathan Bricklin’s father Malcolm, who attempted the nearly impossible – to create, from scratch, a new American car company – the film is Executive Produced by Academy Award®-nominated documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock. That it is being shown exclusively for one week on SnagFilms, prior to theatrical or television distribution, is an example of how SnagFilms is opening up new distribution channels and opportunities for documentary filmmakers.

“Since its launch one year ago tomorrow, SnagFilms has been able to liberate documentaries from screening only at festivals or in the traditional 200-seat theatrical venues, in limited release in just New York or Los Angeles, and bring these important films to potentially millions of viewers nationwide,” said SnagFilms CEO Rick Allen.

Over the next several weeks, The SnagFilms SummerFest will continue with exclusive, one-week showings of documentaries that have not yet been distributed theatrically or on television. SnagFilms will make further announcements on its exclusive SummerFest sneak peek films in the weeks ahead.

On the eve of its launch anniversary, SnagFilms founder Ted Leonsis stated, “We’re delighted to be able to offer an exclusive screening of THE ENTREPRENEUR, which is an example of how SnagFilms is fulfilling its mission. SnagFilms has exceeded our expectations in every way – with more than 840 non-fiction films available for free viewing by the online audience; having amassed the web’s broadest distribution network of more than 25,000 affiliates; and having generated more than one billion page views for our film widgets. Our distribution network includes all of the channels of AOL; IMDb; Washingtonpost.com; Politico.com; The Huffington Post; and the websites of national and local non-profit organizations. Our ‘virtual movie theater’ widgets are on thousands of individual blogs, websites, and social network pages. Moreover, as promised, hundreds of filmmakers have found an online audience for their movies, and each of them has received revenues from online viewers of their films – an audience that grows daily.”

“We have established ourselves as the nonfiction filmmaker’s best friend – by digitizing films and turning them into distributable widgets; showcasing our large library across the breadth of the web; sharing the advertising revenue with filmmakers, providing clear, quarterly reports -- with checks attached -- and connecting audiences to charities supported by the filmmaker. We are more than encouraged by the results of our first year,” Leonsis said. “We have indeed opened the bottleneck in documentary film distribution, and created tens of thousands of filmanthropists, who have virally distributed these meaningful movies.”

In addition to its existing film library and distribution partners, SnagFilms also today announced two new partnerships:

SnagFilms will expand its distribution through a partnership with Fancast, the online entertainment destination from Comcast Interactive Media – including the SummerFest films.
Additionally, for the first time, the Sundance Channel will provide documentary films to SnagFilms.

“It’s been an extraordinary first year for SnagFilms,” said CEO Rick Allen. “We’ve proven that our model works, and as we move tomorrow from Beta to full operation with a newly designed homepage and a fun new tool to find the perfect film to fit your mood and interests, it’s notable that SnagFilms has distribution deals with major video websites such as Hulu, Fancast and YouTube. SnagFilms offers our films to consumers with a single click from their respective IMDb page; and has made content available online for free from more than 60 independent film libraries – from IndiePix to Sundance Preserve, from National Geographic to PBS.”

“We are pleased to welcome the Sundance Channel to our library of films,” Allen continued. “We have teamed up with a core group of major film festivals and filmmaking organizations, and have given filmmakers the ability to premiere their films simultaneously in festival screening rooms and online – as well as provided year-round visibility for film festivals to extend their mission as the principal incubator of filmmaking talent. Having filmmakers such as Morgan Spurlock and Jonathan Bricklin working together with us in letting our audience see exclusive runs of their films is a powerful endorsement of the SnagFilms model. We enter our second year of operations with tremendous momentum.”

“Digital distribution is quickly becoming the fastest way to reach the most viewers in the shortest amount of time,” said Morgan Spurlock. “This exclusive, US premiere, one-week engagement is an example of how SnagFilms is opening up new distribution channels and opportunities for documentary filmmakers. Filmmakers will see revenues continue to grow and the potential impact on audiences will be immeasurable. It’s an exciting time, and I am thrilled that SnagFilms has been willing to take the plunge in these untested waters with a unique focus on documentaries and the ability to put films anywhere on the web.”

Additionally, “SnagFilms Presents – The Best of Year One” widget will be available beginning today. The most popular films for the service’s first year (in order of popularity) were: Super Size Me; Confessions of a Super Hero; Return to Tarawa; End of America; Cracked Not Broken; The Impaler; Asteroids: Deadly Impact; Haze; Darkon; and Into the Tsangpo Gorge.

About SnagFilms

SnagFilms features free ad-supported viewing of more than 840 award-winning titles from some of the greatest names in documentary film production and distribution. Since its launch in July 2008, SnagFilms’ library has been featured on over 1 billion web pageviews, via more than 25,000 web pages, including throughout the AOL channels, and the websites of The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and Politico, hundreds of blogs, and thousands of social network pages. OVGuide named SnagFilms a Top Site of 2008 and MovieMaker Magazine named SnagFilms to its annual list of “50 Best Websites for Moviemakers.”

indieWIRE, the 13-year old leading news, information and networking site for independent-minded filmmakers, the industry and moviegoers alike, has been a vital part of SnagFilms since its acquisition in August, 2008.

The company was founded by digital entrepreneur, documentary film producer, professional sports teams’ owner and philanthropist Ted Leonsis, and is additionally backed by AOL co-founder and Revolution LLC Chairman, Steve Case; philanthropist and former digital executive Jean Case; operating executive and philanthropic venture capitalist Miles Gilburne; and a group led by Ted and Jim Pedas, founders of Circle Films.

THE ENTREPRENEUR

Best known for bringing Subaru and Yugo to North America, and for producing the first sports car with gull-wing doors, Malcolm Bricklin has lost and regained millions, failing as often as thriving. But Malcolm is a man who gauges success by the experience itself, not just by the dollars and cents it generates. Filmmaker Jonathan Bricklin follows his father's last grasp at power before his last gasp, as dad dreams of being the first to distribute Chinese cars in North America. All he needs is a near-bankrupt factory and some investors. You wouldn't actually think Malcolm could do it, given his insistence that everyone conform to his ideas and his blustery, ostentatious, and unprofessional conduct. Can this showman transform his talk into reality? The Entrepreneur is a testament to Bricklin senior's legacy, a roller coaster ride through the ups and downs of brokering the blockbuster deal of a lifetime.

What others are saying about SnagFilms

“SnagFilms is a great idea for getting documentary films in front of more people. It’s another example of how the Web is changing media distribution for the better. All that’s missing is the popcorn.” - Walt Mossberg, Wall Street Journal, 7/17/08
“SnagFilms strikes me as a way to breathe new life into documentary films… The widget becomes a live movie theater. So if someone comes to your Facebook profile and sees the SnagFilms widget with a doc on it, they can click and watch the doc right there in your profile. The key, as Leonsis says, is that it's a form of self-expression. You put up a doc because it means something to you, and you want others to know it. .Basically, docs don't get seen unless they're rented on Netflix. SnagFilms might change that. “I want to spin on its ear the idea of user-generated content,’ [founder Ted] Leonsis says. ‘I want to make it into user-distributed content. Instead of bad YouTube videos on your MySpace page, I want it to be beautifully-shot movies that are relevant to that person.’ Amen to that!” - Kevin Maney, Portfolio, 7/18/08
Bob Alexander, who runs independent film distributor IndiePix, calls SnagFilms “a brilliant use of the Internet to reach people.” - USA Today, 7/17/08
“The magic of a site like this is that films will reside online, around the world, and people can see them anytime they want,” says producer Les Guthman. - USA Today, 7/17/08
“Phil Leigh, an analyst for Inside Digital Media, says the notion of putting Web content on a personal Web page or blog makes sites like Facebook and MySpace the ‘network affiliates’ of the 21st century. ‘It’s a real trend, and it’s how content gets spread and seen by millions.’ ” – USA Today, 7/17/08
“SnagFilms offers up a business model that may represent the most notable advance in the documentary film industry since Netflix….SnagFilms movies are free to watch – and thanks to its widget extension, made that much more attractive to viral discovery by users far afield of the site itself…The genius of SnagFilms is its reliance not on user-generated content but what Leonsis refers to as ‘user-distributed content….SnagFilms should be credited for recognizing the ascendance of content curators.” - New TeeVee, Jeffrey MacIntyre
“SnagFilms allows anyone with a website, blog, or even just a social networking profile, to host a wide selection of documentary films. Not only do viewers have a chance to see lesser known titles, but filmmakers can reach a wider audience on the web.” - Talkibie.com, 8/4/08
“Unlike many movie services, Snag is free…but what sets SnagFilms apart is its movie-playing widget, which allows everyone from bloggers to hockey moms to install a SnagFilms player on their personal Web pages, creating a network of what SnagFilms estimates as more than 11,000 tiny theaters for its online library of 450…films.” – Los Angeles Times, 10/16/08
A PARADE magazine “Parade Picks”: “Entertain yourself for hours with free full-length documentaries at snagfilms.com…” - PARADE magazine, 4/5/09
One of two “video on demand leaders” - Los Angeles Times Times, 4/30/09
“I totally dig SnagFilms…I can’t do SnagFilms justice in a smattering of words, other than to say that it’s curated in a way that richly rewards anybody who’s remotely curious about the world. [with] some of the most celebrated docs in recent years…quirky obscurities…and mainstream excursions…I also admire SnagFilms’ efforts to support the causes its films survey and create true community…SnagFilms feels like a true discovery to me. It’s one of the few places on the web that doubles as a resource and entertainment, and it doesn’t merely pay lip service to the quaint notion of community.” - Larry Dobrow, AdAge, 4/24/09
“Digital distribution is quickly becoming the fastest way to reach the most viewers in the shortest amount of time. Filmmakers will see revenues continue to grow and the potential impact on audiences will be immeasurable. It’s an exciting time and I am thrilled that Snag has been willing to take the plunge with filmmakers in these untested waters, with a unique focus on documentaries and the ability to put films anywhere on the web.” - Morgan Spurlock, Academy-award® nominated filmmaker (Super Size Me)
“For too long quality documentary films have not had a fair chance to be enjoyed because of the lack of viable distribution. SnagFilms is the game-changer that documentary film-makers and film-lovers have desperately needed and deserve. SnagFilm’s growing library of films combines some of the classics of the genre with some of the best from newcomers. Best of all, SnagFilms offers something beyond what movie theaters and DVDs could provide to documentary film fans – the ability to instantly empower the filmgoer to channel the passion stirred by the film into action by getting more involved online. By doing this, SnagFilms won’t just change the way we see documentary films, they will transform the way we see the world.” - Micheal Flaherty, co-founder, Walden Media
“The opportunity that SnagFilms has provided XPLR to webcast many of these films around the world, 24/7, is incredibly meaningful. SnagFilms is really doing exactly what John Hendricks did when he created the Discovery Channel three decades ago. Hendricks went around finding documentaries to form the core of his new network. My goal with XPLR is to bring the best in adventure and environmental films to the web, and ultimately to build a viable distribution model with SnagFilms that will allow us to attract financing for new films and new series, while providing a permanent online theatrical venue for our best films from the past.” – Les Guthman, Emmy-award-winning filmmaker
“SnagFilms has been the biggest innovation in film history for us. First, it allows the filmmaker to bring his or her story to the entire world at zero cost to the consumer. Second, the movie theater widgets allow the filmmaker to put the film on thousands of websites, advancing the viewing process and the consumption of a film exponentially. Third, it turns film into a powerful tool to right wrongs: SnagFilms enabled me to send my film in a fraction of a second to members of Congress and all the way to the White House – a key component in attracting Congressional action to end 70 years of neglect. Thanks to SnagFilms’ massive distribution network, the story of Leon Cooper is leading our government to identify and bring home the remains of our war heroes – not only the WWII fallen who were left on the beaches of Tarawa, but our other forgotten warriors. What a powerful tool to spread meaningful films and accelerate change!” – Steven Barber, filmmaker, Return to Tarawa
“SnagFilms is an innovative home for documentaries that successfully pushes boundaries, inventing exciting new pathways for viewing online. In the current democratic climate, they have pioneered a novel means of communicating preferences. Now we don’t need to explain why – we snag it and show it! What a way to spread the documentary art form near and far, and, in the process, make a difference about issues that matter.” - Nancy Buirski, Filmmaker, Curator, Founder of the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
"It's tough for a documentary - particularly one on a controversial public policy topic like "The Least of These" - both to reach a broad audience, and to target political decision-makers effectively. SnagFilms has helped us do both. It has been invaluable." – Marcy Garriott, Producer, The Least of These