Warner to distribute Wolfe titles on VOD

DIGITAL: Studio provides indies access to iTunes, others

By Jennifer Netherby -- Video Business, 7/15/2009

JULY 15 | DIGITAL: Warner Bros. Digital Entertainment, already an aggressive player in the video-on-demand space with its own content, is adding more independent content under its digital umbrella.

Wolfe Video is the latest indie to ink a deal with Warner to put out its films on VOD and digital platforms, beginning with upcoming releases Half-Life and The Baby Formula.

Last month, Warner announced a similar deal with Oscilloscope Laboratories, whose roster includes independent films Wendy and Lucy and Oscar-nominated documentary The Garden.

At the time, a Warner spokesman told Video Business via e-mail that the studio is “looking to include successful independent features as part of our digital lineup.”

To get their movies on digital services such as iTunes, smaller suppliers have had to go through larger companies and distributors. New Video was one of the first to position itself as a digital distributor of independent content, signing short-term deals with more than 85 partners, ranging from filmmakers such as Ed Burns to suppliers Acorn Media and Stephen J. Cannell Productions.

Wolfe said it will aggregate LGBT programming through its distribution deal with Warner, bringing its films to VOD and download-to-own across cable, satellite, digital and wireless services.

“This new level of distribution allows us to retain the ability to release films theatrically and on DVD while also utilizing groundbreaking distribution channels by offering content VOD,” Wolfe president Maria Lynn said in a statement announcing the deal.