Monterey plays with windows for Endgame

PHYSICAL: Thriller aired on PBS, will be in theaters, then DVD

By Marcy Magiera -- Video Business, 10/29/2009

OCT. 29 | PHYSICAL: Major studios aren’t the only ones playing with windows.

Indie Monterey Media’s Endgame, a thriller about the end of apartheid in South Africa starring William Hurt, made its debut Oct. 25 as the season opener on PBS’s Masterpiece Contemporary series. Endgame will then get a limited theatrical release beginning Nov. 6 in New York and Nov. 13 in Los Angeles, and come to DVD Feb. 9 (prebook Jan. 12; $26.95).

“We have a philosophy that anyone who sees our films becomes an advocate for the film, said Scott Mansfield, CEO and managing partner of Monterey.

Because PBS does not draw ratings the size of the commercial networks, the title will benefit from the promotion tied to its Masterpiece bow but still will not be seen by a lot of people in that airing, Mansfield said. Also, it ran in a slighted edited version on PBS.

Mansfield said the film will open in 17 cities simultaneous with New York and will likely spread to arthouse theaters in 30 to 40 cities.

PBS flagship WGBH Boston provided part of the funding for Endgame and negotiated the PBS airing as its first window. Monterey acquired all other rights to the film after it was screened at last year’s Sundance Film Festival.

Though most PBS programs are available on the organization’s Web site, ShopPBS.org, directly after their airing, Endgame will not be available until its general DVD release in February, Mansfield said.