TRULY INDIE initiative launched

Mark Cuban is definitely putting his dot-com dollars to some interesting uses. His latest is a venture with Todd Wagner’s 2929 Entertainment called TRULY INDIE. The new venture is a pay-for-play way for independent filmmakers to get their films on theater screens. This will probably be boring for everybody who isn’t interested in independent filmmaking, so I’ve put the bulk of the details after the jump…

The following information is from an IndieWire article by Eugene Hernandez:

"This is a new distribution company,” explained Bill Banowsky, the CEO of Magnolia Pictures and Landmark who is running the new 2929 Entertainment initiative, in a conversation with indieWIRE Monday. “We are creating a new distribution company called Truly Indie, it is completely outside of Landmark, but it has a relationship with Landmark and other theaters.”
Filmmakers can pay as little as $40,000 for a one week placement in five markets or as much as $150,000 for a week-long theatrical run in 20 markets, according to Banowsky. In most markets, the local Landmark theater will serve as the venue for the release, but in the case of New York, Truly Indie will work with the Quad Cinema because of the competitiveness of advance bookings at its Sunshine Cinema in Manhattan. Truly Indie releases can take place via digital distribution as part of the digital upgrade at Landmark that will launch early next year, or filmmakers can provide film prints for their week-long runs.
“Plain and simple it’s a way for indie film makers to slide by the gatekeepers,” Mark Cuban told indieWIRE today, in an email interview. “Traditionally movies have had to find distribution in order to get into theaters. The Truly Indie program allows filmmakers to control their own destiny."

Obviously there will still have to be some quality control in place, but this could be an excellent way for smaller films to get on the big screen - even if it only serves as a loss leader for eventual home video/television/international sales. The first films being released by TRULY INDIE are Ian Gamazon and Neill dela Llana’s CAVITE, Mari Marchbanks’ FALL TO GRACE, and Donal Logue’s TENNIS ANYONE?

For more information check out the TRULY INDIE website.