RCN Corporation: RCN & SnagFilms Announce Alliance to Carry Independent Non-Fiction Films; Agreement Marks First of Its Kin
HERNDON, VA--(Marketwire - March 2, 2009) - RCN Corporation (
SnagFilms ([ www.snagfilms.com ]) 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.
"The alliance between SnagFilms and RCN will provide an even larger audience for our great documentary films. Everybody wins in this situation," said SnagFilms Founder and Chairman Ted Leonsis.
RCN President & CEO Peter Aquino agreed, saying: "We see our alliance with SnagFilms as being very synergistic. It enables us to showcase local and independent filmmakers and bring even more high-quality customer viewing choices to our customers."
This deal provides RCN with access to a portion of SnagFilms' web-based library, which now totals nearly 600 films. Selected films will be featured on RCN Channel 8 as the SnagFilm of the week and also be available on RCN's Video ON DEMAND. In addition, RCN's website will have a SnagFilms' movie theater widget embedded so RCN Internet customers can access, view and share SnagFilms' movies.
"Our partnership with RCN further widens the availability and opportunities for the tens of thousands of high-quality socially relevant documentaries submitted to film festivals every year, with only a handful getting theatrical distribution," said SnagFilms CEO Rick Allen. "We created SnagFilms so that anyone who has a website, publishes a blog, or participates in a social network can open their own online multiplex theater, and anyone with a computer can view any film in our huge library at any time. Now thanks to RCN, they can view a selection of some of our strongest films as part of their cable lineup from the comfort of a living room chair."
SnagFilms brings the best non-fiction films to the web audience, promotes viral web distribution through virtual movie theater widgets, and engages viewers to assist in charitable and community efforts.
"As a non-incumbent triple play provider of all-digital video, high-speed data and voice services, RCN is both excited and pleased to partner with such an innovative and high-quality content provider as SnagFilms," said RCN SVP, Corporate Marketing & Product Management John Baker. "We look forward to offering the best of these socially relevant documentaries to all of our subscribers."
About RCN Corporation
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About SnagFilms
SnagFilms features free ad-supported viewing of hundreds of award-winning titles from some of the greatest names in documentary film production and distribution, including PBS, National Geographic, Sundance Preserve, IndiePix, Peter Jennings Productions, Arts Alliance America, ITVS, Koch Lorber Films, Cactus Three, and many others. Many of the most prominent documentary filmmakers are participating not only by having their films distributed via SnagFilms, but by engaging with their audience through blogs and offering special "bonus" material, as well as suggesting nonprofit organizations that viewers motivated by these films can link to and support via charitable contributions, volunteering or spreading the word.
Since its launch in July 2008, SnagFilms virtual movie theater widgets have been embedded into over 200 million webpages, including websites for The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and Politico, and hundreds of blogs and thousands of social network pages like Facebook. OVGuide named SnagFilms a Top Site of 2008.
The company was founded by digital entrepreneur, documentary film producer, sports entrepreneur, 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, and operating executive and philanthropic venture capitalist Miles Gilburne.