Brazilian digitalservice MovieMobz launched this week in Sao Paulo with what it says is the first step towards 'cinema on demand.'
Customers will be able to select films from a list of 200 titles currently availablefor screening in participating theatres -although this will expand as the operation takes off.
Social networking and viral marketing will allow those wishing to see a film to find other people with the same taste. The theatres will then have a critical mass of customers to make a screening viable.
Founder and CEO Fabio Lima says the inspiration for the servicewhat has become known as the 'long tail.' The theory goes that the restrictions of the traditional media - the number of cinema screens or shelf space in shops - can be bypassed in a digital age allowing customers to get services when and where they want.
'The name MovieMobz comes from the fact that we are trying to mobilise customers to make choices,' says Lima.
Such an idea has only become possible since the advent of digital cinema because it does not require the movement of expensive prints. Instead files can be kept electronically and called up on demand.
'This is about democratising content,' says Romi Azevedo, MovieMobz head of marketing. 'We can coordinate that trend because we have a relationship with exhibitors.'
MovieMobz was created by three film industry professionals: Brazilian distributor Marco Aurelio Marcondes, Fabio Lima and Jose Eduardo Ferrão, founders of RAIN Network
RAIN, one of the earliest adopters of D-cinema is in a strong position to service cinema ondemand because of its easy access to digital screens.
Theatre owners are excited about the potential of the scheme, not least because it promises what Lima calls 'flexible programming', delivering audiences at quiet times of the week.
Sao Paulo-based RAIN was founded in 2002 and has digitally distributed more than 250 movies. The company was founded by Jose Eduardo Ferrão, CEO and Fabio Lima.
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