IFP to run former B-Side's Festival Genius research and support software

The software was originally developed by the now defunct B-Side that went out of business in February after it lost its funding. IFP will run the software, giving it access to a user-friendly tool and a vast database of audience opinion.

Slated recently acquired all of B-Side’s intellectual property including Festival Genius, which hosts online programme guides for more than 200 international festivals including Sundance and Fantastic Fest. The software captured audience feedback on more than 40,000 features from more than three million annual visitors.

Senior executives from B-Side including founder Chris Hyams have joined Slated, while key members of B-Side’s festival team are joining IFP, which will continue B-Side’s practice of sharing Festival Genius audience data with festivals and will soon make the database available to IFP membership.

“This is a game -changer for IFP and our mission,” IFP’s executive director Joana Vicente said. “Festival Genius is an essential service for the independent film-making community – for festivals, film-lovers and film-makers.

“We now have the potential to reach all of Festival Genius’s 200,000 film fans worldwide. These fans will be offered a one-year free IFP membership and we will host a network of sites that is in contact with three million independent filmgoers a year.”

“We all have an immense respect for what the B-Side team have built and their innovation in the independent film space,” Slated founder and CEO Duncan Cork said. “Slated is also excited to be working with IFP to see the continuation of vital market and data-related services for the industry and film-maker alike.”

WME’s Global’s Liesl Copland negotiated the deal on behalf of B-Side with Duncan Cork on behalf of Slated and Vicente.