Indie Screenings, invented by

Spanner Films Spanner Films is a small London-based documentary company founded by film director Franny Armstrong in 1997. Productions The company's earliest production was '' McLibel'' (1997/2005), a documentary film about David Morris and Helen Steel, a postm ...

and coded by Torchbox, is an online film distribution system which ‘cuts out the middle man’. The system gives anyone, anywhere access to licenses to screen certain independent films and keep any revenue for themselves. It launched with

Franny Armstrong Franny Armstrong (born 3 February 1972) is a British documentary film director working for her own company, Spanner Films, and a former drummer with indie pop group The Band of Holy Joy. She is best known for three films: '' The Age of Stupid ...

's climate change blockbuster

The Age of Stupid ''The Age of Stupid'' is a 2009 British docufiction film directed by Franny Armstrong, with first-time producer Lizzie Gillett. The executive producer is John Battsek. The film is a drama-documentary-animation hybrid. It combines documentary ...

which has now been screened 1474 times.

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

described Indie Screenings as taking social justice films into the fast lane.

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

called Indie Screenings technology “the future of film distribution”. The Pixel Report said that Indie Screenings has the potential to change significantly the way people access films.

Launch

Indie Screenings launched at London's Royal Society for the Arts in May 2009 with a screening of

which was simultaneously screened at 71 other venues around the UK. The film was followed by a panel discussion between

, environmentalist

George Monbiot George Joshua Richard Monbiot ( ; born 27 January 1963) is an English journalist, author, and Environmental movement, environmental and political activist. He writes a regular column for ''The Guardian'' and has written several books. Monbiot ...

and economist Lord Nicholas Stern, with Dr

Mohamed Waheed Hassan Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik (; born 3 January 1953) is a Maldivian politician who served as president of the Maldives from 7 February 2012 to 17 November 2013, having succeeded to the office following the resignation of President Mohamed Nashe ...

, Vice President of the Maldives, vlogging in.

History

partnered with the Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation, a UK based non-profit dedicated to promoting independent filmmaking, to launch ‘Indie Screenings’ technology for use by other filmmakers. Good Screenings launched in March 2010 with 7 films available for individuals or groups to license - such as The End of the Line and Erasing David. Each film is picked by the Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation team for its potential to engender positive social change.Good Screenings FAQ
Good Screenings The license fees set by Good Screenings are calculated on an individual basis according to a number of metrics - such as who you are, where you want to screen, which country you're in and how many people will watch. The lowest fee is £1 (for a school screening in e.g. Sierra Leone) and the highest £12,000 (for a multinational corporation screening to 1,000 or more people in e.g. the United States). Good Screenings charge a one-off licensing fee and make no claims on any profits made from screenings. Channel 4 said of Good Screenings,“that's the beauty of the system - you screen the film, raise awareness of the key issues, help the film-makers earn a living to go on to make their next film for good, and then you get the cash you make on the night.”Channel 4 : Good Screenings launch
/ref> Speaking in The Guardian Beadie Finzi, director of Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation, says Indie Screenings could prove a catalyst as more social action film-makers join up and enjoy a wider audience for their films. Indiescreenings is now only licensing films by Spanner Films.

References

External links

indiescreenings.net
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090926061400/http://www.indiescreenings.net/ , date=2009-09-26 Film distributors of the United Kingdom