Withoutabox was a website founded in January 2000 by David Straus, Joe Neulight which allowed independent filmmakers to self-distribute their films. The first product launched was the International Film Festival Submission system. Withoutabox worked with film festivals and filmmakers all over the world. In January 2008, Withoutabox was acquired by

IMDb IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

, a subsidiary of

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

. The Withoutabox website offered filmmakers a platform to search over 3000 film festivals on five continents and to submit their films to over 850 film festivals worldwide, including festivals such as Sundance and the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

. Festivals could request submissions via the web and manage incoming submissions electronically, instead of the traditional route of sending in screener DVDs via mail. This allowed festivals to market their event to over 400,000 active filmmakers already on the Withoutabox platform, accept submission fees from them electronically, and automatically notify filmmakers for acceptance into their event. Other services included: streaming on the Internet via IMDb, and selling DVDs and video-on-demand downloads on Amazon.com via

CreateSpace On-Demand Publishing, LLC, doing business as CreateSpace, was a self-publishing service owned by Amazon. The company was founded in 2000 in South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, So ...

. As of October 30, 2019, the website is no longer in service.

Controversy

Withoutabox has attracted criticism in the years following its takeover in 2008 by IMDB, owned in turn by Amazon. Some filmmakers and festivals alike have accused the company of excessive charges, uncompetitive practices, outdated technology and the usual claims of aggressive litigation leveled at Amazon.Kaufman, Anthony
"Why Withoutabox Has 400,000 Indie Filmmakers, 1,000 Film Festivals -- and Frustrated Customers"
May 3, 2012, ''IndieWire'' (This 2008 article pre-dates substantial newer developments noted in other articles).

Partners (partial list)

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

* Slamdance Film Festival *

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

* International Film Awards Berlin *

* AFI Fest * Los Angeles Film Festival * Mill Valley Film Festival *

Seattle International Film Festival The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) is a film festival held annually in Seattle, Washington, United States, since 1976. It usually takes place in late May and/or early June. It is one of the largest festivals in the world, and feature ...

* Detroit Windsor International Film Festival * Canadian Short Screenplay Competition * Arizona International Film Festival * Adelaide International Film Festival

References

External links

*
"Why Withoutbox is Killing Indie Film Festivals"
2013, ''Festivals Against Withoutabox'' (Withoutaboxsucks.com) {{Amazon American film websites Amazon (company) acquisitions

Controversy

Partners (partial list)

See also

References

External links