If you’re not familiar with HDNet, it’s time for you to get informed. Mark Cuban, chairman of HDNet (not to mention owner of the Dallas Mavericks), came out and gave the assembled audience a brief summary of the network’s “Sneak Preview” program and Ultra Video On Demand program, which provides a unique opportunity for indie films to be seen both theatrically and on cable simultaneously.
“We’re particularly proud of this not only because of the great movies that we’re showing and the opportunity to really take on independent film and create a home for them when the market for independent film is so bad,” said Cuban, “but more importantly because it’s unique. We also own Magnolia Pictures Distribution and Landmark Theatres, (which) puts us in a very unique position. We’re the only organization that can do this, and the reason is that the big movie chains, AMC and Regal, will not play a movie once it’s appeared on TV or once it’s appeared on a cable channel of any sort. So despite the fact that people want to be able to see movies where they want them, when they want them, how they want them, the big chains aren’t going along with it, but Landmark Theatres and Magnolia and HDNet Movies are.”
HDNET’s big-ticket flick at the moment is “Humboldt County,” co-directed by Darren Grodsky and Danny Jacobs and starring Fairuza Balk, Brad Dourif, Madison Davenport, Francis Conroy, and – perhaps most awesomely – Peter Bogdanovich as Professor Hadley. IMDb’s description of the film reads thusly: “A disillusioned medical student is stranded for a summer in a remote community of counterculture pot farmers, the last place in the world he imagined he would discover himself.”
Said Grodsky, “Danny and I have long been influenced by our favorite era of filmmaking, which is Hollywood filmmaking from the ’70s, so for us to be able to work with Peter, whose films we have long admired was, A) sort of a dream come true, and B), a great link for us to have to the era of filmmaking and the era that we really tried to emulate in terms of tone of making a film.”
“And,” added Bogdanovich, “they paid us in pot. I have no memory of the entire thing.” He was probably just kidding…but I’m pretty sure I saw him wink when he said it.
Well, with that being the case, let’s jump back to Cuban, who’s clearly quite happy about the way HDNet’s plans have been working out, based on the fact that their film “Flawless,” which starred Michael Caine and Demi Moore, did more than a million at the box office but actually did more than that via Ultra VOD. Nowadays, an Ultra VOD film has the potential to pull even bigger numbers.
“When we released ‘Flawless,’ it wasn’t on a lot of different cable systems,” explained Cuban. “As cable systems and satellite systems see the results, they’re getting really excited. And part of what changes the model is, to promote a movie now, you see it all (in the) commercials, and that’s completely up to the producers and the distributor to spend all that money. With the Ultra VOD program, the cable and satellite company share 50-50 in the receipts, and so just like you see tons of commercials for the next WWE wresting match every time you watch TV, now you’ll start to see more and more and more commercials for movies like ‘Humboldt County,’ which not only builds the visibility for the premiere on HDNet movies, the free premiere the Wednesday before, but also for the VOD and also for the theatrical.”
Although Bogdanovich acknowledged a lack of confidence that anything could replace the theater-going experience, he admitted that HDNet “seems to be working in terms of getting people to see the films. And if the film works, the word of mouth is what carries it, and word of mouth is what carries any movie, anyway, really. So I guess it’s working. It’s a very odd climate, and I hear nothing but doom and gloom about the independent film. It seems like the independent films are the only good ones being made, because they’re about people. Everything else is about special effects. It’s kind of a new world and things are changing rapidly, and I think this is part of a new way of approaching the selling of movies. So maybe it works. According to Mark, it’s working.”
“We think this is the best battle to piracy,” says Cuban, “because it’s like, look, you can fight the Internet to try to find it or you can watch it on TV. It’s easy to find, and, oh, by the way, you know what, if you want to go see it in the theater, go to a Landmark Theatre, cuddle up on a couch, bring your own popcorn, bring a doobie, sit down, watch ‘Humboldt County.'”
He did, of course, add, “Just kidding about the doobie part.” But I’m pretty sure I saw him wink when he said it.
