Gravitas Ventures in Long-Term VOD Deal with Kino International

Video-on-demand content aggregator, Gravitas Ventures, said Thursday that it has formed a multi-year partnership with Kino International, a theatrical distribution company specializing in classics and foreign-language art films. According to the companies, the partnership deal will see Gravitas handling VOD licensing of select Kino titles to over 100 cable, satellite and telco operators, including AT&T, Cablevision, Charter, Comcast, Cox, DirecTV, DISH Network, Time Warner Cable and Verizon FiOS (giving those titles a potential pay-TV reach of up to 50 million households). The deal also calls for Gravitas to help license certain titles through major Internet VOD platforms, including Amazon VOD, Sonic's Roxio CinemaNow, Microsoft Xbox and iTunes. "This is a very exciting partnership for cable providers and consumers as Kino International is a highly regarded theatrical and DVD distributor with VOD rights to an excellent catalog of acclaimed films," Gravitas CEO, Nolan Gallagher, said in a prepared statement. "This relationship will deliver films, previously only available at film festivals and in NY and LA, to premiere nationwide in the homes of tens of millions of cinema lovers."

According to the companies, as part of their deal, the Sundance Festival selection, "Momma's Man"; the Toronto Film Festival selection, "Love Comes Lately"; and three other Kino films--"1/3rd," "Skyfighters," and "Psychopathia Sexualis"--will be available through the Gravitas Movies On Demand VOD package (currently carried by 30 North American cable operators) July 1st. Gravitas claims to have released over 200 films to the cable VOD industry last year, and says that it is on target to release 250 films this year. Its content providers include around 100 directors, producers and distributors, the company says. It claims to offer its operator customers a single point of contact to handle the logistics of film delivery, as well as "insightful guide optimization within each VOD storefront in order to increase buy rates."