Indie Movie Downloads

Film Lounge, a UK based movie download website aimed squarely at the lads' market, will provide a global digital distribution outlet for indie films.

Founded by Terry Stone, Mike Watson and Anthony Nottage, the Film Lounge website will offer producers and directors a tailored distribution campaign and an opportunity to earn revenue "from distribution that they might otherwise not see," Stone told The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday. He said that cutting out the sales agent and existing exclusively online will mean an increase in the revenue going directly to the producers.

Stone said he and his team will handpick 60 movie titles to feature on the site in the first year so as not to offer the potential consumer "too much distraction."

In the first three months of launch, all films will be available to stream or download for a flat fee of �1.99 ($3.90) a pop. That will jump to �4.99 pounds ($10) per film, depending on a star system based on reviews.

Targeting males aged 18-35, all titles will carry an 18 certificate and will be from genres including horror, martial arts and humour.

The plan is to split revenue from downloads or streaming on a quarterly basis with a net monitoring system in place.

Stone said a "conservative estimate" should see each title generate 15,000 movie downloads a month.

The trio anticipates an expenditure of 3 million pounds ($5.9 million) for Film Lounge website in the first year. Among the titles already signed up for digital distribution is Julian Gilbey's "Reckoning Day."

What is an Indie Movie?
An indie movie is generally an independent project from the ground up. The producers of an indie movie often must procure all of the financing themselves, which means investing in the film themselves or finding outside backers. The director usually agrees to waive his usual union-mandated fee or offers to work for a percentage of the film's profits, if there are any. Similarly, the writers, production staff and actors involved in an indie movie all agree to work for minimal union scale wages or other compensation.

An indie movie does benefit in many ways by remaining independent of a major film studio. Many of the themes explored in an indie movie would not be considered appealing to the mass audience sought by major studios. Controversial subject matter or experimental film techniques are part of the indie movie culture, which prides itself on not being formulaic or mainstream. An indie movie director and his crew usually enjoy complete artistic control over the production.

While major studio motion pictures may go straight out to theatres, an indie movie may have a much more circuitous path to follow.

An indie movie may be completed over time, beginning with the principle shooting and possibly ending several years later with post-production work. A finished indie movie may be entered into several prestigious competitions and film festivals sponsored by such organizations as Robert Redford's Sundance Institute. Success in these smaller venues may cause an indie movie to be noticed by major distributors. If an indie movie is successfully picked up by a studio or distributor, it may actually be seen on thousands of screens and the producers may actually recoup their initial investments.

An indie movie may actually feature a number of mainstream actors, writers and directors who are seeking smaller projects of personal interest. Actress Parker Posey, for example, has become known as the "Queen of the Indies" for her frequent appearances in low-budget films with high artistic concepts. It is not unusual to see mainstream actors or directors agree to work on an indie movie as a personal favor to a friend just starting out in the business or as a diversion from the usual roles Hollywood may offer them.