Independent Film News

Palm and Netflix Pen Messy Deal for Rockumentary

Keven McAlester's documentary You're Gonna Miss Me has been called "a tripped out ballad of family disfunction" and "a great meld of rock history, the sociological and familial impacts of mental disability and some courtroom intrigue."

The pic chronicles musician Roky Erickson through is rise in the '60s and '70s rock scene and his decline into mental illness and relative obscurity. McAlester's debut feature length, it garnered an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Documentary this year.

Now, Palm Pictures has opted the theatrical rights in what's probably one of the most complicated deals in recent memory. Netflix's distribution arm, Red Envelope, bought the rights from the producers only to sell them to Palm Pictures. But Netflix retains DVD rights, working with Palm to develop the disc release. Palm also took on TV rights, but the second window rights; Sundance Channel and Showtime have already got the first window TV rights. Follow that? Read the article, if you think it'd help.

With the film distribution model all but in pieces lately given the myriad of platforms out there, it's no suprise that deals are getting complicated. Netflix's approach this time seems to have worked out--they found a taker for the theatrical distribution. But I wonder what they'd have done if no one bought into the movie; Red Envelope was created as a DVD distribution division of the company.

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Posted by on March 22, 2007 11:00 AM
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