Drew Turney
Netflix moved into another interesting new area recently, with the announcement of a partnership with Film Independent (the body behind the Los Angeles Film Festivals and Independent Spirit Awards).
For the next year, the VOD giant will sponsor and support Film Independent’s Documentary Lab, a Sundance-style development environment for documentarians.
What does that mean for you, the VOD viewer? If you have a half finished documentary (or a half baked idea for one), get in touch with them. For the rest of us, it might be Netflix’s effort to expand further into what’s been a pretty successful venture for them in original documentaries.
Still with Netflix, there’s not much more information available than when the news broke back in February, but in case you hadn’t heard, the company is getting into the area of shows based on video games with a live action series based on Nintendo’s long running hit The Legend of Zelda.
Live action shows or movies based on video game properties have a notoriously bad reputation, most of them hated by audiences and several proving very expensive bombs (Super Mario Bros, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Hitman, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, Resident Evil, we could go on all day…).
The stench rising from the rotting pile might change thanks to Zelda, but also after the 2016 arrival of the film based on World of Warcraft from director Duncan (Moon, Source Code) Jones, and Netflix originals seems to be a hit factory right now, so it’ll be an interesting time.
Another digital service we’ve talked about for a while is the Playstation Network, so it’s good to see the trailer for its first original series, Powers.
We also couldn’t let this VOD Views pass without mentioning a very special birthday this week. Nowadays YouTube content producers are signing deals with big Hollywood agencies and have billboards advertising their channels that are as prominent as any superhero blockbuster, but ten years ago it was just a video sharing startup built by two guys from Paypal, and the other day marked the tenth anniversary of the first video ever posted.
On VOD now and coming up, Wings for Life World Run. The Red Bull TV event (redbull.tv) streams live on Sunday, May 3rd, raising awareness and money for research on spinal cord injuries. Runners all over the world will set off as one and have to outpace the ‘catcher car’ creeping up behind.
See former one-man Hollywood train wreck Tom Sizemore on screens again in Private Number, where a series of phone calls haunts an alcoholic writer finishing his novel. As he pieces together the mystery behind them he discovers the police are hiding details about a serial killer and starts to lose his grip on reality.
Also out, Below Dreams, a poetic journey following the lives of three young adults as they navigate the streets of New Orleans in pursuit of employment, stardom and unconditional love.
A very cool experience for Gen Xers is I Am Big Bird, the Caroll Spinney Story. It’s a documentary on the man under the suit who’s played Big Bird since Sesame Street debuted in 1971 and doesn’t have intention of stopping yet despite being 80 years old.
Also out is Champs, a look at ‘the poor man’s sport’ and the fame, riches and breakneck lifestyle thrust upon boxers who are often young, uneducated and ill-equipped to handle life beyond the ring. Names like Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and fans Mark Wahlberg, Denzel Washington, Ron Howard and Spike Lee weigh in.
Finally, don’t forget to give Aussie apocalypse drama These Final Hours a go. It’s not perfect but Zak Hilditch’s haunting end-of-the-world film is well worth your time.
