Lithuania’s Teo latest to participate in Viramundo day-and-date trial

Lithuanian service provider Teo is today taking part in a day-and-date video-on-demand release experiment initiated by European film-makers to promote new distribution models.

The documentary film Viramundo will be released in Lithuanian cinemas and on the Gala TV VOD service simultaneously. Viramundo is a documentary about the journey of Gilberto Gil, a music legend and a political activist, who was Brazil’s first black Minister of Culture, through Brazil, Australia, South Africa.

The trial is designed to determine whether day-and-date releases are beneficial for non-commercial and low-budget movie makers. 
Data on the number of views of the film Viramundo on VOD and in cinema theatres, the number of sessions, and the revenue from the film will be compared with the attendance of all films and, separately, with that of documentaries in Lithuanian cinema theatres.

Poland, the UK, Portugal, France and Luxembourg are also participating.

The European Union’s Media Programme announced in May it would provide €3.5 million for new initiatives to support the development of digital distribution, with various consortia of producers, sales agents, distributors and VOD platforms being invited to apply for funding to test the simultaneous or quasi-simultaneous release of European films in different EU Member States and on several distribution platforms. The TIDE project was one of the three beneficiaries, with Viramundo its first project. The documentary, directed by Pierre-Yves Bourgeaud, was aired on the Orange, iTunes and Vidéo en Poche platforms as well as in cinemas the Utopia cinema chain and the Cinéma des Cinéastes in Paris.

The results of the trial will be presented at the Cannes Film Festival in 2014.