Friday, September 4, 2009

Blockbuster shares fall Studios might use Great Independent Filmmaker

Blockbuster shares fall Studios
LOS ANGELES, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Shares of movie rental
companies Netflix Inc (NFLX.O) and Blockbuster Inc (BBI.N) fell
on Thursday, dragged down by news that online video site. YouTube is talking with several major movie studios about
renting movies, analysts said.Shares of Netflix fell about 4 percent to $40.10 while
shares of Blockbuster declined about 10 percent to $1.08.A deal between YouTube, owned by Internet search giant
Google Inc (GOOG.O), and studios could pose stiff competition to Netflix's online streaming service and movie rental retailer, Blockbuster.
"The thinking is if you're going to rent a movie from YouTube, you're not going to rent from a Blockbuster store or Netflix," said Edward Woo, an analyst at Wedbush Morgan Securities.

Woo said that a deal would likely hurt Netflix more, since the subscription-based company has a much deeper digital streaming service.
As the winner of the competition, Mr. Flores, 28, will receive a prize package valued at more than $350,000 to produce "Touchback." The award includes a $150,000 cash production grant funded by Netflix, a camera package donated by Panavision, 25,000 feet of Kodak Color Negative Film or 10,000 feet of Kodak Color Intermediate Film courtesy of Kodak, dailies and release prints donated by Deluxe Entertainment Services Group, and a digital intermediate package provided by EFILM Hollywood, a division of Deluxe. FIND will provide advice and mentorship to Mr. Flores.
YouTube has had a contentious history with Hollywood, beginning with its roots as a repository for illicitly copied television and movie content. It pinged the entertainment industry's radar in 2005 when "Lazy Sunday," a short "Saturday Night Live" clip, was posted on the site and racked up millions of views before being removed.


No comments:

Post a Comment