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Producers Guild initiative matches private investment on high-profile film & series with independent streamer syndication, to expand audience and profits.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA, December 23, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ — The structure of film distribution is undergoing a sea change, to the advantage of independent producers and away from major studio controls. Audience preferences and technological change threaten major studio control over the market, favoring independent producers. Adding to those challenges, the Independent Producers Guild has just announced its Direct to Audience Network (DTAN), to reinforce the advantage of the independent producing sector.

The DTAN combines syndicated streamer distribution with a film marketplace and an independent film funding platform.

It’s no secret viewer habits have changed. The audience increasingly takes advantage of the freedom an on-demand environment permits. Those same advances in technology have weakened the major studio cartel’s efforts to monopolize distribution. Rather, major studio control over distribution seems to be undergoing complete collapse. Increasingly, independent producers can access the market without major distributors, and keep the profits for themselves and their investors. On the other hand, audiences can find new and original ideas not presented to them in standard mainstream fare.

Industry watchers, familiar with the de facto collapse of the major music industry in the 1990s, are not surprised. “The major film studios have exerted near total control over distribution, trying to maintain profitability, like the major music industry did in the past,” says Dano Veal, DTAN’s President of Streaming Operations, “And like in the music industry, digital technology has destroyed their ability to keep competition out. It’s good for everyone. Audiences now get to see original shows and new ideas that the major studios can’t or won’t create.”

Shadow Dragu-Mihai, Executive Director of the International Independent Producers Guild (IIPG) explains, “The studios, like the music industry before them, still think digital technology will help them maintain control over distribution. The opposite is true. Digital technology frees up audience access to media. It facilitates competition. It does not help a cartel keep competition at bay. The music industry collapsed because of that mistake, and Apple, a computer company, became the largest music distributor on the planet.” But is this really happening to film? “Disney is considering selling itself to Apple, so you know the time is over for the major studios. They cannot keep independent producers from accessing the audience any longer. It is no longer a controlled market. The Guild is creating the Direct To Audience Network to connect audiences and new media.” answers Dragu-Mihai.

The DTAN aggregates viewership among a syndicate of streamers. This allows advertisers to reach vast audiences, gives even niche streamers access to major advertising dollars, and allows audiences more choice in what they watch. Says Veal, “The DTAN abandons the subscription model. As the major streamers have proved, SVOD is a financial failure in a general on-demand eco-system. AVOD with a TVOD option works for everyone. Viewers get to support their favorite shows on demand without being forced to pay for a whole platform.”

DTAN adds a film marketplace and a funding platform to help films reach the audience and make a profit for investors. The funding platform is already facilitating private placement on high-profile films, such as the biopic Eartha Kitt C’est Si Bon. It will develop into a FINRA accredited platform over the next year, to offer film investment options to the public in addition to the private placement mechanism it works on now. “It focuses on original, new and varied voices,” says Shadow Dragu-Mihai, “Those voices the audience clearly wants, but almost never gets from the major studios, who are all reworking the IP that they purchased decades ago.”

Adds Dragu-Mihai, “The structure of the studio system effectively freezes out independent producers. Until now, most private investors have been denied access to the profits of the film industry. It has always been a closed shop. The Guild, as a forward-thinking group of industry professionals, intends to change that for everybody.”

The DTAN will launch formally in September, 2023 with high profile films, including Eartha Kitt C’est Si Bon, starring Star Trek’s Robert Beltran, Kenan’s Dani Lane, Ashlee Olivia Jones as Eartha Kitt, XFiles alum Carrie Cain Sparks and Trina Parks (Thumper from Diamonds Are Forever). It is directed by Diamond Monique Washington and Shadow Dragu-Mihai. Industry speculation on who else will appear in the film includes Tessa Thompson, Alicia Keys, Robert Pattinson and others. But the production refuses to confirm or deny discussions. All inquiries about DTAN or private placement options should be directed to Leigh Ariana Trifari at Legio XIII Imprimatur Inc., who represents both DTAN and Eartha Kitt C’est Si Bon.

Leigh Ariana Trifari
Legio XIII Imprimatur Inc.
+1 323-488-5625
lat@legioxiii-imprimatur.com
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