Saving Sally, one of the most critically acclaimed entries to last year’s Metro Manila Film Festival took 12 years for director Avid Liongoren and crew to make. That’s how much time and work it can take for a local independent film to be made, especially when funding is hard to come by. So why not give back to our independent filmmakers by supporting them, especially when it’s as easy as FREE through MovieClub?
Producing local content can be difficult because of the factors involved in local movie releases, a slowdown in DVD purchases/rentals, and diminishing cable/TV rights. Movies typically premiere on a Wednesday and have 3 days to earn their money and prove to theater operators that audiences will flock to them. If they don’t, they’re often pulled ahead of the weekend, closing the door on the revenue stream with the biggest earning potential.
MovieClub is a digital video-on-demand platform, much like existing players Netflix, iFlix and HOOQ. However, unlike other video-on-demand platforms, MovieClub is completely free for people to use! Yep, unlike Netflix, iFlix or HOOQ, MovieClub is a completely ad-supported platform, meaning you only have to suffer through a few ads! The video is optimized for mobile viewing too, so even if you’re on mobile data, it merely sips from your plan. So despite watching your favorite Pinoy movies for free, you’re still supporting our local filmmakers!
MovieClub is awesome for advertisers too. Compared to other advertising platforms, they offer low minimum spends and cost-per-views with a high degree of measurability. There’s also a high degree of control over how much you spend and where it’s targeted. MovieClub basically combines the best of TV and digital by having the scale of TV while matching the precision of digital.
One thing to look forward to is Saving Sally hitting MovieClub some time in Q3. Unfortunately, Avid revealed it can’t be sooner because the movie is still showing or is scheduled to show in a few more film festivals and they would automatically be disqualified if they were to be shown on MovieClub or similar platforms before these festivals. Alas, it’s a long wait, but there’s already a pretty large library of Filipino content, including the classics that paved the way for modern Pinoy filmmaking.
