Press Releases  ·  28 | 05 | 2020

Still from the film Daïnah la métisse

Heritage Online is a platform by Locarno Pro, part of the Locarno Film Festival, intended to fill a gap in the panorama of the international film industry. This new project will support connections between those who hold film rights and those who distribute films via on-demand video platforms (VOD).

In fact, with the drastic reduction of DVD and Blu-Ray, VOD streaming platforms are now potentially the most important windows for the dissemination and viewing of classic films.

In the current audiovisual industry we have events of every type that cover most market needs: from industry platforms dedicated to auteur films to TV, from animation to genre and fantasy films, from the marketing of remake rights to the film adaptation of literary works, from television series to documentaries, to short format films.

However, there is still no service available to the audiovisual industry that helps with the film rights distribution for films commonly known as Heritage Films, and that can provide to rightsholders (sellers, film libraries, archives, film institutes, etc.) a concrete work tool dedicated to the marketing of these products to new and important distributors of online content (the streamers). This is the main goal of the new Locarno Pro project, Heritage Online.

The project is articulated in two complementary aspects:

  • A database, active throughout the year, devoted to networking among rightsholders and streamers, including information regarding the availability of films in various regions. This platform will also allow the viewing of certain films in a virtual online screening room.
     
  • Activities aimed at facilitating networking during the Locarno Pro days, consisting of pitching of rightsholders, institutions, archives and film libraries that want to present their catalogues, and a roundtable devoted to the distribution of library titles.

Subscriptions for Heritage Online will open in early July 2020 and networking activities will take place in virtual form during Locarno Pro, from August 7-9.

 

For further information: www.locarnofestival.ch/HeritageOnline
Project Manager: markus.duffner@locarnofestival.ch

 

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