Ken Tipton and River City Entertainment are bypassing traditional movie distribution methods and formats and will use the Web to show their movie “Heart of the Beholder” directly to consumers. Unable to get the movie shown in theaters, Tipton decided to serialize it into small sections and offer it for free at http://beholder.com/webtheater.
River City Entertainment says “Heart of the Beholder” is based on “a true story of censorship and intolerance” and that it has won more best feature film awards than any other independent movie.
But, the company says, movie distributors saw “Heart of the Beholder” as “too controversial” to be distributed and consequently it has “been banned from theaters.”
So the company and its Beholder Productions decided to try the Net and offer the flick directly to consumers. It’ll use Brightcove’s Internet video platform to put the movie online.
Executive producer Darlene Lieblich said, “Many people assume our movie trashes religion or people of faith. It doesn’t. Our movie is about the abuse of power – both religious and political.”
Tipton says “Heart of the Beholder” is based on the true story of his family, but he was frustrated by the 12 years it took to make the movie and the distributors’ reluctance to distribute it.
“It’s time for a revolution in independent movie distribution,” Tipton said. “We will open a new worldwide venue where independent filmmakers can showcase their passion projects for free and share in advertising revenue.”
High-quality digital downloads of the movie are also available for rent or purchase.