Sundance Award-Winning Filmmaker Streams New Green Film through Publicvine

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Category: Entertainment News

Published on Friday, 23 January 2015 08:30

Written by Janet Walker

Publicvine presents Sundance Award-Winning Producer Greg Reitman's screening of his new film ROOTED IN PEACE at the I-Heart Lounge on Park City's Main Street on January 24, 2015 located in the heart of Sundance on Main Street in Park City, Utah.

The film will be screened using PublicVine, the social video marketplace, followed by a live question and answer session and after party with Reitman, PublicVine's Founder/CEO Nam Mokwunye, and producer/writer Scott Zarakin.

PublicVine Becomes A Boon to Filmmakers

PublicVine, which was designed at Stanford University by Nam Mokwunye, is the online and mobile social video marketplace-a platform, where video content vendors and consumers connect, transact, and get paid.

PublicVine is venture-backed with $5.6 million and is partnering with film festivals, filmmakers, distributors, and other "video content vendors" to redefine the industry in a manner that is transparent, fair, and safe. Both video content vendors and consumers benefit from PublicVine's social invite, viral revenue sharing, and social apps systems.

Much like a "video mall in the cloud", PublicVine allows video content vendors to set up unlimited channels and video stores from which they can rent out or sell video content directly to consumers. These transactions can happen in three streaming modes: video on demand (VOD), live programs, and TV/Radio broadcasts.

When consumers rent or buy video content, it appears in their video library. They can also invite friends in their social network to rent or buy those videos. And when they do, they make a commission. And they can also make commissions on their friends' commissions.

But just as important to filmmakers is PublicVine's international reach. Through its relationship with global telecom operators, PublicVine offers video content vendors access to the 3 billion smart-device consumers in over 200 countries in which it is transactional. With no downloading, video content vendors retain 100% control of their video content, and can receive up to 79% of transaction revenue on each of their videos. Video content vendors can also make up to 79% on ad revenue and 20% of apps revenue that is generated on their channel(s). There is no fee to register, no NDAs, no exclusivity, and no loyalty contract.

"When releasing films today, one of the most important issues is being able to reach the widest available audience while retaining as much financial control as possible. PublicVine's platform provides a perfect balance for releasing our new film, ROOTED IN PEACE. When it comes to reaching consumers for digital transactions on a world-wide level, PublicVine's platform is going to be a game-changer for filmmakers," Reitman said.

After sponsoring the 2014 International Film Festival Summit (IFFS), PublicVine is now also enabling film festivals to cut costs and make money.

Unlike other submissions platforms, film festivals retain 100% of their submission fees when they curate submissions and screenings directly through their channel(s) on the PublicVine platform. Further, film festivals can make up to 79% of revenue on films they source, and 10% on films they curate.

ROOTED IN PEACE challenges viewers to examine their values as Americans and human beings. Reitman poses the basic question of "How do we want to live?", inviting viewers on a film journey to take notice of the world around them, proactively seek ways to find personal and ecological peace, and stop the cycle of violence. The film relies not only on memoir, but also interviews with such authorities as Deepak Chopra, media mogul Ted Turner, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

"Greg Reitman's screening of ROOTED IN PEACE from his channel on PublicVine could be a first in film history," says Mokwunye. "This screening only gives us a glimpse of what is possible with PublicVine and what opportunities lie ahead for the industry-particularly for the 97% of filmmakers whose creations never make money. As a formerly practicing fine artist, I personally understand how important it is to receive pragmatic opportunities. PublicVine is one of those."

The Q & A will include Greg Reitman, Nam Mokwunye and Scott Zarakin as panelists. Bio's follow.

Greg Reitman

Greg Reitman is the founder of Blue Water Entertainment, Inc., an independent production company focusing on environmentally conscious entertainment.

Widely regarded as Hollywood's "Green Producer," Greg produced the 2008 SUNDANCE Audience Award-winning feature documentary "FUEL." He wrote, produced, and directed the feature documentary "HOLLYWOOD'S MAGICAL ISLAND- CATALINA" (PBS) and returns back on the festival circuit with his latest revolutionary feature documentary film, "ROOTED in PEACE." He's currently in development on the motion picture film: "The Roni Levi Story."  

Nam Mokwunye

Nam Mokwunye is Founder/CEO of PublicVine. Nam designed PublicVine while a Reuters Foundation Digital Vision Fellow and a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University. He has been a cross-cultural leader for 20 years in the confluence of design, telecom, and strategy consulting. Nam led XS Broadband, West Africa's largest broadband wireless operator that was bought by MTN, the world's tenth largest telecom operator. Then, for Vitalwave Consulting, a boutique Silicon Valley strategy consulting firm, Nam lead teams that delivered on projects across the African continent, commissioned by such blue chip organizations as The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, The World Bank, and Johnson & Johnson. Nam lives in his hometown of Florence, Alabama with his wife, and does push-ups, plays soccer, sprints, and bikes for fun.

Scott Zarakin

In 1995, Scott Zakarin created The Spot, which was the first interactive, narrative web series. The Spot was the inaugural recipient of Infoseek's "Cool Site of the Year," ("Webby" Award).

Zakarin went on to achieve over 2 billion video views throughout his career. These views were achieved through projects such as Roommates,the first original series produced by Myspace; and an interactive, transmedia website called TheFishBowl.com, which spawned the E! Entertainment Network show, Kill Reality, as well as the feature film, The Scorned.

Zakarin has also produced several pop culture documentaries including Mind Meld, featuring William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, as well as Comic Book: The Movie, starring Mark Hamill. Other collaborations include the interactive, celebrity network, Entertainment Asylum, for AOLwith media pioneer Brandon Tartikoff. Zakarin also directed and produced Stan Lee's Mutants, Monsters, & Marvels, featuring Kevin Smith.

Zakarin's current new media venture, Rush It Network, is the first Content Connected Network (CCN), which features interconnected shows and characters. At the center of the network is the web series, "The Spinoffs," a comedy/drama featuring multiple vloggers living under one roof as they build their online audience and success, all the while dealing with the challenges of life and each other. Each character's show, featuring their specific interest and unique personality, "spins off" into their own, separate channel, each of which is being introduced at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.

 PublicVine is the online and mobile social video marketplace where video content vendors and consumers connect, transact, and get paid. PublicVine was designed by Founder/CEO Nam Mokwunye while he was a visiting scholar and social entrepreneurial fellow at Stanford University. In December 2013, PublicVine closed a $5.6m Series A deal with Joel R. Anderson, Chairman of Anderson Media, the largest DVD and CD distributor in the USA. In June 2014, PublicVine soft-launched the "video mall in the cloud" and is currently registering new video content vendors and consumers.