hollywood

Independent films have always been a valuable source of content for Netflix, but rarely was it more important than during a public relations crisis two weeks ago.

Showtime and Starz, two-high profile pay-TV services that supply Netflix, the Web's top video-rental service, with popular TV shows and films, announced that once their contracts ended they would reduce the amount of content they provide for Netflix's streaming service. Netflix's Watch Instantly service is seeing white-hot growth and managers are trying to stoke interest by acquiring more material to stream. Some Hollywood bosses have said they aren't comfortable … Read more

Amazon's new cloud service has generated a lot less angst in Hollywood than it has at the major music labels.

On Monday evening, Amazon announced the Cloud Drive, which enables users to upload e-books, songs, films, and any other digital media to Amazon's servers. Users can then access their content from any Web-connected devices. Among the major Internet companies delivering digital entertainment, Amazon is first to make good on the promise of ubiquitous access to content.

Amazon gave very little notice to the major film studios or record labels that it planned to handle their content this way, … Read more

Amazon's new unlicensed and widely written about cloud service was closely examined by the major record companies yesterday. Within each label there were debates about how to respond.

The first order of business was to determine whether Amazon violated copyright law or the terms of the company's current licensing agreements with the labels, music insiders told CNET.

Amazon spoke to some of the labels and Hollywood studios recently and informed them--some as late as March 24--that on Monday, it planned to launch Cloud Drive, a service that enables users to upload copies of their music, e-books, videos, and … Read more

Amazon has spoken with some of the major record companies and Hollywood film studios about creating a digital locker service for their film and music libraries and could announce the plans as early as next week, sources told CNET.

Sources from both the film and music industries said Amazon is working on creating a cloud locker service that would enable users to store their existing music, film, and book collections, even content not purchased at Amazon, on the company's servers.

The online merchant has yet to obtain all the necessary licenses, but Amazon managers told counterparts at the studios … Read more

By and large, the big Hollywood film studios have clung to the idea that digital downloads should be priced the same as DVDs. Sony Pictures is trying to find out if there's a better way.

On Tuesday, Sony began selling downloads of two new releases for about 13 percent less than the $15 DVD price. At Amazon.com and iTunes, "The Tourist" and "How Do You Know" could be downloaded for $12.99. Elsewhere at Amazon, the disc sold for $15. Both movies were disappointments at the box office, so the reductions seem barely to … Read more

Updated on Friday, March 18 at 4:25 p.m. PT: On Friday, Netflix announced that it had signed the deal for an original series called "House of Cards".

If media companies won't sell content to Netflix, then Netflix will find alternative ways to acquire films and TV shows.

That's the message Netflix is sending content suppliers and consumers. Deadline.com reported that Netflix is in talks to acquire Media Rights Capital's drama series "House of Cards," produced and directed by David Fincher, who directed "Social Network." The show also stars … Read more

In a bid to sweeten the consumer appeal of a new digital format that could succeed the DVD, some at the major film studios want to prevent DVD libraries from being rendered obsolete in a format upgrade.

UltraViolet (UV) is the name of new technology standards expected to debut this summer that Hollywood hopes will help reignite the public's interest in collecting movies and cauterize the bleeding in their home-video divisions. UV was created by a consortium that includes all the big film studios--with the exception of Disney--and numerous movie-sector allies, such as Microsoft, Nokia, Sony, Comcast and Netflix. … Read more

Netflix is fixed on movie rentals and isn't interested in selling films anytime soon.

That's what leaders from the Web's top video-rental service have told some of Hollywood's largest film companies, industry insiders told CNET over the past week. In licensing talks with Netflix, execs from the film studios have offered better terms if the video service agreed to add "buy" buttons.

Netflix, which mails DVDs as well as streams video to people who pay monthly subscription fees, has always declined to sell individual movies, the sources said. Managers there have told studio counterparts … Read more

LOS ANGELES--Hollywood film executives want you to know that they are not at war with Netflix or the Internet.

Some of them told me over the past week that they have every intention to continue to distribute films and TV shows over the Web and at attractive prices to boot. They plan to provide viewers with a multitude of ways to access Internet content: on Web-connected handhelds and TVs, video game consoles, and iPads.

Only, don't ask them to do all this at the expense of the long-term health of their business. The general feeling with the studio executives … Read more