Last December, at an Apple Store panel hosted by indieWIRE in Gotham, a group of the film community's most respected indie film bloggers was asked which blog had the best, most relevant content for hardcore cinephiles. The answer was unanimous: GreenCine (
daily.greencine.com).
The blog is the brainchild of David Hudson, an American expat who edits the site from his home base in Berlin. "When (New York Times film critic) Manohla Dargis was in Berlin a couple of years ago, she told me she sees the blog as a daily briefing," explains Hudson.
But the blog is only one part of GreenCine's operation.
Since 2002, the San Francisco-based Netco has been offering film fanatics titles they might not be able to find on Netflix or anywhere else. It's also been a pioneer in video-on-demand rentals and is offering a third of its 30,000-film catalog for temporary download.
Earlier this year, GreenCine launched a sell-through service. Filmmakers receive a share of the profits: $1.50 for each rental transaction and $5 for each download.
Co-founder and managing partner Dennis Woo, who started GreenCine as a side project of eLine, another Bay Area technology company, says, "We're known for having a very extensive catalog, including thousands of titles even our behemoth competitors don't touch."
But, he adds, what sets GreenCine apart from the competition is its ongoing connection with serious film lovers: "I don't think Netflix suits would go out into local pubs to host trivia nights and carouse with its members.
"Bigger groups oriented solely toward commerce are less interested in forming bonds with their members and between members; we're looking for ways to interact with them and to guide them better, both on the site and through events."
As a result, GreenCine has a loyal following from its readers, renters and the filmmakers whose work it has distributed.
"My experience with them has been nothing but wonderful -- they have been consistently honest, responsive and farsighted," says helmer Caveh Zahedi, who worked closely with GreenCine to release his early work on DVD. "I only read the blog occasionally -- I'm not a big blog reader -- but whenever I do, I'm always stunned by the depth and breadth of the writing that goes on there. They seem to know everything that is happening."
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