Vuguru hinted at this last week when news of their 2-year exclusive international sales deal with ContentFilm’s Fireworks International broke, but today comes the specifics on what led to the partnership in the first place. Fireworks has sold Vuguru’s The Booth at the End to FOX International Channels (FIC) in all territories, excluding the US and Canada.
The two-year distribution deal, which is exclusive for 18 months, plugs Booth into FIC’s 183 channels worldwide, which together boast over 875 million global subscribers. It’s a sweeping deal, arguably the most comprehensive international pickup of a web series to date, as Fox is getting internet, broadcast TV, mobile, and download-to-own rights for all durations of the series.
Durations? Yes, that’s the latest buzzword to keep handy for digital distro conversations. On the international TV marketplace anything and everything can be chopped and served up to order depending on the platform. As with most all of Fireworks’ multiplatform projects, there’s always a short form and a longer form TV-friendly version ready to go.
For Booth, it’s actually three versions that have been ordered—a 62-episode web and mobile series clocking in at around 2 to 3 minutes, a 10-episode ten-minute version and a 5-episode mini-series coming in at 22 minutes a pop. Early 2011 is the word on when it will bow internationally.
Booth comes from creator Christopher Kubasik who crafted the mystery starring 24′s Xander Berkeley as “The Man,” a solitary figure with some bizarre powers, able to grant wishes to visitors who sit down with him at his corner booth in a rundown diner. Just who he is and what his intentions are remain to be figured out. Jessica Landaw directed the project.
This isn’t the first web series out of Vuguru to get its international run before the US—think Prom Queen 3 (The Homecoming) which is only in Canada so far—it probably won’t be the last at the rate Fireworks is selling right now. It’s also shopping teen drama Pretty Tough at MIPCOM 2010 in Cannes this week, and it does have a commitment to pick up a minimum of ten multi-platform projects from Vuguru over the next two years.
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I think it’s wonderful that Vuguru is having success selling their shows internationally and Fireworks International are doing a wonderful job and show a real commitment to working hard for their clients, which is admirable. But why are international buyers more willing to pay for content than the country where the content was actually made? I worked on the last day of Booth and saw how committed and hard-working the entire cast and crew were and it’s a shame they can’t yet watch their work in their own country.
Again, this isn’t to fault Vuguru or Fireworks but c’mon U.S., step it up!
You notice I didn’t include Canada in this as even they have made strides to embrace content that began on the web, as they did with The Bannen Way.
The US is a major exporter of episodic TV/mobile/web content, and we produce a surplus of it here in the States compared to say Italy or France. So really it’s a function of the markets just working correctly.
I’m telling you it pays to have a booth (no pun intended..) at MIPCOM and the other markets. Fireworks just happens to be one of the only outfits aggressively shopping digital at these things. I think Sony is there with their digital projects too, but so far no success stories out of them yet.
[...] multi-platform distribution rights for all of Vuguru’s new productions. Fireworks in turn inked a deal with Fox International to distribute The Booth at the End in at least three different durations: a 62-episode web and [...]