Mercury teams up with Re:Fine to launch ‘Prism’ - A New Documentary Digital Distribution Service

Adam Benzine
4 Nov 2010
© C21 Media 2010

Mercury, Re:Fine shine light on Prism

UK distributor MercuryMedia International and digital content processing facility Re:Fine are teaming up to launch a digital documentary distribution service in 2011.

The two companies have signed a partnership to launch Prism, a ‘one-stop shop’ for documentary producers to deliver films to digital platforms.

The service, which launches in January, will open up opportunities on iTunes, Blinkbox, Lovefilm, Amazon VoD and Mercury-owned Joiningthedocs.tv for producers seeking to put their films on pay-per-view platforms.

Mercury said it will act as gatekeeper in the partnership, selecting films sent in by producers to populate the platforms. Re:Fine will handle the encoding, metadata and delivery, ensuring that films chosen play optimally across the various channels.

Producers will pay a fixed fee depending upon the number of platforms they are seeking to populate and Mercury will charge a small royalty against net proceeds.

Mercury CEO Tim Sparke said: “Making a film and finding an audience for that film are separate skills. We believe that the full spectrum service that Prism offers will give documentary makers an easy and affordable way to earn revenue, reputation and audiences for the great films they produce.”

Alex Kennedy, Re:Fine’s director of business development, added: “It’s an exciting way to help level the playing field against the major film studios and bring independent films to a rapidly expanding market.”