Press

Intertainer Shuts; CEO Vows Return - The Hollywood Reporter

By: Chris Marlowe

Intertainer, a pioneer in Internet on demand entertainment said it will halt operations Wednesday while its antitrust lawsuit against the major studios plays out.

CEO, Jonathan Taplin is confident that Intertainer will be back up and running after the legal matter is resolved.

Other companies that deliver movies over the Internet were less certain that Taplin's company will return. MovieFlix co-founder, Robert Moskovits said Intertainer's problems were the result of a fundementally impossible business model. "They license movies up front," Moskovits said. "We don't do it that way. We use a royalty pot method: Give us your film, you'll get a percentage of the number of times your movie is watched and hopefully we'll all make money."

Moskovits said he did not believe that Intertainer's situation boded ill for the concept of delivering VOD over the Internet. The four year old MovieFlix has over 750,000 registered members, and over 6,500 of whom subscribe to the premium MovieFlix Plus service launched a year ago. Unlike Intertainer, however, it does not provide content from the major studios in its library of over 2,500 movies in all genres.

October 18-20, 2002 - The Hollywood Reporter

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Intertainer Shutters the Show -- for Now - L.A. Times

By: Jon Healey

The video-on-demand firm wants to have a working model for its deal with movie studios.

Intertainer Inc., a pioneering Culver City video-on-demand company, won't be entertaining anyone for a while. Chief Executive Jonathan Taplin announced Thursday that Intertainer would suspend its operations Oct. 23.

Financed by such corporate heavyweights as Sony, Intel Corp. and Comcast Corp., Intertainer developed one of the first services delivering entertainment on demand to TV sets and computers. Using technology from another investor -- Microsoft Corp. -- it transmitted copy-protected movies securely through digital cable systems or high-speed Internet services.

Intertainer blames its Hollywood suppliers for its troubles. Some of its competitors, however, blame Intertainer for spending too much at a time when the potential market is small and demand is weak.

Robert Moskovits, co-founder of rival MovieFlix.com, said Intertainer was done in by its own ambition.

"They collapsed under the weight of these deals," said Moskovits, whose company has yet to strike any deals with major studios. "These deals were supposed to make them the biggest, the baddest, the best ... [but] there just wasn't the demand to do that."

In particular, Moskovits said, the shortage of high-speed Internet connections and the Net's technological shortcomings prevent companies from delivering a high-quality video-on-demand service to the masses. "It's going to get better some day," he said, "but it's not there yet."

October 18, 2002 - L.A. Times

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MovieFlix Becomes Internet's Largest Virtual Movie Theater With More Than 2,500 Movies To Choose From - MovieFlix.com Press Release

Hollywood, CA (September 23, 2002) - MovieFlix (http://www.movieflix.com), the leading broadband movie provider on the Web, today announced that its movie library, available for online viewing, has surpassed the 2,500 movie title mark, making it the Internet's largest virtual movie theater. The milestone marks a more than 2,500% increase in the company's selection of titles since its launch on October 1, 1998 and reflects the tremendous growth and popularity of online movie viewing as well as the strength of the video on demand marketplace overall.

"The enormous growth of MovieFlix is a direct reflection of the tremendous popularity of online movie viewing as well as a rapid adoption rate of broadband," said Opher Mizrahi, CEO and co-founder of MovieFlix.com. "We are certain that our huge selection, convenience and our best of breed content will continue to make MovieFlix the leading source of high-quality on line movie viewing for consumers worldwide."

September 23, 2002 - MovieFlix.com Press Release

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Surgient's eQ2500 Improves Streaming Capacity for MovieFlix.com - CBS MarketWatch

MovieFlix.com Reduces Costs and Enhances Viewing Experience With New Technology

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. and AUSTIN, Texas, Jul 29, 2002 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- MovieFlix.com, the leading broadband movie provider on the Web and Surgient Networks, a next-generation platform company that addresses the scalability and manageability issues of a distributed computing infrastructure, today announced that MovieFlix.com will deploy Surgient's streaming technology to handle its growing subscriber demand for on-line movie entertainment.

MovieFlix.com delivers an impressive library of full-length movies, short films, Independent films and television shows currently using Microsoft's Windows Media and RealNetworks' Real Player technology to more than 650,000 registered members and to its 5,500 MovieFlix Plus paying monthly subscribers. With an average subscriber retention rate of more than 80 percent, MovieFlix.com has quickly become one of the most successful on-line movie entertainment services on the Web today.

"By partnering with such best-of-breed technology providers as Surgient Networks, we are assuring our customers and subscribers the highest quality broadband service available," said Opher Mizrahi, MovieFlix.com CEO. "Technology is key to improving service levels and managing operating expense, and Surgient has proven that its eQ2500 product can easily accomplish both tasks."

Surgient's eQ2500 serves up to 17,000 on-demand streams and 14,000 live streams from a single, 3.5" high (2 rack unit) storage, compute, and networking convergence platform. It can easily take the place of up to 20 traditional servers and requires less labor to manage. Unlike ordinary servers or caching appliances, the eQ2500 assures stream set-up times of less than four seconds regardless of system load. Combined with industry-leading performance and a system application level quality of service management, the eQ2500 yields not only the lowest cost-per-stream but also streams with consistently high quality. Surgient's eQ2500 streams Windows Media-formatted content and RealNetworks media streaming formats.

"Surgient offers MovieFlix.com an immediate solution to its broadband streaming needs, and can quickly scale to handle peak streaming times and future customer growth," said Scott Johnson, Surgient President. "The management capabilities of Surgient's platform enables MovieFlix.com to create different classes of service for paying subscribers and registered customers, thus assuring that paying subscribers enjoy premium treatment and a high value-add experience."

"In today's Internet world, performance and cost-efficiency have assumed a new importance," said Peter Christy, co-founder of NetsEdge Research in Altos, CA. "By selecting Surgient's unique Switch Server and streaming application, MovieFlix.com is adding real-world value to their business and is ensuring that their customers benefit from the latest in content delivery technology."

July 29, 2002 - CBS MarketWatch

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MovieFlix Surpasses 5,000 Paying Customers - BroadbandWeek

By: Susan Rush

Streaming full-length movies over the Internet continues to gain in popularity, and more people are now willing to pay for premium content, says MovieFlix. The web-based broadband movie provider has turned 5,000 members into paying customers.

In November, MovieFlix said it topped the half a million-member mark -- in February 2001 the company had 250,000 registered members accessing its free-film database. MovieFlix's library consists of more than 2,300 titles covering 30 categories.

MovieFlix Plus, a fee-based service, was launched last August as a companion to the company's free movie service. For a monthly fee, subscribers access to premium-only content, exclusive online movie screenings, personalized movie recommendations, online movie premieres and celebrity and filmmaker interviews.

MovieFlix Plus offers members hundreds of full-length movies, short films, independent films and televisions shows for $4.95 a month. The service has attracted more 2,000 members since November when the service had roughly 3,000 members. The company attributes its 2,300 movie titles, 24/7-customer service, ease of use and convenience for the spike in membership.

"While we've entered new territory by charging for feature length movies on the Web, our members have demonstrated their willingness to pay for best-on-breed content," says Opher Mizrahi, MovieFlix CEO.

MovieFlix has partnered with several industry heavyweights, including AOL Time Warner, ALWAYSi, BigStar.com, Covad, iFilm, iSyndicate, NBCi, RealNetworks, RoadRunner, Rogers Communications, Screaming Media, TV Guide, Yack.com, Yahoo and Zap Media to ensure the delivery of its content to broadband users.

April 22, 2002 - BroadbandWeek

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Over 5,000 Members Paying $4.95 A Month To Watch Movies On MovieFlix.com - MovieFlix.com Press Release

Ease of Use, Best-of-Breed Content and Free 24X7 Customer Service by Phone Account for an Over 80% Member Retention Rate.

Hollywood, CA (April 22, 2002) - MovieFlix (http://www.MovieFlix.com), the leading broadband movie provider on the Web, today announced that MovieFlix Plus, the Internets leading premium movie subscription service, has surpassed 5,000 monthly active paying members. Contributing to this strong membership growth is the popularity of the over 2,300 broadband movie titles as well the unique combination of best-of-breed content, free 24X7 customer service by phone, ease of use and convenience. MovieFlix Plus act's as a companion to MovieFlix's existing free movies. As part of the $4.95 monthly fee MovieFlix Plus members enjoy benefits and premium services available exclusively to subscribers, including access to best-of-breed premium-only content, exclusive online movie screenings, personalized movie recommendations, online movie premieres, celebrity and filmmaker interviews and free 24x7 customer service by phone.

"We're thrilled by the early success and strong momentum of the MovieFlix Plus subscription service and surpassing this milestone of 5,000 paying subscribers," said Opher Mizrahi, CEO and Co-Founder. "While we've entered new territory by charging for feature length movies on the Web, our members have demonstrated their willingness to pay for best in breed content. We'll continue to aggressively market to our base of over 1/2 million members and convert as many as possible to MovieFlix Plus."

April 22, 2002 - MovieFlix.com Press Release

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Watching Movies Online - Techlink

Click here to watch nationally syndicated Tony Kinkela's report on MovieFlix.com.

March 30, 2002 - Techlink

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MovieFlix to Offer Catalog Titles In WMP Format - Video Store Magazine

By: Holly J. Wagner

Broadband Internet movie provider MovieFlix will offer films that run on Microsoft's Windows Media Player. MovieFlix promises to offer full length movies, short films, independent films and television shows streamed in the popular Windows Media format to its premium movie customers, starting with an opening slate of 50 titles. MovieFlix chose Microsoft's Windows Media Video 8 technology because it offers high quality video in the smallest file size and bandwidth.

March 24-30, 2002 - Video Store Magazine

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MovieFlix taps Microsoft's Windows Media - C|net

By: Gwendolyn Mariano

Online film provider MovieFlix says it will use Microsoft's Windows Media technologies to deliver films over the Web. The company said it will offer more than 50 movies and TV shows in the Windows Media format to its premium customers. Through the deal, Microsoft will also feature several MovieFlix films at its WindowsMedia.com Web site. Some of the movies--available in both dial-up and broadband streams-- will include "The Chinese Connection," "A Boy and His Dog" and "Little Shop of Horrors."

Founded in 1998, MovieFlix has forged alliances with companies including AOL Time Warner, Ifilm, NBC Internet, RealNetworks, Yahoo and TV Guide.

March 19, 2002 - C|net

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MovieFlix Selects Microsoft's Windows Media Video To Deliver High Quality Movies And TV Shows - MovieFlix.com Press Release

Hollywood, CA (March 18, 2002) - MovieFlix (http://www.MovieFlix.com), the leading broadband movie provider on the Web, today announced that it has chosen Microsoft Windows Media Technologies to deliver full-length movies, short films, independent films and television shows streamed in the popular Windows Media Format to its premium movie customers. Initially, MovieFlix will offer more than 50 movies and television shows in the Windows Media Format to its premium customers with plans to further expand its Windows Media library of content.

MovieFlix chose Microsoft's Windows Media Video 8 technology because it offers high-quality video in the smallest file size and bandwidth, ensuring their members an optimal movie viewing experience for streaming while lowering bandwidth and storage costs.

"For us delivery of a quality experience is everything," said Opher Mizrahi, CEO and Co-Founder. "Windows Media Video delivers that experience for our customers and gives us tremendous reach to over 350 million Windows Media players around the world in a real-time on-demand environment."

Microsoft will feature several MovieFlix movies at WindowsMedia.com (http://windowsmedia.com), including "The Chinese Connection," starring Bruce Lee, "A Boy and His Dog," starring Don Johnson and "Little Shop of Horrors," starring Jack Nicholson. These movies will be available in both narrowband and broadband streams.

"MovieFlix is an important addition to creating a broad choice of online movie services for consumers," said Michael Aldridge, lead product manager, Windows Digital Media Division at Microsoft Corp. "This is also a great example of how the breakthrough quality of Windows Media makes it the leading choice for powering video subscription services on the Web."

March 18, 2002 - MovieFlix.com Press Release

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