What makes a film good for an online audience?
Horton: Not every film works on iTunes or Hulu or VOD. In general, we’re looking for original content, fresh voices, energy and excitement. Online audiences are very discriminating. A younger voice tends to be palatable for a lot of these films…audiences older than 60 may not work well for us. DIY comedy that can really work well is amazing; genre film that may not be “Best Picture” material works well for us. Sheehan: That’s interesting, because typically, genre film has been stigmatized as “low culture,” but it seems like you’re working to dissolve that boundary. Horton: Yeah, in the ’90s, in the early part of the decade, the term “straight to video” had such a negative connotation. Movies got theatrical release, then video, then HBO. That no longer holds. Movies are increasingly opening up on different platforms all at the same time. Way back when, something that went straight to video was automatically deemed not good enough to make theatrical release. We’re working hard to count
