The Drive-In, Streaming Platform Where Indie Filmmakers Keep IP, Audience and Money, Sets Launch (EXCLUSIVE)

A new streaming platform aimed at independent film and supporting independent filmmakers has been unveiled. The Drive-In, a TVOD service that will operate within independent film and TV discovery app RecDek, is set to launch in October during the London Film Festival and with a founding cohort of indie filmmakers. The service will stream directly from the filmmaker’s library within the platform, which its says means that “nothing is handed over, re-uploaded or locked away.” Producers will also set their own price and keep receipts from first sale, will be able to see real time audience data and will retain their IP. If they sell a territory to a traditional distributor they have the ability to remove that territory from The Drive-In instantly. RecDek started out as an independent entertainment discovery platform app, where film and TV recommendations came from friends, family, critics and film festivals, but through its RecDek House hub has grown into a 17,000 community of directors, producers, talent, financiers and distributors. The Drive-In, according to its creators, “turns a festival-season relationship with the industry into a year-round collaboration.” Popular on Variety RecDek have partnered with direct-to-fan economy infrastructure Hiway to launch The Drive-In, which it says favours producers and filmmakers and is a “simple platform to monetise work that may otherwise never see the light of day.” “We champion the voices studios drown out, and for too long it had been unclear exactly how filmmakers get their movies distributed,” said Ed Rigg, writer/director and founder at RecDek. “Sure you can pitch, screen your work, hustle and so you should. Go after wherever you think your movie will be looked after best.” According to Rigg, the The Drive-In will “exist for when filmmakers decide to take their film’s future into their own hands” and where they can monetize work themselves. “Filmmakers keep everything that should be theirs and our community on the app, and in the wider industry, get a place to watch the shows we have been shouting about.” David Orman, founder and CEO at Hiway, said that Rigg and the RecDek team had “built one of the most connected communities” in independent film. “The missing piece was a screen of their own,” he added. “The Drive-In gives them that, on terms the industry rarely offers: every filmmaker keeps their IP, their audience and the majority of their revenue. RecDek owns the brand and the relationship, we provide the rails. The tools now exist for RecDek to run their own show.” RecDek are currently accepting filmmaker submissions via RecDekHouse.com for the The Drive-In, which will formally launch on Oct. 17.