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MOVIELINK LIFTS OFF: The goal of video-on-demand (VOD) service Movielink's Nov. 11 launch is to educate consumers about this method of viewing movies and gradually expand the VOD market, company CEO Jim Ramo says.

Movielink (a joint venture with Warner Bros., MGM, Paramount, Sony, and Universal that is accessible at movielink.com) enables consumers to download approximately 175 separate movies for $2.99-$4.99 per film. Two-thirds of the titles are classic films; the remainder are new releases.

Once a film has been downloaded to a user's computer hard drive, it is accessible for up to 30 days. After a consumer views the film (through either the RealNetworks or Windows Media player) the title will then be available for 24 hours. When that time is up, the title will be automatically deposited in the user's recycle bin. Consumers will also be able to view film extras, such as actor interviews or music videos, after a film is purchased.

"This is a modest market in comparison to different channels of distribution," Ramo says, "so this is very much a building process rather than a 'take over the world' process. We're dealing with a brand-new platform and the need to develop a culture of people watching movies on [Internet protocol]-enabled devices. That's a long process. We can hopefully open new channels."

Movielink is not launching with great fanfare or marketing dollars, because "here the footprint is only about 25 million homes, about 15 million broadband [users], and about 10 million dorm rooms," Ramo says. "If you were to spend a lot of money, you still wouldn't get the results or the return off your big spend. We are gearing for a five-year business plan, with profitability toward the end of the term. I don't know that financially we are going to affect the industry right off." Instead, the company is doing a "soft" launch, with a 90-day trial period to garner feedback from consumers. It will then tweak aspects of the service as needed.

Movielink has been the recent target of antitrust allegations from independent VOD service Intertainer, which filed a suit claiming that Movielink partners AOL Time Warner, Vivendi Universal, and Sony were attempting to fix prices in the VOD market through its new service (Billboard, Oct. 12). "I think the companies went to extremes to ensure the pro-competitiveness of the venture," Ramo explains. "They have certainly agreed to sell to us on a nonexclusive basis and can definitely sell to our competitor. They set the retail price of their product. They determine the timing of [a film's] availability. We think we have hit [these issues] head-on. [Movielink] has the right ingredients to cause [VOD] to be successful, and when it is, the whole channel opens up for everybody."



WOMEN, TAKE NOTE: Lovely & Amazing is perhaps one of the most provocative films dealing with women's issues, including body image, career, and romantic and familial relationships. With its Nov. 26 DVD release ($24.99) by Lions Gate Home Entertainment, the film's writer/director Nicole Holofcener is hoping the project will attract a wider legion of viewers.

The film stars Brenda Blethyn as a mother dealing with aging and the problems of raising her adopted African-American 8-year-old. Her grown daughters are played by Catherine Keener, who deals with a floundering career and a loveless marriage, and Emily Mortimer, whose actress character is obsessed with her looks and is unable to form lasting romantic relationships.

Holofcener says many of the film's issues directly relate to events in her own life. For example, "after Walking and Talking [the 1996 film she wrote/directed], I had a hard experience when I was photographed," she explains. "For some fashion magazines, they dolled me up and made me look like a man in drag. I struggled with not speaking out to the stylist. That inspired Emily Mortimer's character."



NEWS BITS: MGM Home Entertainment is ending its distribution deal with Warner Home Video in Canada. Starting next April, MGM will distribute its own titles there . . . Playboy Home Video celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. The company was No. 1 on the Billboard Top Video Labels year-end chart in 1995, 1996, and 2000.