LYON, France, october 8th 2009

Côté Cinéma, the leading French professional magazine for exhibitors, just opened its new web site www.cotecinema.com which was launched at the Deauville Exhibitors’ congress.

Apart from numerous services and information, the site features secure online screenings for exhibitors. Viewings of upcoming movies are made available by distributors to registered exhibitors before their theatrical release.

Côté Cinéma partners with UbicMedia, and its PUMfilms service, to launch this very innovative online screening environment specifically designed for Exhibitors.

This week, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures kicks off by showcasing never before released images of  Tim Burton’s  “Alice in Wonderland”, one of the most awaited movies of  2010 featuring Johnny Depp.

Patrick Farcy, CEO of Infoway, the owner of the Côté Cinéma brand comments: “ In the process of the opening of our professional information website www.cotecinema.com, it appeared important to be able to provide distributors with the possibility to showcase video segments in a secured mode. A number of rights holders require rigorous control over their movie excerpts, making ofs, showcases. In that context, the PUMit solution seemed to be particularly pertinent choice. We knew the DVD distribution channel very well and because we have decided to abandon it to initiate an online solution we had to work on data security.”

« With these viewing rooms, exhibitors will be able to view movies to be released in the upcoming weeks at their own pace, comments Marc Ferrieux, Sales Manager at UbicMedia.

All the advantages of the Internet are there. Exhibitors will be able to view the movies from their office, home or while on a trip. With dematerialization, the exhibitor doesn’t need to ship, stock the large amount of DVDs that he usually gets.”

« From the distributor’s side, adds Marc Ferrieux, in addition to making the exhibitor’s and distributor’s life easy, advantages are numerous and real. This solution is less expensive (time and money) as sending DVDs or setting up private viewings in theaters. These virtual screenings are completely secured which was not case with DVDs:  has the exhibitor received the DVD? Is it stored safely? The distributor can follow viewings history in real time, which optimizes the sales process and reactivity with exhibitors ». 

For Alain Rosset, UbicMedia’s Founder and President, “The PUMit solution can apply to the whole 100% secure life of a movie: from its production, sale, distribution until its online version. The trust of a Studio such as Disney in our solution for the launch of a movie which is seen as one of the major film events of 2010 is definitely motivating us in our innovative approach to better service the whole film production chain.”

« The partnership with “Côté Cinéma”, adds Alain Rosset, demonstrates the adequacy of our approach : Internet is a new medium for which services have to be reinvented and a maximum of possibilities have to be explored in terms of modern economy: Security, Monetization, and Green economy.”

Since 1995, Infoway has specialized in the operation of dynamic public displays in theaters and develops services for Exhibitors and Distributors. Its activities in this area have developed rapidly in 2004 with the creation of the “Côté Cinéma” brand. Under this name it distributes a magazine and a DVD which are the privileged channels for professional information targeted for film distributors and exhibitors. In September 2009, the DVD version is stopped and replaced by the www.cotecinema.com website. Many applications and databases are accessible on that site and many other developments will complement this initial offering within the next months.

Press contact Infoway:
Patrick Farcy – CEO – Tel:+33 1 53 24 64 24 - E-mail : pfarcy@infoway.fr

Since 2007, UbicMedia has conceived and developed PUMit a technical solution for the secure distribution and high quality viewing of contents on the Internet. With PUMit, the rights holders can benefit from viral marketing at a lower cost through a multi channel distribution of their movies on the Internet (DVD, USB key, memory card…). PUMit allows them to use a wide range of economic and promotional models that all are modifiable at any time even if content is already distributed; it respects the internet users’ privacy and liberty. The 2.0 version of PUMit was used in early 2009 by the French “Académie des CESAR” for the 2008 best short film awards selection process.