Home Media Magazine - April 6-12, 2008 - (Page 16)

Edited by Angelique Flores www.homemediamagazine.com Butaca is protecting its content from piracy by encrypting it with digital rights management. Files are broken into thousands of six-second segments that are individually encrypted, and the file is never stored in its entirety on a user’s hard drive. This prevents illegal copying. For now Butaca is being funded by Veranda Entertainment, which Green launched four years ago with his partner, Pedro Alonzo. Veranda distributes Spanish-language broadcasting to video distributors. “Over the years, we’ve realized that there are few media outlets for the breadth and depth of Latin content,” Green said. “[Butaca] is just a natural progression.” Eventually, the Web site will be spun out completely on its own. Butaca Offers Online Rentals A By Angelique Flores new Web Site for bilingual video streams is launching next month. Butaca will offer feature films, shorts, documentaries and biographies in DVD and high-definition quality on both a pay-per-view and a free, ad-supported basis. Butaca’s panel of experts will select and moderate the content, which includes both English and Spanish programming. “We don’t want it to be out of hand,” CEO Randall Green said of the content. “This is not going to be a YouTube.” Similar to such sites as Jaman and Joost, Butaca will not only offer feature films, but also be a destination for the Butaca community to discuss Latin cinema from around the world. “We want to build a passionate community surrounding Latin cinema,” Green said. The bilingual site will feature forums, bloggers and reviewers, who Green hopes will serve as the connoisseurs and tastemakers for the site. The PPV content will be $1.95 to $3.95 with a three- to seven-day viewing period. Free, ad-supported content includes full-length movies, trailers, interviews, and behind-thescenes and making-of footage. Rights holders will determine some of the prices, which will depend on the quality and length of the video. “We’re not sure which of the models [PPV or ad-supported] will be more successful in the end,” Green said. “We think free will win in the end, but we’re going to be prepared for both.” Users can view content on either a PC or a Mac over a broadband connection. “We are focusing on open connectivity solutions between the PC and television, which could be as simple as an inexpensive cable or media center connections to forging relationships and partnerships with various consumer electronic companies and networking companies so that our interface and films will be easily accessible to the end user,” Green said. Besides offering a place for viewers to find Latino content, the site could also be attractive to content creators who distribute content on the site. Butaca splits equally with them the revenue generated from both the PPV and ad-supported models. Rights holders also have access to Butaca’s back end to monitor their own content. BRIEFS I SBS UNVEILS MEGAFILMS Spanish Broadcasting System Inc. is launching Megaﬁlms, a supplementary ﬁlm division that will generate full-length feature ﬁlms, miniseries, telenovelas and other entertainment content. The content developed and created by Megaﬁlms will be distributed domestically and internationally through theatrical release, broadcast syndication and DVD. Agustin Fernandez III, Emmy awardwinning director and screenwriter, has been named managing director of Megaﬁlms. The ﬁrst production will be announced during the second quarter, the company said. “Our entry into ﬁlmed entertainment is a natural follow-up to our 2006 debut of MegaTV,” said Raúl Alarcón, president and CEO of SBS. A Spanish-language technology section will be available at Univision.com (keyword: Tecnologia), which will offer product reviews about cell phones, MP3 players, TVs, computers and digital cameras. Exclusive videos on the site will include “First Look,” reviews on the latest contraptions; “Product Spotlight”; and “Insider Secrets” and “Quick Tips,” CNET programs that present advice on making the best use of the new technology. Haunts DVD “La Llorona is 100% part of Latino culture, stemBy Angelique Flores PRODUCT Children all over Mexico and the Southwest ming back in Mexico with La Malinche,” she said. grew up frightened by La Llorona, the ghost lady “She’s a universal female archetype. She’s a legend dressed in white who drowned her children and that belongs to the world.” wanders crying for them. Santistevan’s initial idea of the Llorona Filmmakers since the Golden Age of Mexmyth was a negative one filled with fear ican Cinema have been putting their own of the ghost. But her in-depth research on versions of the legend on the big screen. the woman found that, according to one Now Monterey Media is bringing the latest legend, she was an Aztec woman who killed story based on La Llorona to DVD June 3 her children to save the Aztec people from (prebook April 29) with The Cry ($24.95). Spanish conquest. The film takes place in New York City, Santistevan “I don’t believe she’s a negative figure,” where a woman comes under La Llorona’s she said. “She took the lives of her children spell. Unlike a lot of popular horror films, The Cry is deciding to save her people instead. But the mother devoid of violence and gore. in her came back. It was a difficult decision.” “I wanted to leave as much as possible to the imagiWith more than a dozen feature films and shorts nation,” said director-screenwriter Bernadine San- about the legendary ghost, Santistevan wanted to tistevan. “People have their own ideas, and I didn’t offer a different look at the figure she describes as a want to burst anyone’s bubble. I could never create a powerful woman of strength. monster as scary to you as the one in your head.” “Most people don’t know about the complexity of But that didn’t stop things from getting bloody who she is and where she came from,” she said. on set. The film’s post-production manager had a “That’s what sets my film apart. There’s a true funstrange incident while working on the film, when damental understanding of who La Llorona is.” tears of blood inexplicably dripped from her eyes. Santistevan is now working on a television pilot Santistevan also had a bloody experience herself that, while different from the film, is also based on during the film’s shoot involving an object that al- the Llorona legend. most took out her eye. The two experiences spooked the crew because the film’s Llorona character says, “You will cry tears of blood.” But none of that deterred Santistevan, who spent five years researching the legend for her film. She found stories of the legend not just in Mexico and the United States but also all over Latin America. ‘La Llorona’ I PRIVATE TV CHANNEL IN LATIN AMERICA LAUNCHES Private Media Group Inc. and Playboy TV Latin America will launch the Private TV channel with primary cable operators in Brazil, Argentina, Central America and the Caribbean, as well as a new VOD service for South America available in Q2 of 2008. The launch will be on NET in Brazil, Telecentro in Argentina and Telmex in Central America and the Caribbean. The expansion will allow a substantial Latin American subscriber base to purchase the channel. “Private has strong brand equity in Latin America, and we expect continued growth in the region in 2008,” said Mariano Varela, EVP and GM of Playboy TV LA. I TELEMUNDO AND TELEVISA DELIVER TOGETHER Telemundo and Grupo Televisa have come together in a 10-year multiplatform contract to license and distribute Telemundo content in Mexico, both companies have announced. The agreement calls for Televisa’s Channel 9 to air more than 1,000 hours of Telemundo original programming a year beginning in April, which allows Televisa to broaden its audience in Mexico. This deal is a chance for Telemundo to expand its market horizons beyond its domestic audience. The deal also is expected to include distribution of Telemundo content in Mexico via Internet, mobile phones, home video and VOD, the companies said. I MTV TR3S ON VERIZON Verizon Wireless and MTV have made MTV’s bilingual channel, MTV Tr3s, available on V Cast Mobile TV. The channel is exclusively offered via mobile through Verizon and includes “Sucker Free Latino,” “Karlifornia”, “Quiero Mis Quinces,” “Pimpeando” and “Rock Dinner.” According to Forrester Research’s “Hispanic Connect to Mobile Date” and the “MMA Mobile Attitude & Usage Study,” Hispanics are the largest group of consumers of mobile technology. TV Tr3s joins other channels such as MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon. – Ruby Cardenas I UNIVISION, CNET PARTNER Univision.com and product Web site CNET have engaged in a content-sharing venture to provide Hispanic consumers with breaking technology news, product reviews and original videos that will help users steer through the technology world in Spanish. Home Media Magazine April 6–12, 2008 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://Univision.com http://Univision.com

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Home Media Magazine - April 6-12, 2008

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