Type of site Film Alexa rank 44,044 (April 2014) | Available in English Website www.withoutabox.com | |
Created by David Straus, Joe Neulight | ||
Withoutabox is a website founded in January 2000 by David Straus, Joe Neulight and Charles Neulight which allows independent filmmakers to self-distribute their films. The first product launched was the International Film Festival Submission system. Withoutabox works with film festivals and filmmakers all over the world. In January 2008, Withoutabox was acquired by IMDb, a subsidiary of Amazon.com.
Contents
The Withoutabox website offers filmmakers a platform to search over 3000 film festivals on five continents and to submit their films to over 850 film festivals worldwide, including festivals such as Sundance and the Toronto International Film Festival.
Festivals can request submissions via the web and manage incoming submissions electronically, instead of the traditional route of sending in screener DVDs via mail. This allows festivals to market their event to over 400,000 active filmmakers already on the Withoutabox platform, accept submission fees from them electronically, and automatically notify filmmakers for acceptance into their event. Other services includes: streaming on the Internet via IMDb, and selling DVDs and video-on-demand downloads on Amazon.com via CreateSpace.
Controversy
Withoutabox has attracted criticism in the years following its takeover in 2008 by IMDB, owned in turn by Amazon. Some filmmakers and festivals alike have accused the company of excessive charges, uncompetitive practices, outdated technology and the usual claims of aggressive litigation leveled at Amazon.