Cinedigm uses BitTorrent to Advertise Arthur Newman

Cinedigm is a movie distributor that was in charge of the independent film Arthur Newman. The company partnered with a shocking group, though: BitTorrent. BitTorrent is a file-sharing network, but it is commonly known for acts of piracy. However, on April 22, 2013, four days before the premiere of Arthur Newman, Cinedigm teamed up with the network in order to advertise for the movie by offering a free seven-minute clip of the film on the website.

Movie studios lost nearly $2 billion in revenue on potential disc sales for the top 10 pirated movies of 2012, according to a recent research report, which cited data from BitTorrent.

The analyst believes Cinedigm didn’t opt for Facebook and YouTube to promote “Newman” (besides cost) due to the fact visitors to those social media sites are looking for something other than movies. Meanwhile, people primarily frequent BitTorrent to watch movies — for free.

“We’re able to connect Cinedigm with real movie fans that actively support content creators and by doing so BitTorrent can demonstrate how we add value through continued innovation,” said Shahi Ghanem, chief strategy officer of BitTorrent, in a statement.

If Cinedigm had been looking for a shocking act of publicity, it certainly got it. After hearing and reading big businesses complain about piracy and condemn the websites that either passively or actively allow it, I am quite surprised Cinedigm was willing to fraternize with this "enemy." However, I think it was a smart move to get word out to movie-goers, especially so close to the release date. 

Source:
Gruenwedel, E. (2013, April 22). Cinedigm, BitTorrent partner for new Colin Firth, Emily Blunt movie | Home Media Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.homemediamagazine.com/digital-evolution/cinedigm-bittorrent-partner-new-colin-firth-emily-blunt-movie-30224