The company Megogo, which is an online cinema, plans to expand its activities to the film distribution industry. The Megogo intends to become the first company in the post-Soviet space, engaged in media product distribution, and to be inside the top ten in the film distribution market.
According to the RBC information agency, to enter this market, the company set up the Megogo Distribution unit, and concluded a partnership agreement with the Top Film Distribution Corporation dealing with distributing film products for eight years. As clarified by Victor Chekanov, CEO at Megogo Russia, to expand its business successfully, the Megogo opted for the film distribution market professionals to be its partners.
According to the agreement, the Megogo gains distribution rights for 7 movies, and the Top Film Distribution reserves other rights for these films, such as PayTV, FreeTV and others. According to the Top Film’s founder Vladimir Artemenko, the box-office returns from distributing these movies (among them there are “Beyond Skyline”, “Mechanic Resurrection”, “Offender”) should amount to near RUB 1.5-2 billion. The release of “Offender”, according to information posted on the Top Film’s website, is scheduled as early as on April 14.
In the future, according to Mr. Chekanov, the Megogo Distribution is not going to be limited just to the film distribution, but to acquire a full range of rights, including online views. The company also anticipates premiere screenings of new films without the Top Film’s intermediary. The time gap between the firm screenings in cinemas and its online views will be determined under the terms agreed with the right owners. The Megogo does not give any specific details of its agreements with partners.
So far, the Megogo’s film distribution activity will be limited to the Russian Federation, but in the future, the company plans to expand it all over the post-Soviet space. The company sets a challenging task to enter the top ten in the film distribution market by the end of this year.
