Editor

Aiming at better serving the festival community worldwide the industry leaders have struck an alliance that was announced at the recent festival Summit in Las Vegas. THE NEW CO OP SERVICES AND MARKETING SUITES WILL BE ANNOUNCED SHORTLY.
Withoutabox, Inc., the media company comprising the world’s largest independent film network and FilmFestivals.com, the leading information and practical application services for the film festival community, have struck a strategic alliance aimed at providing an unprecedented range of marketing solutions to film festival professionals both in North America and across Europe and Asia. Withoutabox CEO and co-founder David Straus and FilmFestivals.com CEO Malo Girod de l'Ain and COO Bruno Chatelin announced the association, after officially kicking it off at the annual International Film Festival Summit this week at the Luxor Hotel and Resort in Las Vegas.

Through this alliance, the two companies will offer a suite of marketing services and information sources for filmmakers and film festivals around the world. Withoutabox Submissions, the Company’s proprietary signature product and FilmFestivals.com’s extensive news resources and long time International presence provides combined resources that allow film festivals and filmmakers alike to fully promote and monetize their work.

Filmmakers will be able to submit their films to festivals using the Withoutabox submission engine directly from the FilmFestivals.com website. The association will also allow an ongoing information exchange among festival directors, staff, and filmgoers through Withoutabox’s message boards and the Company’s Audience social networking platform.

In turn, FilmFestivals.com will provide Withoutabox with up-to-the-minute news from festivals in Europe and beyond, and will serve as a conduit for filmmakers and festivals to join Withoutabox and reap the benefits of Audience. With more than 100,000 filmmakers and over 700 partner festivals — plus a total of over 2,000 festivals in its database — Withoutabox is the most significant network of independent filmmakers and festivals in the world.

“This is a natural alliance for us, one that allows us to provide even greater services for our member filmmakers and festivals,” Mr. Straus noted. “For years, FilmFestivals.com has been a go-to site for anyone interested in news about festivals, and we’re thrilled that we can now give their users access to our Submissions system.”

“Our alliance with Withoutabox provides international film festivals from our network with greater access to a wider range of independent film than ever before,” Mr. Girod de L’Ain said.

FilmFestivals.com COO Bruno Chatelin added: “This alliance of two industry leaders offers the market new and improved solutions. This is a win-win-win situation, for FilmFestivals.com, Withoutabox and the festival community.”

About Withoutabox, Inc.
Withoutabox offers online tools and services that make it The Network for Independents. In operation since 2000, the Company developed the proprietary Withoutabox Submissions, which connects more than 100,000 filmmakers to more than 2,000 film festivals worldwide, including 700-plus online submission partners. It is now a powerful advocate for the independent film community, helping filmmakers maximize the value of their work. Withoutabox members consistently win film festival honors and have received dozens of Oscar nominations — and have won the Academy Award many times. AUDIENCE BY WITHOUTABOX connects filmmakers, film lovers, distributors, exhibitors, and others via blogs, reviews, ticketing services and more. THE WITHOUTABOX DISTRIBUTION LAB serves as a self-distribution company and real-world testing ground for innovations in releasing. The Company’s FILM FINDERS division, acquired in 2006, is the world’s preeminent film production and rights database and consulting company, To learn more, visit www.withoutabox.com.

About FilmFestivals.com

Non stop film festivals, nothing but festivals. The leading worldwide online media for festival news serving the international community since 1995; with up to 3 million page views a month. The only online media strictly dedicated to festival activities includes festival directory, news and awards and specific services for festivals looking for international entries. FilmFestivals.com offers a unique opportunity to reach filmmakers who wish to submit their film or short to festival for consideration. The site has a database of 15 000 films and 3 900 film festivals and approximately 9 000 leading entertainment journalists. www.filmfestivals.com The company is launching its videoblog platform http://www.fest21.com that allows festival ambiance blogging and film showcase with 2 clicks upload free process. Both sites are published by MM2 Editions. To learn more visit www.mm2editions.com/us/