CineGoGo explains how they take films from the festival circuit and distribute them to the nontheatrical/semitheatrical market on HD.

A few weeks ago, Snag Films announced, by way of their subsidiary media outlet indieWIRE, that they had just closed an exciting deal with Cinetic Rights Management that would add over a hundred films to their catalogue and (in a curious bit of math) “add hundreds” more films to the documentary sharing widget’s playlist.

Cinetic has been very aggressive in their placement of films, and if one looks at the various online film channels and markets, the fruits of their labour are evident. Joost, Jaman, Hulu, Snag, Amazon, Netflix Watch Instantly, E-Z Takes and others are all flush with the riches of Cinetic filmy goodness. The same titles, in fact, on most of these online venues are featured (primarily because Cinetic seems to be repping a handful of high-profile catalogue titles and a host of things that no one has ever heard of).

This wouldn’t be so noticeable if so few other “independent” distributors had come in quite so vigorously. Magnolia and IFC are making a push; as VOD distributors already, going to the internet for some beta distribution there seems natural. Criterion is online on their own site / The Auteurs, but isn’t sullying itself so far by spreading out into ad-supported channels and other free options. Right now, free is largely owned by studios, TV, and Cinetic.

But are free channels like Joost appealing if the selection is limited? Have you come across free movie sites with more selection of quality film? Does something like The Auteurs fill this niche, or Jaman? Do enough people really care about independent film to make it viable and profitable in an ad-supported model? Can Cinetic make money if they are competing with themselves?

I admit while I have been tempted by the Roku Box, I haven’t actually watched much of anything on a TV in quite a while. This will change as I am going to take the plunge with Boxee, the open-source solution from NYC that allows you to hook up a Mac or Linux computer to your TV (but in a user-friendly way) to watch online video including Netflix Watch Instantly and DVDs, photos, etc. It also works with the Apple TV box. The NY Times says the company has a problem because it is replacing too many of the revenue streams that make these type of consumer sales possible- but for the time being, it’s pretty cool!