Berlin 2012: Cinando Adds DVD Downloads

11:33 AM PST 2/12/2012 by Georg Szalai

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The film industry database operated by the Marche du Film of the Cannes Film Festival has updated its look and functionality.

BERLIN - Cinando, the film industry database operated by the Marche du Film of the Cannes Film Festival, has redesigned its Web site and added new features. Among them is one that lets sellers allow buyers to download films onto DVDs.

Buyers have already been able to stream movies on the site. Now, sellers can additionally offer DVD downloads for 1.20 euros.

"We saw that some buyers still want to watch the film offline," explained Jerome Paillard, executive director of the Marche du Film. "They can now watch them on DVD while traveling or at home in front of their big LCDs."

Cinando creates the watermarked DVDs, allowing sellers to cut down on costs and time spent on mailing out screeners. "It is faster than going through Fedex and saves money," Paillaird said.

By clicking on the site's "manage rights and invitations" function, a company can choose to authorize distributors, sales agents or festivals to stream or download a DVD. Users can also pick countries, in which a film can be seen. "And in the next few weeks, we will launch the same function for the iPad," allowing buyers to download a film to their tablet, he added.

Cinando's video library currently has about 2,500 films, according to Paillard. Films available for streaming often get 20-150 views, he said.

The redesign and new functionality of Cinando.com, which is the main database for film markets from Cannes to Berlin, Toronto and AFM, launched on Friday. The site, whose tagline is "More Than Just A Database," also sports a new logo, home page and expanded search functions.

Paillard promises "more accurate search capabilities," including notifications if new film additions to the database meet criteria of a saved search for, say, European mid-budget films.

Cinando gets about 10 million page views a year, according to the executive. Industry people who participate in any of the affiliated film markets get free access to it. Others can use the site for 85 euros a year.

Email: Georg.Szalai@thr.com

Twitter: @georgszalai