Film Tech Firm Gathr Rolls Out Pay-It-Forward Model, Claiming Greater Transparency Than ‘Sound Of Freedom’ Distributor Angel Studios
13.06.2024 - 20:13
/ deadline.com
EXCLUSIVE: Film-focused tech firm Gathr is rolling out a pay-it-forward distribution model with what the company says is greater transparency than schemes like the one used by Angel Studios on 2023 blockbuster Sound of Freedom.
A handful of films are set to deploy the model in the coming months: Brown, directed by Raj Amit Kumar; Christspiracy (Kip Andersen and Kameron Waters); The Sixth (Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine); and Call Me Dancer (Leslie Shampaine). Gathr will host a workshop to walk filmmakers through the new offering at the DC/DOX festival in Washington, D.C., which opens tonight.
Founded in 2011, Gathr is known for its event management platform, which integrates filmmakers, talent, audiences and venues and integrating ticketing, merchandising and other revenue lines. The company’s signature project was Girl Rising, which took in $1.85 million at the box office in 2013, the fourth-best tally of any documentary feature that year. The company says more than 500 filmmakers have used its various services, among them Michael Moore, Dawn Porter, Jimmy Chinn, Ken Burns, Julia Cohen and Oliver Stone. It has facilitated more than 33,000 screening events, with more than 750,000 tickets sold.
The new pay-it-forward feature allows moviegoers and backers of films to buy a ticket for someone else as a gift. It then provides them with real-time data as to when and how that ticket is being used, a degree of transparency the company says is unique in the industry. (After questions and rumors swirled in film circles after the left-field success of Sound of Freedom, Angel Studios execs eventually released financials from the pay-it-forward effort.)
Gathr CEO Scott Glosserman said the new model has shown “remarkable