Digital Deli goes live with the support of five film partners

The UK's first online film community and distribution channel opens for business today, with the backing of key players in the UK film industry

London - 18 April, 2008 – A new website that allows film-makers to sell their films directly to the public goes live today, with the support of ITN Source, the New Producer's Alliance, the Director's Guild, Director's Notes and (from the US) California's Independent Film Channel University.

Digital Deli was dreamed up in 2005 by film-maker Gina Fegan and technical expert Kavita Kapoor to help the independent film-making community use the power of the web – for community as well as content distribution. In a country where only 5 per cent of the films made actually get released [UK Film Council], the Deli gives producers the chance to sell their films on the basis of a standardised fair deal ethos.

The site has been in beta testing since 2006, with a small community of film-makers ranging from comedy animator Trevor Hardy to up-and-coming talent Eva Weber – or from multi-award winning experimental film-maker Nicola Bruce to established writer and producer Carole Hayman. Today it opens its doors to the UK’s film-making community. Free to sign up but with an invitation-only policy, the Deli, whose strapline is “serving up the finest film-makers”, is also announcing today its first raft of partnerships with key industry bodies and content makers.

Asha Oberoi, Content Director at ITN Source, said “We're really excited about this partnership with the Deli because it gives us a chance to do something practical in supporting the film community. ITN Source regularly supplies archive to the worldwide film industry, but this partnership gives us a great way to introduce so many more producers to it."

Alex Finbow, Chair of the Director's Guild said “We're very pleased to see that the Deli follows a similar approach to quality as the Director's Guild. The web has encouraged so many gifted amateurs but it's important to give seasoned professionals a place to shine.”.

Gina Fegan, Deli founder, said “We started the Deli because we wanted somewhere for film-makers to be able to sell their films and get a fair deal. The old models of distribution just don't allow all the talent to come through and selling your content elsewhere online means you get lost in the crowd. If you're good enough to be allowed to join, our website lets you distribute your film and have a place online to be part of a community – something the British film industry has been so bad at. That's why we're so delighted to have the support of our partners. It's tremendous that the Deli members are backed by the industry.”.

David Pope, Chief Exec of the New Producer's Alliance said "It's great to have a community built specifically by film-makers for film-makers. Gina and the team really know the territory and we're looking forward to putting forward some of our most exciting and talented producers."

MarBelle, the power behind podcast service Director's Notes said: “Directors Notes is always on the hunt for the best indie films and I'm glad the Deli is doing the hard work of discovering and exposing such an eclectic range of film-makers for me to work with.“.

The Digital Deli will be recruiting new members, keeping the quality of professionals high, making more feature films available and growing the audience over coming months.

There will also be further announcements about special promotional activities with the launch partners.

About Digital Deli:

The Digital Deli is the UK’s first film community website that allows film-makers to sell their films directly to the public. The Deli is a sector-specific community with an inbuilt distribution system. It has been compared to an early MySpace or A Small World, but what mark.

It was conceived in 2005 by film-makers Gina Fegan and Kavita Kapoor in response to the difficulty they faced when trying to secure distribution for their own films in a country where only 5 per cent of the films made actually get released [source: UK Film Council].The Deli was was formed to give UK film producers a chance to form a community and to sell their work under a fair deal ethos.

In 2006 Richard Ayers joined as CEO, fresh from his role as Portal Director and head of digital media distribution at ISP Tiscali. The Deli site was launched late in 2006 and has been running in beta since then.

The community is free but invitation-only. Its recommendation-based entrance policy ensures like-minded professionals bolster the community when they join.

The brand name reflects the definition of a deli as a purveyor of high quality goods procured from a select group of suppliers and sold to a smaller ‘audience’, the antithesis of, say, a Kwik Save or Tesco.

The company's headquarters are in Sandgate in Kent.

For further information please contact

details contact:

Tammy Cowan-Learn – Operations Director
tammy@digitaldeli.co.uk
+44 7876 560356

or

Richard Ayers – CEO
richard@digitaldeli.co.uk
+ 44 7881 911363