British newspaper offers readers Riddle DVD
FROM VARIETY: Film to be given away free
By Archie Thomas of Variety -- Video Business, 9/6/2007
SEPT. 6 | FROM VARIETY: A British indie feature is rewriting distribution rules by becoming the first to preem as a "covermount" DVD given away free with a newspaper.Writer/director Brendan Foley's mystery thriller The Riddle, starring Vanessa Redgrave, Vinnie Jones and Derek Jacobi, will appear with the Sept. 16 issue of the Mail on Sunday.
Stephen Miron, Mail on Sunday managing director, expects to sell 2.5 million copies. Analysts predict 30% of covermounts reach the DVD player, meaning more than 800,000 could settle down to watch Riddle -- far more people than the pic would reach via traditional distribution. Not surprisingly, exhibitors are none too happy about the move.
Read the full story on Variety.com.
