IFFR and Infostrada announce unique partnership

‘Tiger Release’ To Provide International Distribution Across VoD Platforms

Rotterdam, November 19th, 2014

International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has signed a multi-year deal with Infostrada Creative Technology to provide rights-holders, with films selected for IFFR, the opportunity to directly release their films on Infostrada Creative Technology’s global VoD (Video on Demand) platforms including iTunes, YouTube, Vimeo, Google Play and PlayStation Network. The first films eligible for the joint venture, namedTIGER RELEASE (TR), are those in Official Selection at IFFR 2015.

Tiger Release has been established to tackle the increasingly difficult challenges for independent filmmakers, producers and sales agents of finding international distribution and a wider audience in a developing market place. The structure will permit the teams at IFFR and Infostrada Creative Technology to collaborate with the independent film industry directly, establishing a flexible release tool that can adapt to the needs and requirements of all participating filmmakers in the short, medium and long term. As more and more filmmakers participate over the coming years, TR will be in a position to grow and adapt to the constantly evolving market place.

TR will provide filmmakers with access to distribution platforms, while making delivery easier to all platforms and encourage filmmakers to be more involved in releasing their own films. It offers the independent rights-holder, the option of directly releasing their film in international territories of their choice onto VoD platforms with additional marketing support offered via the IFFR branded VoD channels. Infostrada Creative Technology, which boasts the major US film studios amongst its clients, will work directly with the directors and producers giving the filmmakers direct control over where and when the film is released with a guarantee of receiving the highest VoD receipts. When requested, Infostrada will also provide the service of housing films in Official Selection on their secure servers from where they can be transferred to international film festivals which have also selected the films, or alternatively create DCP’s at a reduced rate to be shipped on demand.

On making the announcement Rutger Wolfson, Director IFFR, commented “IFFR is committed to supporting filmmakers and their films in the fast moving digital age. Our support for filmmakers does not start and end with the 12 days of the Festival, those 12 days represent a commitment to help find audiences for the creative and varied films selected for our programme in the months and years ahead, TR will be a huge addition to that philosophy. This, together with the Hubert Bals Fund and the CineMart guarantees a unique and supportive festival.”

Janneke Staarink, Managing director IFFR, added "IFFR is committed to using the latest tools at its disposal for the benefit of filmmakers and their films. We are therefore thrilled to collaborate with Infostrada Creative Technology on TR, an innovative and inspiring partnership between a leading cultural brand and a leading technology company. TR will have a hugely positive impact on what is one of the most important facets of today's film industry, the distribution of independent film and we look forward to working with filmmakers to establish a state of the art, adaptable tool that will provide for these distribution requirements.”

Karel van der Flier, CCO DutchView & Infostrada Creative Technology, added "TR offers filmmakers and film lovers the unique opportunity to come together virtually. Through the use of Infostrada Creative Technology's UpperEast, independent filmmakers can reach a worldwide audience, on iTunes and Google Play for example, and film lovers are able to encounter high-quality artistic film 'on demand'. This collaboration does not only fit Infostrada Creative Technology's vision of VoD but also connects with today's society's perspective on cultural entrepreneurship."

International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) offers a high quality line-up of carefully selected fiction and documentary feature films, short films and media art. The festival's Tiger Awards Competitions, Bright Future, Spectrum and Limelight sections contain new work by auteurs from all over the world including many World Premieres. In the Signals section, IFFR presents retrospectives and themed programmes. IFFR actively supports new and adventurous filmmaking talent through numerous industry initiatives including co-production market CineMart, its Hubert Bals Fund and Rotterdam Lab.


Infostrada Creative Technology is the Dutch leading media company with operations in broadcast technology, sports media and interactive media. Infostrada Creative Technology’s broadcast technology business develops revolutionary products which support national broadcasters, studios and distributors. We are one of the world-leading encoding houses certified for content delivery to all major VoD platforms including Netflix, iTunes, Google Play, Hulu, Xbox, Amazon and many more. Our digital distribution services range from on-spec and certified delivery to Theatrical, Broadcast and Video on Demand.

For more information:
IFFR Press Office
Nancy van Oorschot / Isabelle de Klein
E: press@filmfestivalrotterdam.com
T:+31 10 8909090

Infostrada Creative Technology
Dimitri Traas / Wouter van den Berg
E: communicatie@infostrada.com
T:+31 6 46 30 32 64 / +31 6 53 37 74 26