Whedon premieres film on Vimeo and at Tribeca simultaneously

Joss Whedon released a new film, "In Your Eyes," on Vimeo this week at the same time that it premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Joss Whedon Tribeca

Whedon introduced the film and announced its online availability in a short video.

It's something of a coup for Vimeo, which has been courting independent filmmakers for the past several months, most recently announcing a $10 million fund dedicated to promoting indie filmmakers' work in exchange for a 30-day exclusivity agreement. The video site is hoping to leverage a unique niche in the rapidly heating content acquisition market.

While Whedon is known for experimenting with different delivery formats--his "Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog," a cult favorite, was released online in 2008--his Vimeo move may be telling. "This is the most high profile title we've had on the platform," Greg Clayman, general manager of audience networks for Vimeo, told GigaOM.

Independent films are typically available to the general public several weeks or months after their release, often after making the rounds on the film festival circuit.

Whedon, who's currently filming the next "Avengers" installment, announced the worldwide availability of the film to Sunday night's Tribeca audience via a short video message. "It's a very exciting night for us, because it's not just the premiere of the film, it is the worldwide release date. As of now, 'In Your Eyes' is available on any Internet-capable device … This is exciting for us because we get to explore a new form of distribution, and get $5."

Subscribers can rent the movie online for $5 via the Vimeo On Demand platform or at inyoureyesmovie.com, and have a 72-hour window in which to view it. Subtitled versions of the film in several foreign languages will be available as well, though it's unclear when these will be ready for download.

For more:
- see this GigaOM story
- BBC has this article
- LA Times has this story
- Bustle has this story

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