ENTERTAINMENT AND MEDIA INDUSTRY FIRST
Buyers and sellers of feature, television and digital content can negotiate, close and distribution deals 100% in the cloud
STUDIO CITY, CA April 9, 2015 – RightsTrade, the leading online global marketplace for film and television rights, has unveiled the entertainment industry’s first ever cloud-based solution for content owners, sales agents and distributors to securely negotiate and e-sign distribution licensing agreements. RightsTrade already provides screening services and hosts the industry’s largest database of rights availabilities which accredited buyers use to find distribution rights and connect with sellers. With RightsTrade’s unique DealWizard technology, buyers and sellers can now take the next step in the process — to negotiate and sign licensing deals anytime, anyplace.
RightsTrade CEO Steven Polster said “This is a pivotal moment for our company, and for the entertainment and media industry at large. With licensing deals taking six or more months to close, there is a huge opportunity for companies which can speed up and simplify the licensing process, and RightsTrade continues to provide new tools to help them do so. After re-engineering the process for screening content and sharing avails, the release of the DealWizard makes negotiating and signing deals nearly as easy as renting a place on Airbnb. It’s the next generation toolkit for film and television sales.”
RightsTrade’s DealWizard has been developed and designed to not only handle the complex data and terms which make up a licensing contract, but also recognizes the key role that relationships play in negotiating and closing deals. Through the DealWizard, buyers make inquiries to sellers, and in response sellers can draft their deal terms for buyers to then review, counter-offer or accept. Once both parties have agreed to terms, buyer and seller execute the deal memo with electronic signatures using DocuSign, which is legally enforceable in 188 countries.
“With the launch of the DealWizard, RightsTrade has provided us with a tool that truly has the potential to transform the way we do business. It enables us to find untapped revenue from online sales that complements our traditional market business,” said Steven DeMille, Inception Media Group.
RightsTrade is already the market leading platform for online content licensing. With over 5000 industry buyers reviewing more than 2000 high-end film and TV titles from over 175 registered sales companies and content owners including Sierra Affinity, Voltage Pictures and GK Films, RightsTrade has increased the speed and efficiency of generating deals. This includes facilitating over 40,000 secure B2B screenings of film and TV programming to aid the sales process.
RightsTrade’s key competitive advantage is based on its integration with content owners back-office rights management systems and APIs (Application Platform Interface) designed to sync rights avails information and metadata in real time. The company has already completed a robust integration with FilmTrack, the industry’s leading contract and rights management SaaS platform, which gives RightsTrade unprecedented scalability as its marketplace develops. FilmTrack, which holds a minority interest in RightsTrade, is the world’s largest intellectual property repository managing millions of titles and contracts for more than 200 global media and entertainment companies.
RightsTrade will be showcasing its marketplace platform and DealWizard technology as a presenter at MIPTV in Cannes and as an exhibitor at the NAB conference in Las Vegas which take place April 13-16.
For more information on RightsTrade, please visit: http://www.rightstrade.com/