Film website Jaman launched a localised site for the UK today with a promotion offering two free movies to new members.
The Silicon Valley-based company has also appointed David Fischer, former executive vice president and managing director of MySpace and Fox Interactive Media, as managing director of UK and international operations for Jaman.
Fischer has set up an office in Soho Square and begun assembling a team, including former BBC executive Red Johnson as director of programming and marketing, and Ben Maher, former Endemol and MySpace executive, as commercial director.
The UK site is the first localised offering outside the US but Jaman is planning to roll out localised sites around the world, with Commonwealth countries and Latin America next on the agenda.
"The economic downturn could work to our advantage because people more and more are looking for a good night in. Watching movies and staying home is a growth area," Fischer said.
Jaman, which specialises in independent and world cinema, launched in 2007 and has had $20m (£13.7m) in funds from investors such as Bill Bradley and William Hearst as well as founder Gaurav Dhillon, co-founder of the now publicly listed software group Informatica.
The company claims to have 1.5 million subscribers globally who currently buy films via its main US-based site. Jaman claims to be one of the fastest growing and largest film websites in India and the Middle East and Fischer said 70% of its users were outside the US.
When the rights deals allow, Jaman offersfilms to rent or buy and via download or streaming. Films can be watched on all platforms, including PCs, Macs, TV screens and mobile devices.
The UK site has 1,000 launch titles. Globally, Jaman has more than 4,500 films in its catalogue but these are not available in all countries due to distribution rights deals.
Peter Askin film Trumbo will debut on the Jaman UK site for an exclusive six-week period from tomorrow. Other available titles include Peter Greenaway's The Draughtsman's Contract, Dogme 95 film The Celebration (Festen), Dancer in the Dark, starring Bjork and Catherine Deneuve, Terence Davies's 1988 debut feature Distant Voices, Still Lives, as well as a library of world cinema titles including Bollywood films and Japanese anime.
The Jaman UK site will carry exclusive preview footage of movies prior to cinema release. The site also has a number of social media functions, including its own community functions and integration with social networking aggregator FriendFeed.
Jaman's current UK partners include Pathé Films for promotion of Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire, the BFI on a range of joint editorial, promotional and branding activities and rights to its catalogue of films, and UK distributor Axiom Films for access to its catalogue.
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