About Reframe
Reframe seeks to help individual filmmakers, distributors, archives, libraries and other media owners to digitize and sell their work using the internet, and to become a one-stop location for anyone seeking these films.
The program is funded by John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation with additional support from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
The Problem
Substantial amounts of film, video and media arts remain “stuck on the shelf,” inaccessible to large segments of the public. Sometimes this is due to rights-clearance issues, but more often it is because of the high cost to convert to digital formats that would allow for broad circulation. Even media that is available for distribution can be difficult to find because it is held and catalogued in many places, and in less than ideal databases.
Reframe was conceived as a solution.
Our Partnership with Amazon
Under a unique deal with Amazon’s CreateSpace division, we are able to offer digitization at little to no cost to our partners. Once digitized, these works are made available for non-exclusive distribution through both the Amazon storefront and Reframe website at prices set by the partner. Titles may be sold via DVD-on-Demand, which forgoes the cost of large product runs and inventory storage, and Digital Video on Demand to rent or buy, which allows consumers to stream films on their PC and Macintosh computers or download them directly to a PC or to a television via TiVo DVR, Roku Digital Video Player or Sony BRAVIA Internet Video Link.
A Community of Content
In addition to bringing together works from numerous sources of independent and alternative media, much of it available to the public for the first time, Reframe aims to enrich the experience by offering professional insight and encouraging discussion. We have invited noted directors, professors, critics, film societies and experts in the field to contribute to blogs and make curatorial recommendations. Users are encouraged to build profiles, create and share their own lists of favorite films, review available films and comment on blog posts.
We’ll continually roll out additional new features to enhance and promote interaction in the Reframe community.
Ultimately, we hope Reframe will become the destination for scholars, artists, teachers and film enthusiasts to easily locate and eagerly share the best of our visual heritage.
