Mark Cuban: Transforming Hollywood, One Film At a Time



(image via sportsillustrated)

The Corsair blog is loathe to give this man-freak another shout out so soon on the grounds that he is so thoroughly creepy. His eyes suggest a bucolic childhood spent strangling helpless domestic animals and imprisoning their lifelss bodies in formaldehyde. Still, Cuban is THE anti-Establishmentarian game in Hollywood; he's the real deal, the new Miramax, spending his ill-gotten Broadcast.com scrilla on providing a workable solution to Hollywood's bleak box-office landscape. He keeps things, in a manner of speaking, "heezy." (Averted Gaze)

Last week, this blog focused on how 2929 Entertainment is duly transforming the moribund Hollywood studio system. It is; 2929 even earned some love on AMC's insidery "Sunday Morning Shootout" program by The Uberguber (tm).Today, we give kudos to Cuban's other company, HDNet. With characteristic humility, according to his BlogMaverick blog:

"Its fortunately no secret that HDNet Films and HDNet Movies are leading the charge in collapsing windows all the way to Day and Date releases of Movies in theaters, on TV (HDNet Movies), and soon, on video.

"Our first movie, Enron - The Smartest Guys in the Room, premiered in theaters and on HDNet Movies the very same day. Enron went on to not only get great reviews, but also become one of the highest grossing documentaries of all time.

"HDNet Films next 3 efforts have all been accepted into the Toronto Film Festival (as I write this, Im on my way there)"

And he's going to Toronto armed with some -- gasp -- Steven Soderbergh (AKA, Mr. Jules Asner) innovation crediblity. Says Eugene Hernandez of Indiewire:

"HDNet Films, here at the Toronto International Film Festival with three new digital features, has announced plans to make seven new more high definition movies, including a unique project by Steven Soderbergh about Spalding Gray. At an early morning breakfast event today, HDNet's Jason Kliot and Joana Vicente unveiled the complete new slate and Soderbergh explained that his new project would explore a never-performed monologue by Gray. Amy Hobby is producing the film with Gray's widow Kathie Russo, along with Joshua Blum. Chatting with indieWIRE Monday morning, Soderbergh likened the film to 'Tarnation,' explaining that he will work on the project alongside other film projects. Soderbergh directed the 1996 Spalding Gray performance film 'Gray's Anatomy' and his latest film 'Bubble,' one of the HDNet films screening in Toronto, debuted last week at the Venice Film Festival. That film is part of a separate initiative to direct six films for HDNet Films.

Each of the Soderbergh films, and the new slate of movies, are intended for simultaneous distribution through the company's landmark day-and-date strategy of releasing a movie in theaters that are owned by parent 2929 Entertainment and on the HDNet Movies Network (all of which are owned and run by Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban).

"... Among the new titles is Alex Gibney's 'Hunter,' about Hunter S. Thompson (Gibney's 'Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room' was HDNet Films first production). The filmmaker had exclusive access at the recent pyrotechnic memorial held in Colorado to honor the legendary writer."

Hott.