Facebook is truly a Destination Location.
The latest movie streaming app on Facebook is courtesy of movie studio Miramax. The app, Miramax eXperience, will now be available for users in the US, UK, and Turkey, with Germany and France looking to join the slate soon. Miramax eXperience will offer 20 flicks for rent through Facebook, but the good thing about the app is that you can watch it on different platforms.
While studios like Universal and Warner Bros. have tried the Facebook integration with their movies, Miramax gives users the chance to access movies through a smartphone, an iPad, and even Google TV. The reach is broad for Miramax eXperience, Miramax CEO Mike Lang thinks that offering the app across all devices increases the social element of watching movies by accessing it on Facebook then watch it on a smartphone or a tablet.
Dan Rose, Facebook VP of Partnerships and Platform Marketing, refuses to not to play favorites with movie apps, but the most notable move on the part of Miramax is the notion of being able to buy movies on Facebook and watch it on other platforms. "We can be the identity platform behind that type of experience." Facebook sells the credits while Miramax handles the hosting costs. "We charge 30 percent for Facebook credits. When you redeem, we pass through 70 percent of that." Rose says.
However, the movies aren't supposed to be exclusive to Facebook. Spy Kids is a rental in iTunes and some are available as DVDs over Netflix. But what the Miramax eXperience app offers is the social element. Miramax CEO Mike Lang explained the choice to focus on a Facebook offering, rather than using the company's own site saying "We wanted to fish where the fish are. We could have created the most robust Miramax.com in the world and other than my family members, who would be there?"
As movies can be accessed and watched across a plethora of platforms and devices, content-sharing is imminent especially on Facebook. Also, the Miramax eXperience will have a game that allows people to cast friends in various roles of Miramax flicks, and like any other online game, bonuses can be unlocked. Gamification of movies on Facebook? Seems lucrative, isn't it?
