VODO

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VODO was an online media distributor offering films, books, games and music under pay-what-you-want pricing models. Founded by film director Jamie King, [1] VODO has recently focused on bundle offers, bringing together a variety of creators under the themes of H.P. Lovecraft, Big Brother (surveillance and privacy), NSFW (sex positive culture), Otherworlds (sci-fi) and Really Creepy (indie horror).

Contents

VODO's background is in distribution of film under Creative Commons licenses, using the BitTorrent protocol. [2] Filmmakers can upload films on the site and selected works are also promoted on third-party sites and services such as the Butter Project, μTorrent and The Pirate Bay.

Past releases include sci-fi series Pioneer One, [3] The Yes Men Fix the World [4] and Zenith. Users are encouraged to donate after watching the films, and the highest earning to date has received almost $100,000. [5]

VODO releases

As of February 2012, VODO hosts a total of 148 films. [6] Some of the most known are listed below.

DateTitleVersionDirectorNotes
2009-10-17 Us Now Ivo Gormley
2009-11-11 In Guantanamo David Miller
2009-12-19 The Lionshare Josh Bernhard Included Legacy by Grzegorz Jonkajtys
2010-02-08Mixtape#1Various
2010-06-15 Pioneer One S01E01Bracey SmithA REDUX cut was released 2010-12-15 featuring additional footage and re-shot scenes.
2010-07-23 The Yes Men Fix The World The Yes Men Special 'P2P Edition' of the film including new footage from the House of Commerce.
2010-10-02Person of InterestGregory Bayne
2010-11-10 Snowblind Kilian Manning
2010-11-10 Four Eyed Monsters Arin Crumley, Susan Buice
2010-12-15 Pioneer One S01E02 Bracey Smith
2011-01-28 Beyond the Game Jos de Putter
2011-03-14 Zenith Part 1Anonymous
2011-03-28 Pioneer One S01E03Bracey Smith
2011-04-28 Zenith Part 2Anonymous
2011-04-28 Pioneer One S01E04Bracey Smith
2011-05-19 The Tunnel Carlo Ledesma
2011-06-03 Zenith Part 3Anonymous
2011-07-01 A Lonely Place for Dying Justin Eugene Evans
2011-10-05 Pioneer One S01E05Bracey Smith
2011-12-13 Pioneer One S01E06Bracey SmithSeason 1 finale
2011-12-27Otherworldsvarioussix original Sci-Fi short films: The Third Letter, Perspective, The Return of John Frum, Dimensional Meltdown, Candy, Kitty-Kitty and IDT
2012-01-20The Notorious Newman BrothersRyan NoelRetro Films Entertainment & Substance Production
2012-02-21L5Stanley Von MedveyStudio Hemogoblin

Free Film Fund

As from 17 January 2012, five percent of all VODO income was allocated to the Free Film Fund, an online fundraising forum for the development of free-to-share productions. [7]

Related Research Articles

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BitTorrent is a proprietary adware BitTorrent client developed by Bram Cohen and Rainberry, Inc. used for uploading and downloading files via the BitTorrent protocol. BitTorrent was the first client written for the protocol. It is often nicknamed Mainline by developers denoting its official origins. Since version 6.0 the BitTorrent client has been a rebranded version of μTorrent. As a result, it is no longer open source. It is currently available for Microsoft Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android. There are currently two versions of the software, "BitTorrent Classic" which inherits the historical version numbering, and "BitTorrent Web", which uses its own version numbering.

A BitTorrent tracker is a special type of server that assists in the communication between peers using the BitTorrent protocol.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Pirate Bay</span> Website providing torrent files and magnet links

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<i>The Yes Men Fix the World</i> 2009 American film

The Yes Men Fix the World is a 2009 English language documentary film about the culture jamming exploits of The Yes Men. The film premiered in New York City and Los Angeles on October 23, 2009, and in other U.S. cities beginning on October 30. Due to the movie being sued by United States Chamber of Commerce, a special edition of the movie is distributed through bittorrent through VODO and other prominent torrent sites like The Pirate Bay and EZTV.

Rainberry, Inc., formerly known as BitTorrent, Inc., is an American company responsible for μTorrent and BitTorrent Mainline. The company was founded on September 22, 2004 by Bram Cohen and Ashwin Navin. It was successful during the Great Recession under the leadership of CEO Eric Klinker. In 2018, the company was acquired by cryptocurrency startup TRON, and Bram Cohen left the company. In March 2022, the SEC charged Rainberry with fraud for selling cryptocurrencies Tronix (TRX) and BitTorrent (BTT) as unregistered securities.

<i>Steal This Film</i> 2006 short film

Steal This Film is a film series documenting the movement against intellectual property directed by Jamie King, produced by The League of Noble Peers and released via the BitTorrent peer-to-peer protocol.

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aXXo Alias of an unidentified internet pirate

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Zabriskie</span> American composer and musician (born 1982)

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<i>Pioneer One</i> 2010 American TV series or program

Pioneer One is a 2010 American web series produced by Josh Bernhard and Bracey Smith. It was funded purely through donations, and is the first series created for and released on BitTorrent networks.

<i>Zenith</i> (film) 2010 American film

Zenith is a 2010 American psychological thriller directed by Vladan Nikolic and starring Peter Scanavino, Jason Robards III, and Ana Asensio. The screenplay concerns two men attempting to solve the same conspiracy theory. The title refers to a grand 'Zenith Conspiracy' formed by the film's protagonist, Ed Crowley. The film also utilizes an alternate reality game and transmedia storytelling to augment its narrative.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EZTV</span> TV torrent distribution group

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamie King (producer)</span> British filmmaker, writer, and activist

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Putlocker</span> Online illegal movie streaming site network

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References

  1. "Questions With…VODO Founder Jamie King". GigaOM.
  2. Vodo: a filesharing service for film-makers by Cory Doctorow at BoingBoing (15 Oct 2009)
  3. "Pioneer One - official website". Archived from the original on 24 July 2012. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
  4. Gigaom.com: No Joke, the Yes Men Give Away their Latest Movie Via BitTorrent
  5. VODO: Pioneer One
  6. VODO: All films
  7. "'A New Golden Age of Content': the rising tide of online-exclusive distribution". VODO blog. 17 January 2012. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013.