IFN is one of the company’s new services for filmmakers that include a new production studio in Los Angeles and a crowdfunding platform.
Los Angeles-based Avenida Productions will be launching a new streaming service created to cater to independent filmmakers and indie movie fans, announced CEO Fanny Grande and COO Nelson Grande in an exclusive interview with Latin Heat.
Expected to roll out early next year, the Indie Film Network will be available on Apple TV, Roku and Amazon Fire Stick, which have a combined reach of nearly 140 million users, said Nelson Grande. He added IFN will also be available as a downloadable app.
“It’s going to be subscription-based and be very affordable, just a couple of bucks a month,” said Grande. He stated that the new network will “be creating a very generous profit-sharing” model with filmmakers.” Grande provided no details on the formula to be used.
IFN is part of an ambitious plan by the relatively young company to be a one-stop shop for filmmakers. Avenida Productions was started five years ago by Fanny and Nelson Grande, both of them actors and filmmakers who know first-hand the challenges facing Latinos and other underrepresented BIPOC filmmakers in Hollywood. Her credits include executive producer in John Leguizamo’s Road to Broadway; he has appeared in General Hospital Grey’s Anatomy.
When Fanny Grande couldn’t get studio funding for her directorial debut film Homebound about a decade ago, the Venezuelan-American filmmaker decided to finance the movie herself through crowdfunding. Her successful campaign made the quarter-million-dollar film a dream come true. Years later she joined forces with Nelson Grande and founded Avenida Productions to help other indie filmmakers with crowdfunding. The Grande husband-and-wife duo claims to have raised millions for about 200 projects, including Social Security, an action comedy starring Danny Trejo currently in development, the 2017 family drama feature Shine, starring Omar Chaparro. Other projects include the shorts Esta Es Tu Cuba and Always a Thorn and the feature drama Rich Kids.
Recently, the company raised more than $80,000 for John Leguizamo‘s Latin superhero movie Phenom X.
Through the years, Grandes have also added other services for filmmakers, like capital raising, production and distribution. This year the company is seeing further expansion.
The company has opened its own motion-picture production facility, Avenida Studios. The 14,000 square-feet creative space is located in the Latino-majority communities of Historic Filipinotown and Westlake, about five miles from Hollywood.
Also, after relying on crowdfunding platforms like Seed & Spark for their client’s campaigns, Avenida Productions confirmed the imminent launch of its very own. “It’s going to be the first Latino crowdfunding platform,” said Nelson. With testing slated in a few days, the yet-to-be-named platform is expected to go live in a month, he added.
Next year’s launching of IFN will expand the distribution capabilities of the company, which already offers securing screenings in dozens of movie theaters across the U.S.
Concluded Fanny Grande, the CEO, “We’ve got filmmakers covered at any stage of the process and that’s what we’re committed to with the first non-traditional studio network.”
Featured Photo: Fanny and Nelson Grande of Avenida Productions. (Credit: Courtesy)
