Friday, August 21, 2009

The ultimate in Custom DIY Distribution


Remember the Flaming Lips-soundtracked documentary trailer a while back in February? About the mushroom hunters Gary Lincoff and Larry Evans? Well, the Canadian doc is about to get some unique love.

To promote his new documentary Know Your Mushrooms, the CBC reports that Ron Mann is releasing the film on a customized USB stick -- one shaped like a cute, tooth-filled shroom (seen to the right). I'd love to see DVD storage folks come up with a shelving unit for this.

Following a British company that released Ghostbusters on a 2GB flash drive with digital rights management, the Toronto-based filmmaker is taking a more share-friendly approach. Basically, people buy these USB keys for $59.99 -- which, I might add, are said to be almost sold out -- and are then encouraged to upload and share the film. Mann says: "We did this as a fun project. It wasn't a commercial venture." Nevertheless, it's a smart idea -- warm people to the film, and then how can they resist the charm of shroomy movie keys?

But best of all, he doesn't plan to stop there. Remember the 1999 cult film Grass? He's gearing up to re-distribute that flick on a USB key shaped like a joint. The possibilities are endless!

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