This article was written in partnership with Allison Parker.
Ryan Kavanaugh’s Proxima entertainment company has acquired a “significant strategic stake” in movie-streaming platform ROW8 and formed a joint venture, Proxima 8. Combining the individual strengths of the two separate brands, Proxima 8 aims to revolutionize the way audiences experience cinema and disrupt the current theatrical window models – like PVOD, SVOD, and PPV – and change how movies are distributed and made available to consumers.
The partnership aims to cater to the preferences of today’s younger audiences, tapping into the vast potential that lies within influencer communities as well as digital platforms. Through the acquisition, Proxima Media will be able to leverage the technology that ROW8 offers, further expanding its distribution capabilities, which includes its ability to geolocate by proximity to specific theaters. Additionally, this partnership will allow Proxima to reduce marketing costs while maximizing revenues on highly commercial genre-specific films. By focusing on distributing Proxima’s youth-focused genres –including horror, thriller, action, love stories, and American comedies – and utilizing its social media and influencer connections, Proxima 8 aims to create a platform that caters to today’s generation.
With involvement in Proxima as well as the 450 million user-rich social media app Triller, Ryan Kavanaugh has had an impressive career in the entertainment industry, marked by a series of achievements and a track-record of staying ahead of the curve. From bringing comic book universes to the big screen to penning market-defining deals for subscription video on demand platforms, Kavanaugh has proven again and again to embrace new innovations and trends in technology as well as change with market shifts. In a 2014 keynote address at a leading industry conference, Kavanaugh stated, “if the studios don’t change soon, the customers will change it for them as they now have the ability to get (content) where they want it, when they want it, and how they want to pay for it.”
Currently, ROW8 is one of the larger independent digital Premium Video On Demand (PVOD) movie platforms, offering its customers access to a vast library of high-quality movies available to stream instantly on their favorite devices. With agreements in place with many of the biggest studio production houses as well as a recent merger with Rad – a blockchain-based streaming platform – ROW8 has quickly become a key player in the industry. The acquisition of ROW8 by Proxima, according to Kavanaugh, “allows [Proxima] to give the influencer stars of our films a way [and] a destination to send their fans and followers to where they can really participate in [their] journey, not just watch the movie. It will be the first time there will be a two-way connection from fan to movie and movie to fan; it’s not just a platform, but a destination.”
Through his connections with Triller, which Kavanaugh held a controlling stake in from 2019 to 2022, the film financier has unique connections to some of the platform’s top influencers. With Proxima 8, Kavanaugh and ROW8 have shown that they are willing to take risks and embrace change, positioning themselves at the forefront of a dynamic market shift. As video distribution markets further develop and mature, the burgeoning platform will definitely be an industry player to watch in the coming years. Keep checking Billboard for the latest on all things Proxima 8.
