MoviePass announced at Sundance that it will officially get into the film rights business. MoviePass Ventures will acquire film rights and build out their offerings, and they have started scouting at the festival.
Ted Farnsworth is the chairman and CEO of Helios and Matheson, the parent company of MoviePass. He joins Cheddar from Sundance to explain the new initiative.
Farnsworth says this has been the plan since day one. When the announcement was made at Sundance, it immediately became a big buzz. Farnsworth says MoviePass is, "totally disrupting the whole market." MoviePass has already started to bid on some products at Sundance.
When asked if MoviePass intends to increase the price above $10, Farnsworth says he is happy with where it is now. Growth has been strong and there is no advertising, so growth has been completed from word of mouth. Farnsworth explains that MoviePass may look into more premium membership plans, but are keeping the price where it is for now.
MoviePass' focus for now: continue to build their subscription base.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said Thursday that the majority of iPhones sold in the U.S. in the current fiscal quarter will be sourced from India, while iPads and other devices will come from Vietnam as the company works to avoid the impact of President Trump’s tariffs on its business. Apple’s earnings for the first three months of the year topped Wall Street’s expectations thanks to high demand for its iPhones, and the company said tariffs had a limited effect on the fiscal second quarter’s results. Cook added that for the current quarter, assuming things don’t change, Apple expects to see $900 million added to its costs as a result of the tariffs.
