Get Rewarded For Your Indie Movie Taste With Prescreen - Mashable.com

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Name: Prescreen

Quick Pitch: Prescreen is a movie marketing and distribution platform that helps filmmakers and distributors reach new audiences.

Genius Idea: Incentivizing users for discovering hot, new independent films.

Youve got excellent taste in movies far superior to your friends, of course. Youre always first to find and recommend the best under-the-radar films. But can you prove it?

If youre finding and watching flicks on Prescreen, an independent film-focused startup that made its premiere Wednesday, you can not only backup your boast but get rewarded for being in the first 5% of folks to buy and watch the film.

The startup takes partial inspiration from Groupons CEO and co-founder Shawn Bercuson was an early employee at the daily deals giant but skews the model to favor filmmakers and movie buffs.

Heres how it works: Prescreen features one new independent movie each day. Subscribers are notified via email, and Prescreen users can watch a free trailer on the site and then opt to rent and stream the flick for $4. Buyers then have a 60-day viewing period to watch the movie, and 48 hours to finish it once they start watching.

Theres another twist though: The $4 rental price is only good on day one its $8 thereafter and the available viewing period decreases with each passing day until the 60 day window expires completely. Plus, those who are first to buy will have a higher likelihood of getting their money back in the form of a free movie credit. So, the site creatively incentivizes users to buy early and rewards them should they be first to spot a popular selection.

Prescreen is ultimately designed to help filmmakers and distributors market movies and find audiences on dime-store budgets. They submit their films to Prescreen for consideration. The startup hand-selects the best ones to feature and those that get selected are live on the site for 60 days (Prescreens maximum capacity is 60 flicks).

The major problem is in the distribution of these films, Bercuson explains. On a trip to the Sundance Film Festival in January, Bercuson connected with filmmakers, producers and distributors who were puzzled by how to reach audiences. These were awesome movies and they just never found a home. They cant compete, with their budgets, with studio films or major motion pictures.

These conversations inspired Bercuson to create Prescreen. The startup was incorporated by February, funded by angel investors by March, and then went full-steam ahead to release version one of its product this week.

On the business side of things, Prescreen splits rental proceeds with the filmmakers or distributors. It also gives them a detailed performance report that breaks down everything from email open and conversation rates to viewer demographics and potential market opportunities.

Prescreens only noticeable blemish is streaming limitations users are only able to view films on the web. Its eventual goal is be ubiquitous, Bercuson says, but iOS and Android applications are still several months away from release.

Even so, Prescreen has signed up 15,000 users in its first three days of operation and Bercuson has confidence in his teams ability to create a platform that is a boon for the independent film community.

Weve done this before, says Bercuson, pointing to his own Groupon roots and also highlighting co-founder John Smarts previous success with online dating site Zoosk. We know how to build an audience online.

Image courtesy of Flickr, Thomas Hawk

Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.