By : Erik Gruenwedel | Posted: 19 Jun 2008
egruenwedel@questex.com

Movie producer Roadside Attractions July 25 will reportedly release rocker Neil Young's anti-war concert film, CSNY: D?j? Vu, theatrically, on television, video-on-demand and Netflix Inc.'s PC-based streaming service the same day.

The documentary chronicles a 2006 reunion concert tour featuring Young's 1970s folk/rock band Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young protesting the Iraq war. The film marks the latest attempt to test Hollywood's traditional window release hierarchy, according to a Reuters report.

Roadside, which is co-owned by Lionsgate, believes the strategy will generate added exposure (and revenue) the $2 million film would miss if released initially just in select theaters, according to Howard Cohen, co-president of Roadside.

“It's a big experiment,” Cohen said. “For most studios, theatrical and DVD are still golden. But if you are working on a smaller film, with lower costs, it's not the same economies of scale.”

Two years ago, Mark Cuban's (owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks) HDNet released Steven Soderbergh's Bubble theatrically, on DVD and HDTV, with mixed results.

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