Spike Lee Doc On Offer on Babelgum

LONDON, April 13: Babelgum,
a new global Internet TV platform, will be
featuring a previously unseen documentary from acclaimed director Spike Lee at
MIPTV next week, with Lee himself on hand to showcase the content, which was
originally commissioned to support UNICEF.

Lee will be attending
Babelgum’s MIPTV reception in Cannes on the evening of Tuesday, April 17. The film, addressing poverty in Africa and originally
commissioned to support UNICEF, was directed by Lee, who later bought the
distribution rights. Following the preview at Babelgum’s event next
week, the full production will be made available on Babelgum on April 18 for a
three-month period. Lee commented: “The accessibility of Babelgum for both
users and content providers is ground breaking. It means independent producers
and content providers can showcase their work free of charge to a global
viewing audience and not have to compromise in terms of quality, length or
artistic integrity.”

The Babelgum platform uses
peer-to-peer streaming technology to distribute high-quality video content
online, alongside interactive elements. The venture was founded by Silvio
Scaglia and Erik Lumer. Scaglia, the chairman of the platform, commented: “Professional
program owners, creators and distributors can use Babelgum as their channel for
international distribution and previews. It allows them to reach a broadband-connected
audience that currently exceeds 300 million and which is growing at a rate of
30 percent per annum.”