Syncbak’s SBTV Offers First Original Film by Acquiring Exclusive Streaming Rights to ‘Backlash’
Syncbak’s SBTV has their first original film in the bag. A platform for live local OTT, Syncbak announced today that they acquired the rights to “Backlash,” a short film that was slated to debut online and eventually make its way around arts and film festivals. However, due to COVID-19, plans for its premiere had to be modified.
Starring Joel Murray, Eliza Murray and Molly Brown, the film tackles environmental themes and the karmic cycle of retribution as it chronicles a family coping with the fact that they left one of their own for dead. The film was written by Jonathan Graf and Max Moore, who also served as director and was produced by Mia Reggi.
“The moment we saw ‘Backlash’ we knew we wanted to carry it on SBTV. In addition to great local programming, viewers can watch live and on-demand news from over 200 local stations across the nation, anywhere they are from any device,” said Jack Perry, CEO of Syncbak. “It has been incredibly meaningful to bring this film to SBTV and support work that might not otherwise have had the opportunity to be seen by as many viewers nationally. We will continue to look for other festival and cultural programming that furthers our vision of giving national attention to hyperlocal events and local artists’ works.”
Back in March, Syncbak announced the launch of a new channel on their SBTV streaming platform dedicated to covering COVID-19. The channel, named after the virus, aggregates and curates news content from local TV broadcasters across the nation with content refreshed every hour, 24 hours a day.
In April, they followed that up with the launch of a new Survivors and Heroes channel, which “curates informational and heartwarming stories of individuals who are overcoming some of the biggest health challenges of their lives.”
SBTV is a free streaming service backed by the likes of ViacomCBS, Grey Television and NAB, among others. The platform features content from more than 115 local broadcast stations across the country.
SBTV not only provides stations with national exposure for their reporting, but it also serves as a pipeline for additional advertising revenue. However, the Covid-19, as well as the Survivors and Heroes channel, are both running ad-free as both SBTV and the local stations understand the importance of delivering this information uninterrupted.