Sony CEO says no one wants to distribute ‘The Interview,’ but VHX will

Sony Pictures CEO Michael Lynton says there isn’t a video-on-demand company that will touch the controversial new Seth Rogen film following the cyberattacks it inspired — but we know of one Brooklyn firm that’s been asking to do it ever since the film got spiked from theaters.

Digital distribution platform VHX wants “The Interview.”

Shortly after Sony announced it was canceling the film’s cinematic release, the tweetstorm began. This tweet, from an L.A.-based filmmaker, resonated with the Dumbo company.

If @Sony posted @TheInterview on @vhxtv for sale today in response to their announcement, I'd be having a viewing party! #theINTERVIEWonVHX

— Mike Ambs (@mikeambs) December 18, 2014

VHX quickly got behind it, encouraging its community to start echoing the hashtag:

https://twitter.com/vhxtv/status/545690490843430912

It didn’t take off, but on Friday the startup reiterated its willingness to take on the movie.

https://twitter.com/vhxtv/status/546061570053509120

Friday evening, NPR’s All Things Considered had an interview with the Sony Pictures CEO. You should really listen to it. Notably, the host asked Lynton whether or not he’d considered releasing the movie online. He said:

Yes, those are other avenues and we are actively exploring them …. to date, we don’t have any takers — neither on the video demand side nor on the e-commerce side. People have been generally fearful about the possibility of their systems being corrupted, and so there have been a lot of conversations about the robustness of various systems to be able to make sure they’re not hacked, if and when we put the movie out digitally.

Alexandra Marvar, a spokeswoman for VHX, confirmed for us that the company has been thinking carefully about security since the events of this week. She also expressed sympathy for Sony and major film distributors, adding that there are advantages to working with a smaller company that gets films straight to viewers, digitally.

“Direct distribution is leveraging the internet for its strengths: access, options, being everywhere,” she said. “We are built to help facilitate that. We’d be excited to help sony see the release through on VOD.”

So how about it, Sony? This 20-person team in Brooklyn is ready to get your picture out into the world. In fact, they even have a nifty pay-what-you want feature that would be perfect for executing The Romney Plan:

.@SonyPictures don’t cave, fight: release @TheInterview free online globally. Ask viewers for voluntary $5 contribution to fight #Ebola.

— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) December 18, 2014