Distribution Evolution: On-Demand and the Relocation of Specialised Film looks beyond the rhetoric and beneath the gleaming surfaces of on-demand to reveal a more complex picture than the narrative of disruption.

Welcome to the age of on-demand: a world replete with choice, a world where consumers dictate the terms of their viewing experience, choosing what to watch, when and how, a world devoid of monopoly where the niche and the undiscovered stand shoulder to shoulder with the rich and the powerful. In the age of on-demand, disruption reigns supreme – or so we are led to believe. These stories of disruption permeate the digital landscape, but what are we to make of them? Does on-demand open a window to a world of opportunity, or is it a fantasy crafted by gifted storytellers and cunning marketeers?

Focusing on the fortunes of specialised film, Online Distribution uncovers the extent to which video-on-demand (VoD) is governed by a number of practices, habits and behaviours that reinforce, rather than subvert, the status quo. With the insight of leading industry professionals, we consider what this means for access to, and engagement with, specialised content and scrutinise how much control we, the viewers, really have in the age of on-demand. The resulting work excavates the past and looks to the present to uncover a story of evolution, not revolution – relocation, not transformation.