Spike Lee will inaugurate the first annual New Hollywood (NUHO) Online Film Festival – a pioneering digital initiative which will allow worldwide film enthusiasts the ability to view features, docs and shorts in a web-based film festival platform. 

The first annual NUHO Online Film Festival is set to launch on February 7 and run through February 28, 2014.

Per the press release….

The festival is founded by Keith Mitchell (Mr. 3000, Eddie, Like Mike 2) and entrepreneur Chris Kanik, in a mission to offer up an alternative to the traditional film festival. Along with the founders, the team at NUHO is comprised of an advisory board of Hollywood professionals committed to advancing the scope of the independent world. 

“We couldn’t be happier to have Spike Lee kick off our festival,” said co-founder and CEO Keith Mitchell.  “Spike has always done his own thing when it comes to film production, and he’s the perfect representative to launch our new and innovative forum for film.”

“The festival business is a necessary spoke in the wheel of film distribution,” commented Chris Kanik.  “However, when the festival benefits the hosts more than the filmmakers, that is wrong.  We offer filmmakers a friendly site where everybody succeeds and with Spike Lee’s support, we intend to galvanize a film community and shine a bright light on the next generation of filmmakers.”

NUHO Online Film Festival employs the latest web technology to deliver a full festival experience. Indie filmmakers will benefit from unique profit sharing, rare exposure to a worldwide audience, direct exposure to agents, key distributors and other industry professionals – all without having to spend money on travel costs or marketing.  

Films are only screened for the duration of the festival as to not cannibalize the value for distributors. NUHO’s state-of-the-art encryption technology ensures there are no piracy issues. 

The festival launch is filled with wonderful indies covering all genres, both in the narrative feature, documentaries, short and web series. Along with the content, NUHO is offering online audiences across the globe the ability to watch live streams of NUHO Online Film Festival events including Spike Lee’s keynote, red carpet premieres and the opportunity to engage with the filmmakers. 

For more information on the New Hollywood Film Festival, please go to www.NuHoFilmFest.com.