Tiscali Press Release - January 2nd

Tiscali teams up with Guerilla Films for the first, free on-demand premiere of a UK feature film, available simultaneously online worldwide and at the touch of a button via Tiscali TV

Tiscali, the broadband, telephone and media company, is teaming up with Guerilla Films for the exclusive UK and worldwide digital premiere of new Brit rom-com January 2nd. Continuing its support for the British film industry and home-grown talent, Tiscali will be giving both worldwide online access and subscribers to Tiscali's pioneering digital TV service, the chance to see this bittersweet romantic comedy first, free and on-demand.

Scheduled for release this month, the film will premiere on 29 February, when visitors to www.tiscali.co.uk will be able to click to start the movie at their leisure, while subscribers to Tiscali's digital TV service, already boasting the UK's biggest library of on-demand movies, will be able to go to the Movies Now channel and use their remote control to start, pause and rewind January 2nd anytime they choose, from the comfort of their sofas.

Directed by Matt Winn, January 2nd tells the story of a thirty something couple's New Year's weekend bash for their assorted friends and the ensuing jealousies, tensions and emotions that emerge causing them to reassess the future of the their own troubled marriage. Featuring a host of British talent including Dorian Healy (Soldier Soldier, For Queen & Country), Ruth Gemmell (Good, Fever Pitch), Josephine Butler (Sorted, Grass) and Naomi Bentley (Primeval, Goldplated), this honest, heartfelt film lifts the lid on contemporary relationships with both warmth and wit.

Hugh Williams, Executive Director, Content & Programming, Tiscali TV says: "We are proud to be working with Guerilla films and the UK film industry to give both our TV subscribers and fans of the Tiscali portal the chance to see this charming comedy first, on-demand and for free. The growing consumer appetite for on-demand TV and online movie downloads makes this kind of cross-platform launch an increasingly effective option, demonstrating the value recognised by progressive film-makers in identifying new multimedia platforms of distribution."

David Nicholas Wilkinson, Chairman, Guerilla Films Ltd, says: "There are more blockbusters films being made than ever before, sadly this has squeezed out the small independent British film. It has become a David and Goliath struggle to try to put lower budget films before an audience, however, the Tiscali platform provides the ideal catapult to give January 2nd the launch it deserves."

Dorian Healy, playing Adam, says: "There's nothing quite so depressing as freezing your nuts off on a Welsh hillside, knowing deep down, that without Johnny Depp in the movie, it probably won't get seen. Like music, film is waking up to the future and with the support of Tiscali and Guerilla, an independent film like January 2nd will have the chance to get an audience."

The free to view premiere marks the latest demonstration of Tiscali's ongoing support for the British film industry. In 2005 Raindance award winning feature EMR was the first to have a simultaneous live and online premier, and in 2006 Tiscali was part of the first 'all format' release for The Road to Guantanamo, the Film Four Michael Winterbottom documentary which aired on Channel 4, immediately online at Tiscali, in cinema and on DVD. In September 2007 Tiscali and Raindance launched the world’s first digital film festival, turning the cutting edge Raindance Film Festival into a globally accessible broadband experience.