VH1 and AOL Team Up to Distribute 'Downloaded' Documentary

By Rahsheeda Ali

May 2, 2013 / 4:00 PM

VH1 is partnering with AOL to widely release director Alex Winter's new documentary film Downloaded, which covers the rise and fall of the infamous mp3 file sharing —some would say file stealing— application Napster, as well as the ramifications that this service had on the music industry at large. In addition to being shown in theaters, the documentary will be streamed online and made available through Video On Demand.

Alex Winter, Ron Conway, and MG Sielger

Alex Winter and Ron Conway

Alex Winter

Alex Winter, Ron Conway, and MG Sielger

Alex Winter

Alex Winter and Ron Conway

Alex Winter, Ron Conway, and MG Sielger

Winter premiered the film, the latest entry in the award-winning VH1 Rock Docs franchise, to this year's SXSW Film Festival in March. He began talks about distribution while in Austin, which led to a groundbreaking deal that incorporates digital dissemination along with a traditional theatrical release. Other partners and investors include Cinetic Media and producer Richard Abramowitz. The film will also be shown on VH1 sometime later this year, and you can watch the Downloaded trailer below.

[mtvn_player vid="849949" autoplay="true"]

[Photo: Brian Ach/Getty Images for TechCrunch]