Roadside and Netflix Join Forces for The Puffy Chair

According to The Hollywood Reporter, forging a partnership that illustrates the developing relationship between theatrical distributors and their online counterparts, indie Roadside Attractions is joining forces with DVD-by-mail firm Netflix to acquire North American rights to Jay and Mark Duplass' romantic comedy The Puffy Chair. Under the joint venture, Roadside will release the film theatrically, co-financing all prints and advertising with Netflix. The companies will split video and TV release costs, with Netflix co-promoting the theatrical release on its Web site.

The film will carry Roadside and Netflix logos, and a June theatrical release is tentatively scheduled. The companies will jointly enlist an outside firm to produce and distribute DVDs to traditional video sale and rental stores, using Netflix in its long-standing role as an additional Web rental distributor. Netflix will promote the film at its various release stages.