SYDNEY, February 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

World-first payment model to use Facebook friends as currency

Rocky Horror Picture Show director, Jim Sharman, will launch his new visual art musical film ANDY X, a cinematic seance with legendary artist Andy Warhol, exclusively online, twenty five years after Warhol's death on the 22nd of February.

Sunday Pictures in partnership with DLSHS - online producers of cross-platform viral hit The Tunnel - and innovative distributors ScreenLaunch, will release ANDY X globally for USD$6.99 as a DRM-free* (digital rights management free) download or streamed for a 72 hour rental period from its website: http://www.andyxthemovie.com  .

The film will also launch with a groundbreaking introductory offer for all Facebook fans of ANDY X (http://www.facebook.com/AndyXTheMovie?sk=app_172195886225957). This offer allows fans of the movie to use their Facebook friends as currency when paying to watch the film. One Facebook friend equals one cent. Fans can login to Facebook to calculate the number of friends they have and their balance will be deducted from the ticket fee.

ANDY X delivers a unique narrative through song, verse and montage over 40 minutes, with Sharman exploring Warhol's life from his death-bed in a New York Hospital on 22 February, 1987.  To coincide with the 25th anniversary of Andy Warhol's death the film will be launched at the time he passed away at 6.21am on the 22nd of February, 2012 on andyxthemovie.com

On choosing to launch the film in this way, Jim said, "Cyberspace seems the perfect place to explore the Warhol enigma.  I imagine Warhol would have loved the net."

This online film experience marks the return of iconic Australian director Jim Sharman to the screen, albeit an online screen.  Jim is famed for pushing conventional boundaries with his theatre, opera and cult cinema creations, including the musical extravaganza The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The website creates an immersive experience through the use of sophisticated 3D graphics viewable with Adobe Flash 11 technology.

Esteemed film critic Richard Kuipers has described the film as "a poetic and pulsating eulogy… Sharman takes us on a ride to stimulate and excite everyone from Warhol buffs to those who might have only heard the name and know it has something to do with soup cans." The film was developed and directed by Jim Sharman from a script by Stephen Sewell and an original music score by Basil Hogios, with lyrics by Sewell and Hogios. ANDY X stars rising young stars Akos Armont and Sheridan Harbridge; with Nick Simpson-Deeks, Gillian Jones and David Denis.

* DRM is a form of copyright protection that limits and controls how you can play, copy or burn films you have downloaded. DRM free means after purchase you can play or copy it as many times as you wish on any device.

For further information:
Ross Howden, ScreenLaunch
ross@screenlaunch.com
+61-2-9492-1000

SOURCE ScreenLaunch