Microsoft is keeping its promise of a well-rounded entertainment experience on its popular gaming console the Xbox 360.  Debuting on Xbox Live today, the British film Pulp is the first original movie available for Xbox Live subscribers.

Pulp is a comedy movie about a struggling comic book writer who gets tapped by the police to assist them in taking down a money laundering syndicate.  The movie has been nominated for the Discovery Award at the London Comedy Film Festival 2012, the Best Feature Finalist at the 2012 Las Vegas Film Festival, the Official Selection on SFX Weekender and has over one million trailer views on YouTube.

Adam Hamdy, the director of Pulp, sat down with BBC and talked about how Microsoft is paving the way for lower and middle tier filmmakers to have their works be seen by the public at a more affordable cost.

“Theatrical distribution, nowadays, costs on average about £2 million per movie for marketing, prints and advertising,” Hamdy said.

“For a film like Pulp, that doesn’t have bankable stars with a track record, it’s a challenge for any distributor to take that gamble.”

Microsoft also stated that it will be distributing more films via Xbox Live in the future.

“It’s a great fit,” Xbox Live product manager Pav Bhardwaj said. “The film is really well aligned with our audience.  “All our audience like that sort and types of film and it’s great to support British talent.”

Last year, Microsoft hired former CBS TV executive Nancy Tellem to lead its original content efforts, and recently announced a new Xbox entertainment studio outside of Los Angeles to create “interactive content.”  These moves just proves how serious Microsoft is in invading your living room and presenting you with the total entertainment package.

New media turns to original content

.

Original content is a huge deal when it comes to entertainment.  Just look at HBO.  The Sopranos, Sex and The City and Boardwalk Empire were huge successes, and if you’re in the entertainment industry, you want this type of original content to get noticed.  It’s a tactic many new media companies are employing, especially those exploring the relatively new market of subscription-based consumer services.

Last year, Netflix launched its original series, “Lilyhammer,” a fish-out-of-water drama about a New York mobster who relocated to Norway, and Hulu debuted “Battleground,” a faux-documentary sitcom about the young operatives of a middling political campaign in Wisconsin.

In 2011, YouTube launched its online original channels which offers new programs from Madonna, Jay-Z, Ashton Kutcher, Shaquille O’Neal, Tony Hawk, Deepak Chopra, Rainn Wilson, Sofia Vergara and several other artists.  Disney even joined the party and invested $10-$15 million to create original video series, which will be available for viewing on both YouTube and Disney.com.

Earlier in 2012, news surfaced that Amazon is also entering the original content race, and later that year announced that Amazon Studios will be releasing six original series, pending pilot results, aside from its original kids’ content.  A pilot episode is a huge deal since it will be shown to Amazon’s Instant Video subscribers, who will then vote as to whether the show gets to continue or not.  This is the main reason Amazon Studios is hiring big name actors for their pilot episodes.  It was recently reported that award-winning actor John Goodman is playing one of the lead roles in Alpha House, a comedy written by Academy Award nominee and Pulitzer-Prize winner Garry Trudeau.